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Home Front: Politix
Roadblock for Justice nominee
2008-02-03
Chicago federal Judge Mark Filip, slated to be the No. 2 official at the Justice Department, is caught in a standoff between Senate Democrats and the Bush administration, putting his nomination on hold. And he can thank one of his home-state senators, Dick Durbin, for it.

The bad blood between the Senate and the Justice Department has been brewing since the Democrats gained control of the chamber after the 2006 elections. After that, conflicts were perhaps inevitable between the administration and Senate committees eager to probe the origins of controversial anti-terror policies on interrogation and eavesdropping, among other issues.

It has left Filip caught in the middle of a classic war between the branches of government. He was tabbed by new Atty. Gen. Michael Mukasey to serve as the deputy attorney general.

Late Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to confirm Filip and send his nomination to the floor for a vote, where he is expected to encounter little opposition. But before that happens, Durbin, the majority whip, wants some answers from the Justice Department, and under Senate rules, he can block the vote until he gets them. Durbin's office said the senator holds no animus toward Filip.

Filip's nomination has been hamstrung from the start by Mukasey's refusal to declare the interrogation technique known as waterboarding as torture under U.S. law. During his Senate confirmation hearing last October, Mukasey said he couldn't deliver a legal judgment on the practice, a technique that makes a prisoner believe he is in imminent danger of drowning, because he hadn't been briefed on it.

In turn, during his hearing, Filip demurred on the same question. Durbin, who had backed Filip's nomination, said that answer presented him with "a moral dilemma."
The moral dilemma isn't waterboarding: we did it exactly three times in the past, we don't do it anymore, and we're not planning on doing it again.

No, the moral dilemma is whether he's going to screw a decent guy in his quest to attack Bush at every turn. Which way will the Senator go? I think I know.
Mukasey, however, again punted on waterboarding Wednesday, telling senators that because the CIA was no longer authorized to employ the practice, an inquiry wasn't appropriate.
Posted by:

#3  I forget Kerry and Boxer, and Feinstein, and McCain(honorary Dem), and Leiberman, and, and, .......well, you know.

I'd count Lieberman amongst the loyal opposition, the rest, not so much.

First the traitors, then the enemy!
Posted by: Graviling Dark Lord of the Welsh1001   2008-02-03 09:56  

#2  He is Sen. Turban. One of the original supporters of Barry Hussein. Lil' Dickie Durbin is about the biggest Dem embarassment in the Senate behind Fat Ted. Oh wait, I forget Kerry and Boxer, and Feinstein, and McCain(honorary Dem), and Leiberman, and, and, .......well, you know.
Posted by: Woozle Elmeter 2907   2008-02-03 09:47  

#1  Senator Turban. Another wart on the asshole of the body politic...
Posted by: M. Murcek   2008-02-03 09:03  

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