Screaming Penguin

It's been a while since I talked politics in the states, which is partly because I think things are getting lot more rational and don't always require the railing, but I have to jump in today with a positive note. At the first confirmation hearing for the new AG, Eric Holder, out of the gate he noted that waterboarding is torture, and noted how we prosecuted our own soldiers for it in Vietnam. He also noted that it's ineffective and there are better ways to get information - all in about two sentences. Next. (While W and his stellar admin officials always pussyfoot around it and ultimately condone it.) Holder also noted that no one is above the law, including any captain signing statement clown, er, President. He then went on to make many other rational and logical points, he was pretty impressive. I don't particularly care for the pardons he gave while in the Clinton admin myself, but in the grand scale of AG screw ups where does that really compare with: f-ing over the entire justice department with political hacks, condoning torture and other tactics that put our nation at greater risk by motivating terrorists (and not providing any information to boot), "prosecuting" hundreds of bullshit cases about "terrorism" to keep the fear on and never getting a conviction, extraordinary rendition, using national security as an excuse to ignore the law at every turn (letters, PATRIOT, more), and, all the while anointing ones self in oil.