That’s so clever, the Reagan/Nixon era bitch harpy who provided one of the five votes for the Bushco putsch along with the mildly eccentric, putative but not actual liberal to sanitize the appearance, running a commission with no power except to provide photo ops for Dick Cheney. Fred Hiatt is statesmanlike. Geez, soylent green would be better.

First he admits torture is illegal, then he says a commission, with Dick Cheney’s help, could discuss “enhanced interrogation techniques” and “…the question of whether, even if they work, waterboarding and other methods long considered torture ever can be justified.”

Jesus, Fred, robbing banks “works” as long as you don’t get caught, prosecuted and imprisoned. But since bank robbing is illegal, it can’t be justified.

This ability to forget what he wrote at the start of his piece is truly breathtaking.

Hiatt pretends this is about blowing cigar smoke at people and revving power drills at them. He conveniently forgets what General Barry McCaffrey said: “We tortured people unmercifully. We probably murdered dozens of them during the course of that, both the armed forces and the C.I.A.”

Wow, a commission that has Darth Cheney’s help to decide what is justifiable, meaning what is morally OK to do in the name of God&Country. I can save Freddy a lot of time here; Darth’s answer is anything is OK, so no need for a commission.

Fred must be quite the idiot to think a commission is required; any sentient being knows exactly what Darth thinks is justifiable.

Thank you, both JDM3 and Dr.BDH for reading this shit so I don’t have to because I am trying to keep my blood pressure down. As always, TBogg, thank you for the laughs.

You don’t have to read much. I only read the first three paragraphs. The second concludes that torture occurred, and that torture breaks the law. The third paragraph says, “well, let’s not worry too much about this.” I stopped reading, and concluded that Fred Hiatt is a wretched human being.

Wait, wait, I know this one. What if there’s a ticking bomb somewhere in the city, and you know it’s going to go off in the next ten hours, and you have a suspect in custody who knows where it is and says the only way he’ll tell you is if you rob a bank! What then, smart guy? I think you could justify robbing a bank then! So we should make it legal, so that our brave (civilian contractors to the) military don’t get prosecuted for saving lives!

I know, but that’s still three paragraphs too much for me in my current “fuck off, all stupid media types” mood.

At this point you cannot even line the bird cage with the WaPoo, since the toxic sewage on its pages will sicken your bird.

dsidhe wins the thread!

Which really isn’t fair, because dsidhe usually wins any thread… (Just kidding, just kidding…!) It’s just that ugly jealous streak of mine popping out…

Are you suggesting the EPA should designate it a Superfund site?

Love how within 10 graphs he goes from “If torture violates U.S. law — and it does — and if Americans engaged in torture — and they did — that cannot be ignored, forgotten, swept away.” to “Such a commission…It would give former vice president Dick Cheney a forum to make his case on the neccessity of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques’.”

Yeah, definitely just what the country needs is another forum for Dick Cheney (R-War Criminal) to tell us all about the fabulouness and effectiveness of torture, again. It’s not like the guy goes on teevee and openly supports torture or anything.

Hiatt forgot including in his piece that Holder’s poking at the hornets nest will pose serious morale problems for the CIA.

@dsidhe:

Good as far as it goes. Xcelent, in fact. But where’s the part where you ask Dick Cheney and the two retired dorks from SCROTUS?

Another reason not to prosecute, sez Hiatt, is this: “Were Obama to criminally investigate his predecessor for what George W. Bush believed to be decisions made in the national interest, it could trigger a debilitating, unending cycle.”

In other words, the party being prosecuted (for war crimes) would get mad, and look for reasons to do bad things to the other party when power changes hands. Whereas everyone gets along so swimmingly now.

This is a perfect rationalization for an entirely criminal government unchecked by any rule of law, forever.

Where do I sign up?

Fred Hiatt brings to journalism what the football bat brought to sports.

Morale is already miserable at the CIA. I think most career people there would welcome an official inspection and fumigation of the place after eight years of Cheney infestation.

It would be a start.

What an awful man. That piece was vile from the first sentence to the last.

You’ve already been signed up. Representatives will contact you, shortly.

Were Obama to criminally investigate his predecessor for what George W. Bush believed to be decisions made in the national interest, it could trigger a debilitating, unending cycle.

Who can forget how the Democrats, in retribution for the Republicans’ attempted impeachment of Clinton, denied Bush his tax cuts, defeated telecom immunity, voted down the war in Iraq, and fought against every one of Bush’s nominees? Those were the days, my friend. I’ve never been more proud of the Democratic Party than I was during those good fights.