The Importance of Framing

Today's NYT:

"With Mr. Mukasey's confirmation in doubt over his refusal to state a clear legal position on a classified Central Intelligence Agency program to interrogate terrorism suspects"

Mukasey's confirmation is not in doubt because he refuses to answer a question about a specific program. He is in question because he has repeatedly evaded answering the simple question of whether he believes waterboarding to be a form of torture.

This is a really important moving of the goal posts that as usual the morons who write this drivel do not even notice. While it is legitimate to refuse to comment on a program you have not been briefed on and are not yet associated with, it is completely bs to refuse to answer general questions from the Committee.

Also, whether this technique is used or not used by the CIA has never been officially confirmed or denied, though it has been confirmed off the record by a number of US officials. We do know that DoJ went to the trouble of writing a legal opinion that waterboarding is not, at least in a legal sense, a form of torture. But Bushs comments yesterfay are a clear confirmation that he definitively knows this is happening in CIA black sites. I only hope someday someone has the courage to lock up this faux cowboy.

Finally, McCain and Graham's statemebt yesterday makes a mockery of their principles. Publicly stating that you are going to URGE someone to take a position AFTER you confirm them and they no longer need your approval for anything is the mosy pathetic concession of impotence and duplicity in Washington.