Ending The Bush Dog Majority

DiFi's paean to the guy who won't say waterboarding is torture is one of the more depressing things I have read as a Democrat. The worst part is clearly this dross:

I believe that Judge Mukasey is the best nominee we are going to get from this administration and that voting him down would only perpetuate acting and recess appointments, allowing the White House to avoid the transparency that confirmation hearings provide and to diminish effective oversight by Congress.

How could oversight consisting of rubber-stamping a nominee because he's "not as bad as Alberto Gonzales," which is like saying "he's not as bad an actor as Mr. T," be construed in ANY way as effective? Who cares if there's a confirmation hearing if the revelations that come out of them are dismissed?

Feinstein then says that waterboarding is already banned by the military under the Army Field Manual, and the Congress should quickly pass a bill putting non-military interrogation under the Field Manual too, and then that will be that. First of all, waterboarding already violates international law and at least three domestic laws, no matter what agency is carrying it out. And of course, Feinstein has no understanding of basic Constitutional measures like the veto, nor any hope of internalizing basic political strategy. (The excerpt below refers to a Fred Hiatt editorial that advocates the same thing as DiFi. In fact, I'm not convinced that Fred Hiatt and DiFi aren't the same person.)

That's not to say it would not also be a good thing to enact the Biden bill, which would specifically require all United States personnel, including the CIA, to use only interrogation techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual. That would be yet another step that would help prevent the Bush Administration from violating the current bans on torture by doing things such as implausibly characterizing its torture as "not torture."

HOWEVER . . .

1. Whether or not the Biden bill ever becomes law, it remains the case that the torture is, in fact, unlawful -- and that the Senate and the Congress have voted repeatedly for actual laws and treaties (the supreme Law of the Land) that say so.

and,

2. Just in case the Washington Post has forgotten about yet another legal text, it's worth reminding Fred Hiatt that although the Senate's vote to confirm Judge Mukasey would effectively make him the Attorney General, the Senate does not have the power to "pass" the Biden bill. That would require President Bush's signature, as well (or supermajority votes of both chambers) -- and President Bush won't sign such a bill, precisely because he wants to be able to keep violating the longstanding legal prohibitions on torture and cruel treatment.

What the Post might have written that might have made some sense: "Because Judge Mukasey and the Bush Administration do not seem to understand that the techniques they refuse to disclaim are torture and cruel treatment that are already unlawful several times over, the Senate should tell President Bush that it will confirm Judge Mukasey if and only if -- and after -- the President signs the Biden bill."

It's called leverage, and it doesn't take a wizard to see its possibilities. But far too many Democrats are so consumed by fear that the part of their brain that thinks strategically has shut down. Well, that's partly true. It's either that or they really aren't interested in Democratic Party principles, just in using the voter lists. This has been made clear by Bush Dogs' unwillingness to pay their DCCC dues because one Democrat, who holds no official position within the party leadership, had the temerity to suggest that they maybe should be primaried if they hold no respect for their constituents or the party message. This is what's killing the party right now, although not nearly in the same numbers as it has the Republicans. We need a party willing to fight special interests and understand their role in opposing the President, not one that gets fat off special interest money and overrides Congressional rules to stab progressives in the back.

Former Colorado parks director Lyle Laverty's confirmation to a top post in the U.S. Interior Department was pushed through the Senate on Monday while a member blocking the vote was home tending to his wife and newborn twins.

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., for seven months had opposed Laverty's confirmation as assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks, demanding that Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne address ethical lapses within the department.

On Friday, Wyden's wife gave birth to twins, and the senator was in Oregon on paternity leave Monday when Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., scheduled the vote.

"I am fuming," said Scott Silver, co-founder of Wild Wilderness, an Oregon forest advocacy group. "If an effort was made to go around Wyden, knowing that he was with his wife in the hospital just becoming a father of twins, that is truly shameful."

Right now progressives are either shut out or outvoted in the leadership, and are undermined in the rank and file by Bush Dogs and nervous Nellies. We need aggressive challenges to those who refuse to stand up for Democratic values or oppose Bush. We also need respected progressives to step up and join the fray; I'm glad to see Tom Udall reconsidering the Senate race in New Mexico, with the blessing of the DSCC. But those opportunities are rare. What's more common is Bush Dogs in reliably Democratic seats where proud progressives like Donna Edwards should be sitting. Nancy Pelosi actually held a fundraiser for her opponent in MD-04, corrupt incumbent Al Wynn. But the "counter-fundraiser" online raised as much money. And EMILY'S List endorsed Edwards, along with Progressive Maryland, a great state-based grassroots organization. The only way to rescue me from my despair over these sniveling cowards that pass for our Democratic majority is the hope that people like Donna Edwards can start chipping away at them, and in some way restore the party inch by inch. It's going to be a long road.