Indeed, due in no small part to the incompetence of the Media, Hayden thinks the illegality of the Bush Administration was vindicated by yesterday's FISC appellate court ruling. Hayden said:
Hayden won a measure of vindication with the release of a court ruling Thursday that supported the administration's right to compel U.S. telecommunications companies to cooperate with the eavesdropping effort. "My reaction?" Hayden said Thursday, referring to the ruling. "Duh."
It takes a special level of willful blindness and/or ignorance to write that "Hayden won a measure of vindication" and to say, as Hayden does, "Duh." Here is another perfect illustration of how the last 8 years happened. The Media is incompetent and craven, the Bush Administration shameless.
There is irony in the fact that the Media's attempts to sweep torture and lawlessness under the rug are providing the strongest evidence of why we can not sweep it under the rug.
One final point on why it can not be swept under the rug - the Bush Administration is insisted waterboardng is legal:
The White House said Wednesday that the widely condemned interrogation technique known as waterboarding is legal and that President Bush could authorize the CIA to resume using the simulated-drowning method under extraordinary circumstances.
The surprise assertion from the Bush administration reopened a debate that many in Washington had considered closed. Two laws passed by Congress in recent years -- as well as a Supreme Court ruling on the treatment of detainees -- were widely interpreted to have banned the CIA's use of the extreme interrogation method.
But in remarks that were greeted with disbelief by some members of Congress and human rights groups, White House spokesman Tony Fratto said that waterboarding was a legal technique that could be employed again "under certain circumstances."
The Beltway Media wants it swept under the rug but the Bush Administration wants the issue aired. On this issue, I am with the Bush Administration. Let's investigate this and get to the truth.
Speaking for me only