Attorney General Mukasey Confirmed

Justin Paulette

Justin Paulette is an attorney practicing international law in bella Italia. He hails from the great Buckeye State, "The Heart of it All," the only state with a bridge which you can cross and still be on the same side of the river, home of the hot dog, pop top soda can and the largest basket in the world! Though he's spent the past decade jet-setting across the Atlantic with one foot in London and the other on Capitol Hill, he still fancies himself a Mid-western, God-fearing, role-playing geek at heart.

Posted:

11/9/07

The theatrics surrounding Michael Mukasey's confirmation as Attorney General has come to an end. The Senate has confirmed Mukasey by a vote of 53-40. The highest legal position in government has been empty for the past 10 months, since Alberto Gonzales resigned over a seemingly politically-motivated controversy concerning the firing of nine federal prosecutors.

Mukasey's unanimous confirmation initially seemed assured, until either:

A) Democrats reconsidered their support when it was revealed that Mukasey had not determined whether waterboarding as an interrogation technique constituted a form of torture

B) Democrats realized that the had passed no meaningful legislation, had not ended the war in Iraq and had no accomplishments with which to appease an increasingly discontent base, and so decided to invent a controversy aimed at the Bush administration so as to shift the focus away from their shortcomings.

Whichever opinion you adopt, it is unlikely that the controversy will long subside. Mukasey will likely issue a decision on waterboarding in the near future, and I can assure you that the Democrats are awaiting that decision with eager anticipation.