Eric Holder: Hey, Let's Jail the People Who've Kept Us Safe for Eight Years

Considering prosecuting the "torturers."

Attorney General Eric Holder is considering whether to appoint a criminal prosecutor to investigate the Bush administration's interrogation practices, a controversial move that would run counter to President Obama's wishes to leave the issue in the past.

Holder plans to make a final decision within the next few weeks, a Justice Department official told The Associated Press on Saturday night. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on a pending matter.

Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller said Holder planned to "follow the facts and the law."

"We have made no decisions on investigations or prosecutions, including whether to appoint a prosecutor to conduct further inquiry," he said. "As the attorney general has made clear, it would be unfair to prosecute any official who acted in good faith based on legal guidance from the Justice Department."

BTW: Remember, it was Eric Holder who decided to void the conviction of the armed, uniformed Black Panthers who stood outside a polling place and intimidated voters. Even the ACLU was upset at the Obama administration's decision to allow a little voter intimidation, just as long as it was coming from the "right people."

So apparently the rule of law applies vindictively against those who seek to secure our right to life itself, but not so much to those who seek to take away our right to vote.

Some constitutional guarantees are more important than others, and some victims more worthy of vindicating. Swarthy third-worlders who wish to murder us > white suburban voters just trying to cast a vote.

Distraction: Ah, distraction. Obama's favorite meme. As a commenter points out, maybe he's doing this to distract us from the fact he can't fix the economy and in fact seems to be hurting it.

There is a long-storied presidential tradition of turning to foreign policy and emphasizing foreign policy initiatives and successes when the economy goes sour. Jimmy Carter and George Bush the Elder used this tactic a lot, preferring to meet with the press only in the Rose Garden when flanked by foreign leaders, strongly hinting that foreign policy was the important thing to ask about.

Obama can't do this as he seeks no foreign policy victories. His plan is simply US capitulation in almost all foreign disputes.

So what does he turn to? "Defending the constitution" by prosecuting CIA officers. That's sort of foreign policy, kinda. And the only "foreign policy dispute" he can win, as it doesn't involve an actual outside foreign power.

posted by Ace at 02:31 PM

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