It seems so bizarre that John C. Yoo is a professor at one of the icons of student unrest and anti-war activities of the 60s.
I appreciate academia maintains it's highest levels of learning and freedom by not caving to criticism concerning faculty, and in fact standing behind the principles and decisions that create positions for specific educators/academics is what sets unique levels for higher education. But this seems to be a blemish on academia, the employment of someone that worked meticulously to circumvent both the law and common decency.
As written in today's editorial in the NY Times:
"Eighty-one spine-crawling pages in a memo that might have been unearthed from the dusty archives of some authoritarian regime and has no place in the annals of the United States. It is must reading for anyone who still doubts whether the abuse of prisoners were rogue acts rather than calculated policy.
"The March 14, 2003, memo was written by John C. Yoo, then a lawyer for the Justice Department. He earlier helped draft a memo that redefined torture to justify repugnant, clearly illegal acts against Al Qaeda and Taliban prisoners."
Every time I see mention of – or more infuriating video of — John Yoo, I feel upset. How did this person find the need to pursue something so inhumane as to create legal lopholes so a human being might be tortured. And for what, extraction of pertinent information? Yeah, right.
How 'bout these swell accolades to solidify his teaching credentials at a liberal university:
He contributed to the PATRIOT Act and wrote memos in which he advocated the possible legality of torture and that enemy combatants could be denied protection under the Geneva Conventions. Yoo has also worked as a visiting scholar at the conservative think tank American Enterprise Institute since 2003.
Has any effort been made by the student body to rid the school of this embarrassment? Boycotting classes? Demonstrations? Have there been any rumblings towards the possibility of ridding the school of this charming piece of shit? My uninformed guess is that Yoo is probably not some brilliant legal mind — check under the rock the administration looked to find Alberto Gonzalez. No, Yoo is probably not as brilliant as he might be conniving. As is stated in the lead paragragh:
You can often tell if someone understands how wrong their actions are by the lengths to which they go to rationalize them. It took 81 pages of twisted legal reasoning to justify President Bush’s decision to ignore federal law and international treaties and authorize the abuse and torture of prisoners.
What exactly is the benefit to the Boalt Hall School of Law, University of California, Berkeley that they are willing to retain this specimen of scum to teach future lawyers?