Two hours in to the confirmation hearing for attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey and members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have pestered the former judge about everything from his view of the COPS program (Feinstein) to his stance on obscenity prosecutions (Orrin Hatch, of course). So far, Mukasey hasn’t shown many signs of life. He looked as though he was barely tolerating Iowa senator Charles Grassley, who has shown a remarkable amount of concern about the False Claims Act.
It’s hard to see how the committee will take a chunk out of this guy. The president couldn’t have found a blander (and more humorless) nominee. If boring=competence, Mukasey shouldn’t have any trouble getting confirmed.