In Case You Missed It: AG Confirmation Vote Should Be About Torture

Check out this piece from Professor Jonathan Turley in yesterday’s L.A. Times. Turley argues that Judge Mukasey’s evasive responses on waterboarding should prompt Senators to vote no on his nomination to be Attorney General.

This confirmation vote should be about torture. It is truly a defining issue, not just of the meaning of torture but of the very character of our country. It is the issue that distinguishes a nation fighting for the rule of law from a nation that is a threat to it. If members of the Senate consider torture to be immoral, they must vote against Mukasey.

Also here’s a nice, succinct articulation of the problem with the current Administration’s take on torture:

The problem is that Bush defines torture to exclude things like water-boarding. It is like saying you do not rob banks, but then defining bank robbery in such a way that it does not include walking in with a gun and demanding money from the cashier.