Cross-posted on The Hill Blog.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) said it best today as the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to approve the nomination of Judge Michael Mukasey as attorney general

"He will, in fact, enforce the laws that we pass in the future?" Kennedy said, mocking the assurances Mukasey gave to Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) that he would enforce an anti-torture law if Congress were to pass one. "Can our standards have really sunk so low? Enforcing the law is the job of the attorney general. It's a prerequisite, not a virtue."

Enforcing the law is even more important in a Justice Department that has been badly damaged by an attorney general who put partisan loyalty above the rule of law. The nation cannot afford to have that happen again. Yet by refusing to be clear in his answers on whether he considers waterboarding illegal, Mukasey gives no assurance that he would do anything differently than his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales.

Common Cause is urging the full Senate to vote AGAINST Murkasey's confirmation, and the organization is far from alone.

Four retired Judge Advocates General (JAGs), the legal arm of the U.S. military, declared unequivocally in a letter to Sen Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that "waterboarding is inhumane, it is torture, and it is illegal." Twenty-four retired US intelligence officers have also weighed in, asking that the Senate Judiciary Committee hold the nomination until Mukasey clarifies his remarks. Four retired generals have also written to Leahy, agreeing that water boarding is illegal torture in all circumstances.

Judge Mukasey's disingenuous responses about torture show a contempt for Congress and a disturbing willingness to turn his back on the law when the alternative - acknowledging illegal torture - could have troubling implications for the President who nominated him.

The Senate should do the right thing for the country and for the beleaguered Justice Department and reject Mukasey and continue searching for a suitable nominee.