The exact quote is "I think it's got legs and, you know, we have a great tradition going back to the Pentagon papers and the Nixon tapes and Iran-contra, of--we air the dirty laundry."
That's what Bob Woodward said yesterday on Face The Nation about the unfolding story of torture and the rule of law. Torture memos prepared within George W. Bush's Administration were released on April 16th; for the last 10 days the story has been getting bigger and Bigger and BIGGER. Which is amazing, in today's media cycle - and indeed demonstrates, as Woodward says, that the story has legs.
FireDogLake covered ABC's This Week and posted the following YouTube; the full transcript is here:
Let's look at what Donna Brazile said at the end of that YouTube again, as it bears repeating:
And I found an interesting link, over at DustyTrice.com - it's what President Reagan wrote when he sent the "Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment" (emphasis added) to the Senate. Here's the money quote:
The United States participated actively and effectively in the negotiation of the Convention . It marks a significant step in the development during this century of international measures against torture and other inhuman treatment or punishment. Ratification of the Convention by the United States will clearly express United States opposition to torture, an abhorrent practice unfortunately still prevalent in the world today.
The core provisions of the Convention establish a regime for international cooperation in the criminal prosecution of torturers relying on so-called "universal jurisdiction." Each State Party is required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution. (Ronald Reagan, Message to the Senate, May 20, 1988)
Let's repeat part of that again, with emphasis:
Each State Party is required either to prosecute torturers who are found in its territory or to extradite them to other countries for prosecution.
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the law; ratified during the Reagan Administration.
Another way to tell that this story has legs, is the vehemence from those defending the actions of Bush, Cheney, Condi, et al.
How vehement, you might ask? Well, let's look at Sean Hannity on Faux "Fox" News:
Let's review Hannity, defending the actions of the Bush misAdministration, at the 1:59 mark:
"A waterboard interrogation session - no more than 5 days within a 30 day period. No more than 2 sessions were permitted within a 24 hour period. A session could last no more than 2 hours - never more than...than...never longer than 40 seconds."
The fact that waterboarding was repeated so many times may raise questions about its effectiveness, as well as about assertions by Bush administration officials that their methods were used under strict guidelines.
A footnote to another 2005 Justice Department memo released Thursday said waterboarding was used both more frequently and with a greater volume of water than the C.I.A. rules permitted. (NY Times, 4-19-09)
"A real effective tool heh? Why in the he11 did we have to waterboard this person 183 times in a month if it was so effective?"
It's important to note that appearing with Hannity are a "Faux Fox News Anchor and Analyst" Kimberly Guilfoyle and "Columnist" S.E. Cupp - hardly an example of a "fair and balanced" pair to discuss anything impartially - especially when on Hannity's show.
No one can mock the absurdity of right wingers, especially when they doth protest too much, like Jon Stewart. So, let's watch!
The bottom line?
Donna Brazile said it in the beginning of that YouTube, at the top:
Sen. Leahy is going to move forward on the House side. Nancy Pelosi supports an independent commission. There are many on her Democratic side that believe this should be investigated. Go up the pyramid, find out if there are Republicans or Democrats, no one is above the law, George. It' s immoral, its wrong, it was ineffective. And if we have to get to the bottom of it it's uncomfortable. It might cause us to lose some stand in with some of our friends but our allies are going to look at what we did so let's get it on.
