jonnygoldstein.com

Poor Mukasey, the nominee for Attorney General, is in a bind. In his Senate confirmation hearing, he is being asked if he considers waterboarding illegal.

Waterboarding defined (Wikipedia)

Waterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing an individual on his or her back, with the head inclined downward, and pouring water over the face to force the inhalation of water and induce the sensation of drowning. Waterboarding has been used to obtain information, coerce confessions, punish, and intimidate. In contrast to merely submerging the head, waterboarding elicits the gag reflex, and can make the subject believe death is imminent while leaving no physical damage.

Do you have any idea how terrifying it would be to be on the receiving end of this?

So this seems pretty easy. Waterboarding is torture. The only thing is that, there are credible reports that the CIA has used waterboarding since 9/11, and this was approved by Bush. Cheney has admitted the us of waterboarding and called it a “no brainer.”

So if Mukasey says the obvious, that waterboarding is torture, then Bush and various folks paid by your tax dollars could be legally liable.

So there is no way anyone Bush nominates can state the obvious.

I’m going to go way out here on a limb and say that I don’t want my tax dollars funding torture. There are lots of good reasons not to torture people: It doesn’t work (people will confess to whatever you want, true or not, to avoid torture), it makes us look bad, and it’s just…I hate to be so old fashioned about this…wrong.

So, Mr Mukasey, let me help you out here. You can’t take this job and maintain your integrity. It’s your call. Bow out, or go down in history as yet another guy who can’t call a spade a spade, a waffling enabler of torturers. Your call.