Although the outcome was no longer in doubt after the craven actions of Feinstein and Schumer at the Judiciary Committee, Michael Mukasey was officially confirmed as Attorney General. Granting that there were no good options, I'm still inclined to believe that -- barring better answers on torture or arbitrary executive power -- rejecting his nomination was the least bad option. Although Mukasey might have been an acceptable compromise at an earlier date, precisely because nobody is likely to be a good Attorney General under this administration given what it's already done and committed itself to, drawing a line the sand was more important. Repairing the DOJ is going to have to wait for a Democratic administration in any case.
Speaking of torture and its apologists, in light of Alan Deshowitz's "if torture's good enough for the Nazis, it's good enough for us" op-ed, make sure to read Tara McKelvey's book, which regrettably gets more relevant every day.
--Scott Lemieux
