A no-brainer

Waterboarding—“immobilizing an individual on his or her back, with the head inclined downward, and pouring water over the face to force the inhalation of water and induce the sensation of drowning”—is torture. Just ask former torturee Sen. John McCain, or at least 114 US law professors, or the US State Department’s own internal reports. Seems pretty simple, but Michael Mukasey’s refusal to declare waterboarding illegal is costing him, and rightfully so. It’s a shame that a guy who gave answers to 495 written questions, had a spotless judicial career, and seemed like a consensus pick for Attorney General after Alberto Gonzales’ disaster run is now in danger of not being confirmed. But it’s his own doing; he denounced the procedure multiples times, but something was holding him back from saying it was torture. The worst part is, Democrats weren’t out searching for something in his testimony to pick him apart with—they genuinely wanted to get the beleaguered Justice Department back on track with a competent Attorney General. Ah, such is politics.