"those who fight monsters...............

[27inCali]

should be careful they don't become monsters themselves......"
(I'll let you guess the source of the quote.)

But this very much applies to todays situation re: Obama/Torture

After years of watching Bush abuse his power and do awful things to our country and our Constitution, who could blame any of us for the sense of urgency we feel now concerning how our new President goes about undoing that damage? Many have stated -rightfully so- here at DU that the mess is epic in size, that it takes time, not every big issue can be solved at once and some will require long, painful processes. It is understandable though how, given the absolute insanity and inhumanity of Bushes torture practices that we are tempted now to lose patience with the slow pace of lawful procedure, but to demand of Obama to ignore the proper legal procedure as put forth by our Constitution and Federal Law, is to demand of him the same disrespect for the law that we all reviled Bush so much for.

If we expect Obama to disrespect the rule of law for the sake of expediency and revenge, then we become what we hate. This country is not a monarchy and our President does not just throw people in jail with the wave of his hand because it is emotionally satisfying to himself or us. He follows the law, WE follow the law and respect the Constitution -this is one of the very important reasons why we are better than the other side. Let's not lose that in the heat of the moment ....................
......................and yet at the same time, let us not lose our intensity in calling for action from A.G. Holder -he's the guy we need to put the heat on right now. I'm pretty sure he'll do what is right and to a certain extent it's up to people like us not so much to pressure him, but to give him the political cover he needs to successfully pull off some prosecutions. So let's stop shredding each other and get out there and help sway the national mood toward an independent investigation.

[ananda]

1. As Nietzsche pointed out..

Beware of fighting monsters lest ye become one.

Well.. it's happened.. to Israel too.

[27inCali]

3. oh snap......

does it EVER apply to Israel BIGTIME. haha!

[cali]

4. and to Russia- think Chechnya and to the U.S. and Great Britain

and to Sudan and dozens of other countries. That's the way of the world.

[Eric J in MN]

2. The Justice Dept should decide whom to prosecute,

...independent from the president.

[27inCali]

5. I think most people

with some concept of checks and balances in our government and how they are put there to protect our freedom would agree, let the A.G. handle it.

Nothing stops us though, from keeping this issue front and center giving Holder the kind of public pressure/support that would make bringing charges much easier.