The call to prosecute those involved with the torture memos is both premature and flawed. The same holds true for calls on the Justice Department to investigate and prosecute.
And this is a good thing.
What people are forgetting in the rush to convict is that despite the victory in November, there is still aa very weak coalition of non-rightwing and non-neocons who took a chance and walked away from their own beliefs in the hope that Obama and Democrats in general could recover America.
The evidence of walking lightly in this path is clear since Inauguration Day, while the reasons have been less than obvious.
For the moment, the key to everything is gaining the moral high ground.
By refusing to go wholesale into the "librul frenzy" that the right wing has been accusing the Obama administration of doing, the President has been slowly winning over those who crossed over, as well as the middle and conservatives of his own party.
Further, by refusing to take action, Obama is leaving it wholly within the hands of Congress to deal with, leaving his hands completely clean of any political backlash.
And, lastly, in doing so, this also empowers the Democratic Congress to clean up its own membership in each House, specifically identifying and, if needs be, isolating the Blue Dogs.
Calling for the hearings must come from the Congress, not the White House or the Justice Department. To do othewise would taint the Obama administration unnecessarily, both by action and by locking it all behind closed doors of a courtroom.
It is a wiser move to allow Congress, with the use of C-SPAN and open hearings, to play this out before the American and world public...and once done, then allow the wheels of Justice to grind exceedingly fine.
UPDATE: Thanks to those posting, for the words left unsaid:
In order for the Obama administration to move any agenda forward, Congress needs to be able to work and act with clear and unequivocal majorities.
Release of the memos while not taking action motivates this in two ways:
- It sets the moral standard of the administration.
- It challenges the Congress to meet that standard and act accordingly.
Remember, the past eight years in which the administration ignored Congress; Obama is subtly reminding them that oversight is not only their job, but their duty as well.
Once hearings begin, it's going to be exceedingly difficult for those non-dogmatic/non-rightwing Republicans and Blue Dogs to justify staying in lockstep with the Bush apologists, and keep their seats in 2010.
Ergo...release the memos, and let Congress act...or not. Either way, Obama has done the "right thing"...and still has the option to prosecute if Congress can't get it together in time.