What Digby Sez...

Digby points out that while the current optimism about the end of Bush's days and the creation of a new political reality is one thing, the sad fact is that it will take a great deal of time and hard work to roll back the damage that has been done to our country, from the obvious standpoint of our international standing, but also with regard to the corrosive effects of our collective abandonment of some of the principles of our foundation as a country and as an ideal.

And we should be optimistic, for the Democratic nominee for President will either be a woman or a black American, and there is a very likely chance that he or she will be our next President. Consider that. If we could get Barney Frank onto the ticket as VP, we'd have the collective joy of watching Rush, Glen Beck and Hugh Hewitt seize up like old Buicks.

But, as Digby points out, the sad spectacle of Michael Mukasey testifying before Congress this week, sacrificing his life's work, his good name, and his soul to the defense of our country's right to torture is emblematic of the pervasive rot that Bush and Cheney have wrought.

Democrats may very well win the election. And they may have a large working majority. Hopefully they will get some good things done for the country. But if they do not run on and then act on these constitutional abuses, they will be used again the next time a Republican is in office (if not sooner) and we will have to fight this battle all over again, having lost a tremendous amount of territory in the meantime. What we will have lost in terms of morality and decency is uncountable.

Chuck Schumer went to bat for this guy. Incredibly, he took the administration at their word that Mukasey was impartial, not a bought man. Incredibly, against all the available evidence, the Senate consented to Mukasey's appointment with the understanding that Bush had nominated a fiercely independent Attorney General, and not another in a long string of stooges and lackeys who had sold their souls in order to get the appointment. And this is what he gets for his acquiescence. As a former colleague of Mukasey observes:

Watching Mukasey was a painful experience. . . .The Senate Judiciary Committee put Michael Mukasey to the test yesterday. And he left the hearing room as an embarrassment to those who have known and worked with him over the last twenty years, and who mistakenly touted his independence and commitment to do the right thing, come what may.

Justifying torture. These are words that were unthinkable for this nation not too long ago. It is a powerful reminder of how far we as a nation have sunk, and a reminder of how difficult it will be to walk back into the light.