Mukasey dances with the one that brung him
Gosh, what a surprise:
Attorney General Michael Mukasey said Friday he doesn't plan for a special prosecutor to investigate whether the CIA broke the law when it destroyed videotapes of terror interrogations, defying some in Congress who want an independent look at the politically charged case.
Mukasey, in a 41-minute briefing with reporters, also ducked repeated questions about whether he considers waterboarding an illegal form of torture — an issue expected to be at the top of the agenda when he appears next week before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Mukasey is stonewalling Congress on the waterboarding issue:
The issue briefly stalled Mukasey's nomination as attorney general last October, when he said he did not know enough about it to say then that it should be outlawed by the United States.
"I understand there's interest in that," Mukasey said Friday, noting that he promised senators last fall that he would review the practice of waterboarding and "offer the view of whether the current program is lawful or not."
"That's what I said I would do," he added. "And I can't say any more, and I won't say any more."
He also refused to say whether he has completed his review, or if he would ever publicly announce his opinion of whether waterboarding is legal.
[...]
Ten senators, led by Democrat Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, demanded this week that Mukasey immediately clarify his stand on waterboarding, saying he has had "ample time ... to study this issue and reach a conclusion."
Congressional Democrats may be having some fun with the political theater surrounding these issues, but the fact remains that they still refuse to hold the Bush administration accountable for any of its crimes. Until Congress grows sufficient spine to enforce subpoenas against the officials responsible for torture, illegal wiretaps, and countless other crimes, their political posturing will continue to amount to nothing more than empty rhetoric. No Bush administration official has been held account for any of the crimes committed by the current occupants of the White House, so demands like the one articulated by Kennedy are merely toothless and hollow words.
Mukasey knows there will be no consequences for him if he helps cover up Bush's crimes; that's why he was nominated as Attorney General in the first place. He's merely dancing with the one that brung him.