Are we getting used to this?
“Judge Mukasey is not being treated fairly,” the president said, after taking the extraordinary step of inviting a group of reporters into the Oval Office to vent his feelings. Sitting behind his desk and leaning back in his chair, Mr. Bush said he was concerned that some people may have “lost sight of the fact that we’re at war.”
We’re at war, so we have to give the president everything he wants. The problem the president has is that he is a torturer. He wants us to overlook the fact that he has sullied our country with a reputation for torture.
“People who say we are not at war are either disingenuous or naïve,” Mr. Bush said at another point.
No one has suggested that we are not at war. We have suggested that you end the war. And none of this is relevant to whether you should be imprisoned for being a torturer.
“If the Senate Judiciary Committee were to block Judge Mukasey on these grounds, they would send a new standard for confirmation that could not be met by any responsible nominee for attorney general,” he said in a speech before the Heritage Foundation. “And that would guarantee that America would have no attorney general during this time of war.”
We have an acting Attorney General. Think about what you are saying, Bush. You are saying that no Attorney General could ever say that torture is torture. That’s what you are saying.
Meanwhile, Dick Cheney continues to obfuscate:
“They’ve been carefully reviewed by the Department of Justice and are very carefully monitored,” Mr. Cheney said of the techniques, in an appearance before the American Legion in Indianapolis. “The program is run by highly trained professionals who understand their obligations under the law. And the program has uncovered a wealth of information that has foiled attacks against the United States; information that has on numerous occasions made all the difference between life and death.”
Was Torquemada a ‘highly trained professional’, too? Imagine all the excellent intelligence Torquemada gleaned from those poor, desperate Jews and Moors.
The confirmation hearings are bringing reality back to the front. Our president is a torturer. Our vice-president is a torturer. Anyone that wants to be our chief law enforcement officer should admit as much.
