SERIOUSLY SERIOUS
HH: "I very rarely meet literate Pittsburghians, so I’m glad to have you here. "
AS: "...money quote from a serious interview [by HH] of Colonel Stuart Herrington"
Interview on a serious topic, but HH, sadly, is neither serious truth seeker (he willfully can draw inference with scant factual basis) or a serious interviewer (see above) ...
The so-called ticking time-bomb issue has also been dealt with successfully and with savvy by the Israeli Supreme Court under similar, but arguably greater, political pressure to keep the gov'ts hands unfettered.
My Money quote:
HH: Now you know, I think it must be very frustrating for you, given how often interrogation is discussed by people who don’t know what they’re talking about. For example, last week we spoke with the president of the Society For Ethnomusicologists who were upset with the use of music in interrogation. Is…does anyone ever get it right, Colonel?
My money bet? HH is prepping to put Bush-43 behind the GOP, without limiting the power of the State, nothing more.
TRUTH AND NON-CONSEQUENCES
Separately:
At some point, it will also be necessary to set up some kind of truth and justice commission to examine the record, and press charges against the guilty....and ...
It is not "hysterical" to expose, and rectify this cancer. And it cannot be dealt with by looking the other way.
Well, I'd say there is less than a 50% chance of a Commission. Maybe Senator Rockefeller will have some additional hearings. Otherwise, there is a great deal that we can deal with by looking the other way, including even profound wrongs ...
The political positioning for this now is that we no longer do those things. That's what I take away from McCain's comments/stance on the matter (i.e. paraphrasing: "torture is not productive" and "the U.S. does not engage in torture"), for instance, FWITW.
TORTURE LINKAGES AND LINEAGES
Last, the somewhat "surprised tone" about how some folks have spoken disparagingly about lawyers (or top legal firms) for terrorists has a note of unsophistication about it. Where are these voices when labor lawyers get vilified and many else besides?
Here's some insight into the Texas legal system, that, apart from its low standards for capital punishment, shows up as highly political (any influence on Gonzales from it all, I wonder?): Yield: A Judge's First Year Diary (sold out on Amazon).
Never underestimate the number of might-is-Righters and their supporters, maybe?
