Mukasey confirmed as attorney general

WASHINGTON – The Senate confirmed retired judge Michael Mukasey as attorney general Thursday night to replace Alberto Gonzales, who was forced from office in a scandal over his handling of the Justice Department.President Bush thanked the Senate, even though the margin had been whittled down from nearly unanimous by a sharp debate over Mukasey’s refusal to say whether the waterboarding interrogation technique is torture.

“He will be an outstanding attorney general,” Bush said in a statement from his ranch in Crawford, Texas.

Republicans were solidly behind Bush’ nominee. Democrats said their votes were not so much for Mukasey as they were for restoring a leader to a Justice Department left adrift after Gonzales’ resignation in September.

In the end, Mukasey was confirmed as the nation’s 81st attorney general by a 53-40 vote. Six Democrats and one independent joined Republicans in sealing his confirmation.

The choice, according to one of those Democrats, was essentially between “whether to confirm Michael Mukasey as the next attorney general or whether to leave the Department of Justice without a real leader for the next 14 months,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California.

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Despite Rhetoric, Dems Poised To Give Bush A Blank Check For Iraq

If it looks like a duch,walks like duck, quacks like a duck….. Let’s face it, the democrats are collaborating with the fascist cabal. I hope that one day the American people will do what the Dutch did with collaborators after WW II.
It involved a lot of hair shaving, public shaming, feathers and tar. Oh and long prison sentences and the loss of property. Just imagine Pelosi homeless in front of her own house, or Reid covered in tar and feathers. Sorry, guys but sometimes I just get so damn angry.(Trevellerev)

Despite their rhetoric about not wanting to hand President Bush another “blank check” for the Iraq War, Democrats appear poised to give him exactly that — enough cash to keep the war going full steam for as long as six months, no strings attached.
Democratic leaders continue to fear GOP attacks that cutting off or slowing funds would hurt the troops, despite anger among the Democratic base over the party’s failure to use Congress’ power of the purse to end the war.

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