Obama, herald of change
In the words of the certainly-not-conservative Jeffrey Rosen,
Barack Obama is trying to split the difference on torture. He wants to move forward–no messy dwelling on the Bush-Cheney era–except that he’ll look backward if forced. There will be no independent commission to hold top-ranking officials politically accountable. But, if Attorney General Eric Holder wants to prosecute the Bush lawyers who defended the legality of waterboarding–John Yoo, Jay Bybee, and Steven Bradbury–well, the president won’t stand in the way.
What does Obama gain by this approach? For starters, he has delegated the hard choice to his subordinate–and has left himself room to maneuver once more if the political winds shift further.
At least he’s living up to my expectations.