Reactions to President Obama's press conference have been varied -- but amid the chatter about Specter and swine flu, he dropped a bomb:
Waterboarding is torture, Obama says
The Associated Press
President Barack Obama said Wednesday night that waterboarding authorized by former President George W. Bush was torture and that the information it gained from terror suspects could have been obtained by other means.
"In some cases, it may be harder," he conceded at a White House news conference capping a whirlwind first 100 days in office....
The significance of this -- at least in terms of mainstream media coverage, and the use of the "t word" -- can't be overstated.
It's a gamechanger.
Lots of us have complained that the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and others have shied away from using the word "torture," preferring a style that terms the same thing "harsh interrogation techniques." That's Orwellian euphemism, of course, but it's been the prevailing style in news coverage.
Here's an early take on the change from Eugene Robinson of the Washington Post:
So What's Next on Torture?
President Obama's words on torture at his "100 days" news conference were, to my ears, sharp and unequivocal. What he didn't tell us is what happens next.
He said bluntly, without leaving any wiggle room, that waterboarding is torture. While he didn't directly answer the question of whether the Bush administration had "sanctioned torture," his moral clarity left listeners with only one inference to draw. He was particularly aggressive in refuting the "Jack Bauer" argument -- that torture may be unpleasant, but it produces quick and vital results. Obama said that interrogators "could have gotten this information in other ways, in ways that are consistent with our values, in ways that are consistent with who we are." He said he believes this just as strongly even after reading the intelligence memos that Dick Cheney says prove that the torture was justified. The president even cited Churchill, which politicians tend to do when they're in no mood to discern between shades of gray.
But now what?
The president of the United States told the world, in no uncertain terms, that at least one of the interrogation techniques practiced by his predecessor's administration constituted torture. As Obama knows, torture is against international and American law....
Everything follows from that realization.
But tonight, the Los Angeles Times couldn't even bring itself to use the "t word" in its coverage of the press conference where Obama used it repeatedly. Call it a death throe of the Times' editorial policy on news reporting:
Obama returns to theme of hope on 100th day of presidency
He says he is 'pleased . . . but not satisfied' with his administration's progress in the face of major issues including the economy and swine flu.
By Mike Dorning
Reporting from Washington -- President Obama marked the 100th day of his presidency today with a rosy assessment of the start of his administration, asserting that his policies would "lay a new foundation for growth" and sounding a note of optimism on the prospects for beleaguered American automakers....
And no, the writing doesn't get any better. Not a syllable about torture.
That changes now: The President has introduced the word to the mainstream. Things can't be the same now, whether President Obama does anything to prosecute torturers or not. His simple statement of fact is a gamechanger.
The Los Angeles Times will have to report it, whether it's in this shoddy first-blush coverage or in more detail later. The elephant in the room has a name, and it's not "harsh interrogation technique."
God Bless Barack Obama. God Bless the United States of America.
Now we can tell the truth, and the New York Times will have to print it.