There is no other word to describe it. Too many Democrats continue to run from the bogeyman and give the frat boy smirker in the bunker--and a lame duck at that-- everything he wants. Senators and Judiciary Committee members Schumer and Finestein will vote for another enabler, this time the chief law enforcement official of the United States, who cannot muster enough moral independence to say what the country wants to hear: torture is illegal and unAmerican. Private assurances from Mukasey may be enough for fellow New Yorker Schumer, but its no way to run a republic.Update: Charles 'Chuck' Schumer is feeling the heat from his colleagues for enabling the appointment of Judge Mukasey to the office of Attorney General. And he should be. His reasons for voting against his party and supporting a man who cannot call torture, "torture" ring very hollow. The Justice Department has been drifting for years under the sycophant Gonzales, so a few more months under a caretaker will not really matter. Besides, any real house cleaning will take more time than the remaining term in office of the Bushco Regime. Private assurances to Senator Schumer on the torture issue will not buy a cup of coffee on Capitol Hill. Any legislation outlawing waterboarding by name, assuming it got passed out of Congress, would no doubt be vetoed by the lame duck. Schumer's defense of his betrayal misses the point entirely. At this point in history no issue other than the President's extra-constitutional exercise of power is important. It is a defining moment for Congress. If the Senate does not stand up to the Executive on this issue of decency and national honor, it will never recover from it's diminution. The real reason for Chuck's defection can be summed up in one word, patronage. He is apparently willing to sacrifice our democracy to preserve the system of political spoils. Democratic Senators should correct Schumer's craven expediency by filibustering the nomination.