On Mukasey: Feingold will vote no, Specter will vote yes
Senator Russ Fiengold (D-WI) makes the right call on Mukasey's confirmation. He's going to vote no:
This was a difficult decision, as Judge Mukasey has many impressive qualities ... Unfortunately, Judge Mukasey was unwilling to reject the extreme and dangerous theories of executive power that this administration has put forward.The nation's top law enforcement officer must be able to stand up to a chief executive who thinks he is above the law.
On CNN Late Edition today, Senator Arlen Specter - the only Republican on the Judiciary Committee who might have voted no - gave a lukewarm endorsement of Mukasey as Attorney General:
He could have said a lot of things which would have given me more assurances. But he is intelligent; he's really learned in the law. He's strong, ethical, honest beyond any question. He's not an intimate of the president.And you have to balance it off with where we are today. The Department of Justice is dysfunctional. It is not performing. And every day that passes, we do not have someone in charge of the investigation against terrorism, the fight against violent crime.
So while some of the Dems on the committee are putting up resistance, enough will vote along with the Republicans to push the vote to the floor. Mukasey will be the next Attorney General. We'll see if he's any improvement over Fredo. Robert Gates was supposed to be independent, a breath of fresh air. But there's nothing substantively different between him and Rummey.
