Senate Presidential Candidates Absent on Torture

Michael Mukasey refuses to implement U.S. laws against torture, but has been confirmed by the Senate as Attorney General of the United States anyway. That’s bad, but there’s nothing anyone can do to stop Mukasey from taking power as Attorney General, and continuing the reign of torture by George W. Bush.

What we can do is pay attention to how the Mukasey confirmation vote applies to America’s future, beyond Bush. Specifically, we can pay attention to how the presidential candidates from the U.S. Senate voted on the Mukasey confirmation.

Here’s the shocking news: Not one of them did. They didn’t vote.

It’s hard to believe, but as much as they might have talked about their concerns about Michael Mukasey’s support for torture, they didn’t act on those concerns. They did not use their power to vote against the Mukasey confirmation.

Hillary Clinton didn’t vote against Mukasey.
Barack Obama didn’t vote against Mukasey.
Joseph Biden didn’t vote against Mukasey.
Chris Dodd didn’t vote against Mukasey.
John McCain didn’t vote against Mukasey.

You read that right. Even John McCain, who says that he’s against torture, didn’t lift a finger to stop torture when he had the opportunity.

Why didn’t these senators bother to vote against torture? They were either too busy promoting themselves on the campaign trail, or they just didn’t care enough to do the right thing.

Some people will say that it doesn’t matter that these senators neglected to even cast a vote on the Mukasey confirmation. They’ll say that the Mukasey confirmation was already wrapped up.

In response to that callous justification of inaction, I say that the time is always right for a leader to take a stand against torture and the tyranny that it creates. Not one of the presidential candidates from the Senate can now say that they have taken that stand. It is a shameful time for the United States of America.

(Source: Library of Congress)