Sometimes I like to think that Obama is playing rope-a-dope with Republicans. It's probably wishful thinking. But the recent release of the torture memos, along with assurances that the Prez opposes prosecutions, seems like a prime example. Of course I'm in favor of putting Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove, and all the rest of the vicious thugs who ruled us illegally for eight years on trial. But let's say we don't. The release of the memos alone brings the stench of their crimes vividly into the public nostrils. Which is why our right-wing perverts and their media lapdogs seem more worried about revealing the truth than they do about the moral sinkhole of torture itself.
The truth has been known for some time, folks, This is just more detail, and further confirmation. And those who say we should keep it secret know full well that the goal is to conceal the truth from the American public, not from foreign enemies who already knew. George Will (who floated the attractiveness of torture early after 9/11), Peggy Noonan, Pat Buchanan, and all our good friends at the Zombie Channel--their concern is that YOU be kept in the dark, and that your knowledge not interfere with the elite's management of your government, your money, and your life.
Transparency is the enemy of the right, and of the national security establishment. The more transparency Obama allows, the more the rotting corruption of the political class that has dominated Washington for the last 50 years will be exposed.
So, Mr. Cheney and all your enablers, take your immunity, and your pardons, and your Nuremberg defense, and crawl into a corner while your crimes continue to be cataloged on the front pages. I hope you enjoy your "freedom."
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2 comments:
Barack Obama could never go after the prior administration without a solid mass of evidence, and public support. The consequences would be dire, and the political firestorm would produce far more noise than light.
But early on in his administration, he showed his hand by declaring that FOIA requests would be honored whenever possible, and therefore allowed the ACLU and other organizations access to the information that would let them build the case in the court of public opinion, by presenting the evidence in the clear light of day, thus necessitating investigations and ultimately compelling prosecutions.
At least that's what the plan seemed to be to me all along, and nothing has made it seem otherwise since.
I think you're right - he is accomplishing the shame without having to go through the politically fraught process of prosecuting.
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