Democrats on the Senate panel were infuriated that Musakey wouldn't specifically say whether "water-boarding" fell in the category of torture or not, but Musakey said repeatedly that his job is to enforce the law, and that it is for others to decide whether water-boarding falls within the law or not.
as an Attorney General it will be his job to interpret the law and decide whether something merits prosecution. The fact that he'd let his superiors tell him how to interpret the law makes him another Bush Bitch.
Point of information: Congress makes laws, not the President. Therefore, if the Democrat majority in congress want waterboarding to be declared illegal, they can just pass a law to do so. They don't need an attorney general opinion and, in fact, such an opinion would be non-binding.
Second point of information: Musakey did not say he would "let his superiors tell him how to interpret the law." He said that he would need to know all the facts, including information that is currently classified, from both sides of the debate, to make up his mind.
This is, in fact, the proper course of action for any attorney to take. One of the first things taught in law school is that the law has to be applied to the facts of a case in order to reach a correct ruling. An incomplete set of facts can, and sometimes does, lead to an incorrect legal opinion.
As for your allegation that Schumer is some sort of wimp who doesn't like to take on the White House, you obviously don't live in his home state. I do. The guy has made a career out of bashing Bush, sometimes deservedly so (the Dubai Port deal, for example), other times no so deservedly.
