Sen. Bernie Sanders: 'Bush clearly does not understand the Constitution' RAW STORY

Published: Friday November 9, 2007



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Print This Email This Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) stood up to voice his concerns over Judge and then-nominee for Attorney General Michael Mukasey on Thursday. Sanders found himself "deeply disturbed" by Mukasey's answers on the interrogation technique "waterboarding," not giving a direct answer on whether or not he considered the practice a form of torture. Sanders insists that we need an Attorney General that can match the consensus among the American public and the rest of the world on what waterboarding really is, concurrent with the Geneva Convention. "For the last six years," says Sanders, "it is clear that we have had a president that does not understand what the Constitution of the United States is about. What this president believes, essentially, is that he can do anything he wants, at any time, against anybody, in the name of fighting terrorism. And he happens to believe that the "war on terrorism" is unending; it's going to go on indefinitely. And I think it is very important that we have an Attorney General who can explain the Constitution to a President who clearly does not understand it. Unfortunately, Mr. Mukasey is not that person." Adds Sanders, "We have the right to demand an Attorney General who supports strongly the Constitution and is prepared to tell the President of the United States when he is acting against the Constitution." In addition to waterboarding, Sanders points to constitutional violations under former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, including data mining, warrantless wiretapping, politically motivated pogroms within the Office of the U.S. Attorney, suspension of habeas corpus, and the indefinite detention of "enemy combatants" at Guantanamo Bay. "The time is long overdue," says Sanders, "for [Congress] begin to stand up and explain to this president, who thinks that he can veto virtually every piece of legislation we send him; that ignores the Constitution of this country -- I think it is time that we begin to stand up." The following video is from C-SPAN's Senate debate on Mukasey nomination, broadcast on November 8, 2007:



