We have such a need to believe in heroes. When some of these men stood up for something we believe in, we think that they must share other of our values. They don’t. Put simply, no one with any integrity would be caught dead working for this Administration. George Bush is the worst President in our history. They can’t have worked for him without noticing this or without buying into much of what this worst of all Presidents represents. They signed off on and enabled much that was deeply antithetical to the Constitution because they thought it could be finessed as a matter of law. They aren’t heroes. They just aren’t quite as bad as Gonzales, Addington, and Yoo.

Mary says:

It is a part of what angered me so about the programs to start with – none of the lawyers or agency heads (be it Ashcroft, Tenet, Hayden, Thompson, Yoo, Bybee, etc.) seemed to have any care or concern for protecting the people they involved in the process. They did help create it and you can see how strongly they have an “our people” v. “outsiders” approach. A fine thing in a friendship and a deplorable thing in a prosecutor or agent of democratic government. …… People who were willing to continue in all this without coming truthfully and openly and apologetically forward aren’t people who were trying to do the right thing. Going to bed every night knowing the horrors you were actively involved in visiting upon all kinds of people, including children, including kidnapped children used for torture leverage — and never ever ever ever ever ever backing away from it — good people don’t do that.

EXACTLY! THANK YOU. It absolutely blows my mind when people see one thing one of these clucks has said that happens to temporarily sound reasonable, and all of a sudden they are “heroes”. Remember all the folks at FDL exclaiming “Comey for Attorney General!”; or, more recently, the folks thinking we owe some debt of gratitude to Doughboy Goldsmith for writing his freaking book? where were all these people when it counted? They were removing our rights, reading our emails and listening to our calls; thats where. Oh, and kidnapping and torturing people extrajudicially. The truth about this gang of four, Ashcroft, Comey, Goldsmith and Philbin, was always plain to see. They made a stink during the hospital visit situation, but the “program” blithely continued on with a signature from Gonzales, which anybody with a brain knew was insufficient, and these fine folks did nothing. Nuff said; they are not good people and hopefully everybody can see that now.

Mary – I believe the concept you are so eloquently and correctly explaining and describing with the boat scenario etc. is formally known as justification. There are times when a certain act is technically illegal, but you may be justified in doing it anyway. The easiest example is it is illegal to kill another, but if you are saving your own life, or that of another, it is justified. Self defense is a justification defense as would be the temporary use of the boat due to exigent circumstances.

Calling nurse Ratchet- clusterfuck in progress in the padded cells.

http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..e-pile-on/

Harman sends e-mails to drational and empty wheel

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/10/31/10182/509

http://thenexthurrah.typepad.c…..l#comments