Scott Forbes » Torture

Quote of the Day

Scott Forbes — Wed, 13 May 2009 05:49:19 +0000

Former Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura, who as an ex-Navy SEAL is one of the few politicians in America with first-hand knowledge of waterboarding:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoqmH49VBC0

You give me a waterboard, Dick Cheney and one hour, and I’ll have him confess to the Sharon Tate murders.

(Via Andrew Sullivan.)

What Hilzoy said

Scott Forbes — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 04:53:50 +0000

I don’t do “what she said” posts often (actually never, come to think of it), but Hilzoy’s post on why we should prosecute war criminals, even if they were high-ranking members of the executive branch — especially if they were high-ranking members of the executive branch — pretty much covers it. This isn’t a partisan issue, unless you believe the rule of law shouldn’t apply to members of your own party.

Absence of Malice

Scott Forbes — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 17:30:34 +0000

Over at Andrew Sullivan’s blog, a reader writes that he believes Obama is unlikely to prosecute former Bush Administration officials for war crimes, and cites Abraham Lincoln to make his case:

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

This analysis bothers me, because it implies there could only be one motive — vengeance — for enforcing our nation’s laws.

I think Obama urgently needs to prosecute lawbreaking members of the Bush Administration: Not as payback, but as a critical step in restoring the rule of law. As a step toward preventing the next generation of Nixonistas from romping into the Oval Office and violating laws with impunity, relying on Obama’s precedent that “bipartisan outreach” means forgiving the other party’s crimes.

I don’t want vengeance. I want the law enforced without regard to party affiliation, which would be a welcome change from what the party of Rove and Gonzales has wrought these past eight years. Instead of heeding Lincoln’s call to forgiveness, Obama’s Justice Department should follow a more recent creed: There are no Republican criminals and no Democratic criminals. There are just criminals.