In my opinion, Chris Floyd has been the single most important political blogger of the Bush era. [And as more of you seem to be understanding, that era is not yet at an end.]
I think this may be his most important piece to date.
To sum up: Did the leading members of the Bush Administration instigate and collude in actions that resulted in a war of aggression and the deliberate, systematic infliction of torture on captives? Yes. Do they admit -- even boast -- that these actions occurred? Yes. What defense can they offer then?
... the principals of the Bush Administration would have only one defense: precedent. They would have to show that their actions had been accepted practice in American government for many, many years -- from the very beginning, in fact -- and had never been regarded as prosecutable offenses before. To imprison them now -- or even execute them -- for carrying on the standard policies and practices of bipartisan governance stretching back for generations would surely constitute cruel and unusual punishment. It would be selective prosecution.
It is a lengthy piece. He rushes past no point in his argument. It is written with a scathing moral clarity that reminds me of Solzehnitsyn. And it changed my vehemently held opinion in a way I would have claimed impossible.
Obama's 20%-ers will never be reached, of course. But the rest of you seriously ought to read the whole thing.
But we all know there will be no such trial, and certainly no such defense. As we have seen in the last few months, the American political class and its media sycophants have rallied 'round the flag to defend the system's core values. They have made it abundantly clear that they do not consider torture and military aggression to be criminal offenses when these actions are carried out by the American government. Instead, such things are regarded as affairs of state -- matters of policy and politics, subject to factional quibbling over their execution and extent, perhaps, but certainly not a question of law, or justice, or morality.