The associated press is now reporting (Oct. 25) that Mukasey’s confirmation is uncertain. Both Senator Durbin and Leahy have said their confirmation votes depend upon Mukasey’s answers concerning waterboarding.  All ten Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee recently sent a letter to Mukasey asking him to answer whether waterboarding was illegal under U.S. law, including treaty obligations.  Other Senators, including Republicans such as Arlen Specter, are reportedly troubled too. Senator Specter also wrote Mukasey a letter asking for responses on a number of issues, including waterboarding.

Meanwhile, the legal ignorance appears to be contagious. Rudy Giuliani now says he doesn’t know whether waterboarding is torture, claiming “it depends on who does it,” among other astounding qualifications.