I've been waiting for us to eat our own. I didn't think this would be the issue that brought us to this point, but I've been wrong before.
The issue of course is the pictures of detainee abuse that Obama has so far refused to release to the public.
We seem to have two sides to this argument, and you're both off-base. And you're letting it take over this and every other progressive site while you are at it.
Stop.
Stop it.
In summary:
If you don't believe that we are eating ourselves on this one, then just keep up this bullshit. We have the bad guys on the run, Cheney and Limbaugh are the face of the GOPasaurus, their party is in tatters, Obama's approval is sky-high and YOU ARE GOING TO FUCK IT UP OVER SOMETHING THAT DOESN'T MATTER. The investigations matter, justice matters, the photos don't. Right now the GOP is happy. Happy. Happy. We aren't talking about how they suck, and that's good for them.
Congratulations on giving them their window.
Side 1: He's acting like Bush.
No. No, he's not. These pictures are known, we know they exist, we know they are bad. We know people did bad things. No one is covering that up. Holding the photos back does not cover it up. And taking legal measures is not a cover up. If this goes to SCOTUS and then Obama refuses, I'll agree. But that's not where we are. Don't justify it with "But the court already ruled." No shit! We know that. This is a new and different legal argument and it could be accepted or rejected. No one is doing anything illegal here and if you disagree, then disagree. But don't dedicate your life to this issue before it's resolved.
Side 1 also likes to talk about "transparency". Newsflash: We KNOW about the abuse. This isn't Abu Ghraib where we were all shocked and appalled and didn't know that crap was going. No one is denying it and the current DoJ investigations are ongoing. We know what is going on. You do not need to see grpahic photos to know that more abuse took place. You already know.
Side 2: Releasing photos will hurt the troops.
Our troops are already in harm's way and there aren't any countries out there who are unaware of the past abuses. Potential enemies already know it. So this is a weak excuse.
Quite simply this is about doing the right thing under the rule of law. These photos will not add to the case, contrary to what you may believe. The case is already there. The release of these photos will distract from the actual meat of the case, and we can't afford that. Remember television news after Abu Ghraib? That's what it will be for the next month.
We do not need 4-6 weeks of photos of detainee abuse monopolizing the airwaves and taking us away from the work we are doing, all becuase you want to prove a point that doesn't fucking matter.
Get back to what you were doing two days ago.
Get back to pummeling the GOP.
And quit pummeling each other. FFS.