11.09.07
Greenwald asks, “What happened to the 60-vote rule?”
You know how everything in the Senate now requires 60 votes (because of the GOP threat of filibuster)? Well, guess what: Mukasy was confirmed by less than 60 votes. Any Democrat who truly opposed Mukasey could have threatened filibuster, requiring 60 votes for the nomination to succeed. But, alas, no Democrats truly opposed the Mukasey. Read Greenwald’s column. As a result of that column, I just sent this email to Senator Boxer:
Dear Sen. Boxer,
I see that Judge “I Don’t Know From Torture” Mukasey was confirmed by the Senate, despite Mukasey’s obvious intention to toe the Bush line on torture and — presumably — on everything else. If he won’t draw the line at torture, where would he draw the line?
I notice that you voted “No” on the confirmation, but — very odd — Judge Mukasey was confirmed with only 53 “Yes” votes.
Why did you not call for a filibuster and thus make 60 votes necessary for his confirmation? I have to assume that your opposition was not really serious.
The GOP routinely invokes the 60-vote requirement for just about everything. And now, with a man up for Attorney General who will NOT recognize that waterboarding is torture, you cave in and let him be confirmed.
Senator Boxer, I’m ashamed of you. Your token opposition does not get you off the hook. There should have been a demand for a 60-vote majority for this confirmation, and you should have made it.
Yours truly,
