Pruning Shears

No Associated Press content was harmed in the writing of this post

On Tuesday the New York Times reported the administration is debating the release of torture memos, with opposition from current and former CIA officers who “say a rush to release classified material could expose intelligence methods and needlessly offend dedicated counterterrorism officers.”  At this point is seems pretty clear that such statements are meant for consumption for the Beltway political and chattering classes, both of whom still refuse to seriously treat the prospect of war crimes or systematized torture during the Bush years.  By the end of the week what was described as “holy hell” had broken out and there was a curious development:

The continued internal debate explains the Justice Department’s decision late Thursday to ask a federal judge for another two-week delay (until April 16) to file a final response in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union seeking the release of the memos. The ACLU agreed to the two-week delay only after Justice officials represented that “high-level Government officials will consider for possible release” the three 2005 memos as well as another Aug. 1, 2002, memo on torture, that has long been sought by congressional committees and members of Congress, according to a motion filed by Justice lawyers with U.S. Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein in New York, who is overseeing the case.

The 2002 memo, written by former Justice lawyers Jay Bybee and John Yoo, concluded that waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques could be used against Qaeda suspects without violating a federal law that prohibits torture.

The ACLU agreed to it but another article I read said they weren’t particularly happy about the delay.  But if they’re willing to put up with it, so am I.

I noted back in September that “fusion centers” are basically domestic Constitution-free zones.  There was more evidence of that this week.  The recent spate of shootings may have been somewhat influenced by the frenzy of paranoia being whipped up by politicians and commentators on the right - and I will not link to any of them - but it’s hard not to think that part of it is a kind of rebound effect from anxiety suppressed during the Bush years.  The walls have been closing in for a while now but authoritarian followers on the right were not permitted to voice any concerns they may have had.  Looked at from that perspective it’s no surprise at all that they have become so extreme so quickly.  It isn’t just being completely out of power for the first time in quite a while, it’s years of pent-up frustration as well.

Andrew pointed to Pat Leahy’s admission that any kind of truth commission is not going to happen.  I think any such investigation belongs with the Justice Department, so this isn’t really a big deal to me.  A Senate investigation could have put pressure on Justice so it may have been useful in that regard, but overall the news isn’t worth much more to me than a shoulder shrug - except to note that Leahy once again looks toothless and silly.

The rationalizations by Bush officials for their role in torture looks to have begun thanks to the slow but sure turning of the wheels of justice - in Spain.  Anyone in his position, from the second least-intelligent person alive on up, would have known enough by now to hire a lawyer and retreat behind a wall of silence.  Feith, alas, does not belong to that esteemed group.

Marcy:

Based on these quotes, Pool Boy and Allen do “reporting” that consists of making unproven (and in some cases, nonsensical) assertions about the auto industry, and, without questioning, claiming that such assertions cannot be made about the banksters.

More:

(And if you believe that, I’ve got a tranche of AAA mortgage backed securities I’d like to sell you.)

Such epic sarcasm, though amusing, is not as satisfying as this:

And according to the Louisiana Municipal Police Employee Retirement System, which holds 85,000 shares of Chesapeake, the payout awarded late last year to Aubrey K. McClendon, the company’s chief executive, certainly seems ripe for inquiry.

Rather than filing an expensive and possibly futile suit against Chesapeake’s directors, the Louisiana shareholders have initiated a “books and records demand” in a state court in Oklahoma, where Chesapeake is incorporated. If the court allows the proceeding, shareholders can examine corporate documents to see if the board’s approval of Mr. McClendon’s bonus was proper.

We’ve been here, quite notably, once before, when shareholders sued directors at the Walt Disney Company, a case decided in 2005. That suit, which began as a books-and-records demand, related to the $130 million exit package that Michael Ovitz snared after just 14 months of work, and alleged that Disney’s directors breached their fiduciary duties to shareholders. The plaintiffs lost the suit, but directors were put on notice that they had to be able to justify their pay decisions.

How about it, shareholders?

UNPACKING JANE: Steve Kleinman is a longtime military interrogator and intelligence officer.  Mayer reports on page 246:

Kleinman declined to provide details about whom he worked with in Iraq, some of which were classified. But other sources and documents make clear that he was sent in to advise [secret interrogation center at Baghdad International Airport] TF-20. The first stop was Camp Cropper, the military’s central booking facility near Baghdad International Airport. So many Iraqi prisoners were being brought in that Kleinman asked where they would all be housed. “When they told me Abu Ghraib,” he said, “I laughed.  I couldn’t believe it. The place was a symbol of Saddam’s abuses. They should have turned it into a school, or a hospital, or just blown it up.” Instead, he said, “As soon as they stood it up, Abu Ghraib became the repository for our mistakes. Rejecting Rumsfeld’s argument that the only problem was a handful of wayward soldiers, he said “It was not a few rotten apples. It was the Zimbardo experiment writ large.”