I was on this phone call today with Tom Malinowski from Human Rights Watch and others discussing the Obama executive orders on torture, and everyone is guardedly optimistic about what this means for the rule of law. If the gray areas on "other dispositions" besides trying or releasing Gitmo detainees and the wiggle room on extra-legal torture techniques are cleared up, we have a blueprint for restoring the rule of law. We need to be vigilant, however, to close whatever loopholes there may be.
This didn't seem to matter to one reporter on the call, who up front ADMITTED HE HASN'T BEEN FOLLOWING THE ISSUE and asked what would happen if Khalid Sheikh Mohammed had to be set free because we waterboarded him. This is someone who has confessed to practically every terrorist act of the last 40 years, wants to be a martyr, and for whom there is enough evidence untainted by torture to progress to trial.
The media has been doing the republicans' and the Bush's bidding so long that they can't help themselves. Peacenik thinks its time the media was re-educated. Obama and his media team need to shoot down the nonsense that is spouted on Fox and CNN and the New York Times. And some of the talking heads need to retire. GE, the corporate owner of CNBC, has been to the public trough for bailout money. Maybe its time to remind GE who is funding the bailout. Its not the republicans. Its not the conservatives. Its not Rush Limbaugh.
