I know there's been a lot of debate on both the ethics and effectiveness of certain enhanced interrogation techniques, but when it comes to National Security, when it comes to defending America, I've got to agree with those who argue that no treatment is too harsh.
In fact, I hope the Obama administration won't shy away from using Bush approved techniques to get information on some of the most dangerous threats to America. I list a few suggestions below the fold:
THREAT #1: Politicizing the Justice Department
SOLUTION: Take Karl Rove into custody and Waterboard him 183 in one month, or until he reveals what he knows about the politicization of the DOJ.
The Justice Department, while a part of the Executive Branch, can only function effectively when it is free from politicization, and when it enforces the laws of the land justly and without prejudice. If we have policy disagreements with political adversaries, and use the Justice Department to pursue political ends, we're going to turn ourselves into the moral equivalent of a Latin American country run by colonels in mirrored sunglasses. It's clear that under the Bush administration the DOJ was so politicized that it constituted a clear and present danger to American democracy. If we're not vigilant, the evil-doers will strike again, so we need to know everything that happened.
So far Karl Rove has ignored Congressional subpoenas, refusing to tell us what they know. the Sergeant at Arms should take them into custody and commence the enhanced interrogations. Sure, what Karl Rove might need is therapy, but the threat is too great to trust any method other than those in the Bush Administration, those like Rove, formulated, approved and implemented.
THREAT #2: Jeopardizing America's (and the World's) Health by Selling-Out US Energy Policy
SOLUTION: Take Dick Cheney into Custody and place him in a cell too small to lay down, keep the temperature high, and the lights bright, and release some creepy crawly bugs into the cell to chase him around until he reveals the details of who served on his Energy Task Force.
Global Climate Change is Real. America is dependent on foreign oil from terrorist / socialist countries like Chavez's Venezuela, not to mention all those Middle East countries. To double-down on policies that perpetuate pollution and perpetuate our national dependence on Evil Foreigners is tantamount to treason, but is also essentially a slow-motion terrorist attack on America. We need to get to the bottom of what happened in those closed door meetings, to ensure that it never happens again.
So far Dick Cheney has eluded any accountability on this (and myriad other) subjects. We know Bush-approved enhanced techniques work, so there's no time to waste. The time-bomb is ticking and we need answers now, or we risk the very future of the United States of America.
I, for one, am glad the Bush Administration made these techniques available and legal in the service of defending America. When we meet unrepentant and recalcitrant architects of America's demise, and they refuse to surrender the information we've asked for nicely, what choice to we have if we're to get to the bottom of these burning issues and protect and defend our Country.
There are countless other threats left from the Bush era to which we should apply these techniques. The stakes are simply too high.
Surely Rove and Cheney wouldn't object to the Obama Administration using every legal means to address these national threats. Right?