MukaseyDidn't Have to Happen!...where were Dodd and others?... Josh Marshall does the math.

Didn't Have to Happen
--Josh Marshall

So let's run through a little arithmetic. Mukasey went through last night by a vote of 53-40. Forty, of course, is a pretty significant number in terms of sustaining a filibuster. So who were the Dems who didn't show up? Were they likely 'no' on Mukasey votes? I would say so: Biden, Clinton, Dodd and Obama. The presidentials. It's true that many people will vote 'no' on a floor vote who won't vote the same way to sustain a filibuster. And in the best of all worlds I don't think we should be operating in a world where the need to get to 60 votes is the norm rather than the exception. But the Republicans are not letting anything through without 60 votes in the Congress. So I find it very odd how this went down.

I stick with what I suggested the last couple days. This could have been blocked. Had one of the presidentials -- say, Dodd -- announced that he would have forced a cloture vote, the others would have scurried to catch up.


http://talkingpointsmemo.com/archives/058376.php

I would guess that the calculation was that as bad as Mukasey is, he's the best you can expect this administration to put up.

That plus senate camraderie probably scuttled any attempt to filibuster. Kind of depressing.

Bryant

This is no defense of either Schummer or Feinstein or to say that Mukasey should have been confirmed...far from it. However, what sense does it make to put off the vote? It doesn't force boooshie to remove the nomination...he already has the votes. It shuts down the Senate (the corporate media pounces on that) and when the filibuster is broken then it's painted as a Democratic loss.

In the meantime, boooshie has Monica Goodling clones still in charge of that department and could easily keep things that way for the remainder of his term...or recess appoint whomever he likes. Again, no defense of Feisntein or Schummer, but Mukasey is the devil we know vs. the ones we don't. Hopefully he's a career man...not a party one...who will start to restore some integrity to the department by restoring the power of the career prosecutors over the political hacks.

While I admire Josh and Glenn, I don't think the Democrats would have won a cloture vote.

And immensely outraged as I am by the whole torture issue, it may have been the rational decision after all. Durbin and Leahy made great speeches last night, they perfectly expressed how unbelievably disgusting it is that such an issue has even to be considered. But unfortunately (and I know that many/most here will disagree), Schumer also made a lot of sense. Mukasey IS better than the status quo, leaving the DOJ in the complete disarray it is in right now is probably unacceptable, and the chances of getting somebody better were practically nil.

no one will know "great speeches" were made. Confirming a man who, at best, has shown he will toe the line just as Gonzales did and believes the President is above the law is NOT going to do a damn thing to "fix" the disarray at the DOJ, the disarray is exactly what the bush cabal wants and Mukasey's allegiance is to them and NOT to the Constitution of the U.S.

Refusing to confirm Mulcasey would have sent a strong message to the public that bushbots ARE NOT acceptable, confirming him sent an entirely different one, belief in torture and in a king is not so bad, not bad enough to stop a promotion.

There is currently an acting AG, the Dems should have left it at that rather than doing what they did, imo.

this is simply further confirmation we have no representation.

who voted AGAINST only for political CYA would have voted FOR Mukasey so he could appear as a clear confirmation.

Sorry to say, that is how it works.

coincidence. :eyes: Did Reid have to schedule the vote with short notice to keep the candidates from casting votes? Why not provide enough time to get your votes on board.

happen, the only thing that has changed is there is less cigar smoking, all the rest remains.

would have liked to voice his opinion. He was getting applause for taking initiative. Did Reid have to put the vote up w/o much notice?

other than to stress their candidates spoke out against the nominee. This will be a "nothing to see here, let's move on to the important issues" response at best, imo.

BULLSHIT on them. They STILL think we're a bunch of idiots. They forget, that's the repuke party's supporters. That's what makes this whole thing so outrageous....they could have stopped it. They could have stopped the FISA Bill too and CHOSE not to. This whole things is nothing but an act for our benefit. They really don't care what WE think. They are running the show and their little act is to firmly attach their lips to the Psycho's ass until 2008 and pretend they have no other choice but to do everything the thugs in the administration want.

See my comment (#20) at
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=2244644&mesg_id=2245523

A similar thread on this issue.

Dodd is the worst of the lot (a real snake in the grass). And they're all (or almost all) running for emperor, so why wouldn't they duck a vote on torturing prisoners? That's what emperors do--torture prisoners and try to pretend otherwise.