The Democrats got to ask their headline-hungry questions, looking less for answers than for TV soundbites. Good thing too, because the answers were few and far between.

But, not to be outdone, the Republican members of the Committee, led by the senior member of his party, Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, had their own agenda: making the Bush Administration look, well, better. Like the Dems, GOP members’ leading questions came mostly in the form of statements.

For example, Rep. Smith asked Mukasey whether he would agree that “99 per cent of the American people would support harsh interrogation techniques on a known terrorist to save thousands of American lives.”

Mukasey suggested he didn’t know much about the 99 per cent and declined to answer.

Not to worry: the question got asked.

After hours of largely unilluminating ping pong law, the performance mercifully came to an end.

The Democrats got to score their points. The Republicans got to pay their party dues. Whereupon both sides rushed back to their offices to get their press releases out.

And the AG smiled and took his gravitas back to the DOJ.

Mission Accomplished!

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