Gonzales on torture
2005-01-07 20:06:31.603174+01 by Dan Lyke 2 comments
I ended up hearing some of the Alberto Gonzalez confirmation hearings yesterday. Chris Suellentrop sums up the weaseling perfectly:
Leahy's file may have been bursting with questions, but for most of Thursday's nearly nine-hour hearing the committee's Democrats wanted an answer to just one question: Does Gonzales think the president has the power to authorize torture by immunizing American personnel from prosecution for it?
During the hearing, Leahy called this idea, which comes from the August 2002 document dubbed the "Bybee memo," "the commander-in-chief override." And by hearing's end it was clear that Gonzales believed in it. (Otherwise, why not simply answer, "No"?) Early in the day, Gonzales professed the requisite faith that America was "a nation of laws and not of men," but his opinion of the president's ability—however limited—to authorize individuals to engage in criminal acts suggests the opposite.
Go. Read the whole damned thing.