In the Arena

Bravo McCain

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Regular readers know that I’ve not had much positive to say about John McCain in recent years, but his smackdown of the odious Dick Cheney on the subject of torture is worth celebrating. In fact, after some reflection, I’ve changed my mind and agree with McCain on both sides of the torture equation–that it is despicable, but that Eric Holder is making a mistake in revisiting the cases of those CIA officers who were involved in this awful business. Part of what changed my mind was this piece by Joseph Finder. I wasn’t aware that the cases of these miscreants had been reviewed by US prosecutors in Virginia and found insufficient for prosecution.

Let me, in fact, propose an alternative to staging another investigation of the little fish: Prosecute Cheney. He’s admitted that he approved the water-boarding. He’ll probably get off, but I’ve come to believe that a public excoriation of this dreadful man is a necessary cathartic.