The problem of demagogues – political figures who fashion themselves as leaders of the masses and who will go to almost any extreme to hold and expand their power — is one that has stalked democracy from its very beginnings. It is one generated by the tension at the very heart of democracy – if political power is invested in, and derived from the will of the people, how to protect against leaders who stir up the people’s passions for their own destructive ends? In this book, an impressive work of philosophy and political science that is both rigorous and accessible, writer, analyst, and current candidate for Lt. Governor of Virginia Michael Signer explores the problem of the demagogue from the ancient Greeks down to the present day.

Last week, California blogger DDay (who also blogs at Digby’s place) began a petition drive to ask the California Democratic Party to pass a resolution calling for the impeachment of Jay Bybee from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Today, at the state party convention in Sacramento, they passed it:

CALLING FOR THE INVESTIGATION OF JUDGE JAY BYBEE AND OTHERS FOR THEIR ROLE IN ALLOWING TORTURE AS PART OF “ENHANCED INTERROGATION”

“No one is above the law in this country,” she said, adding later, “It’s about the rule of law.”

Should there be a commission to publicly investigate the use of torture by the Bush administration?

We can’t be democratic citizens and torturers, too. That is not a preference, it is an empirical fact. Democracy is based upon recognition of the unique individual. Torture is the denial of that recognition.

A Washington Post article by Peter Finn and Joby Warrick has made a big splash, reporting that a memorandum from Joint Personnel Recovery Agency to DoD General Counsel in July 2002 warned that “torture” would produce “unreliable information.”

However, we cannot conclude from this that JPRA was against the use of coercive interrogation.

I wanted to point out two more details from the Pelosi press conference the other day when she made her comments about briefings on torture (the complete transcript of this section is below).

First, Pelosi points out that one thing BushCo did was put intelligence-related appropriations through without telling the intelligence committee what they were putting through.

My rank speculation that torture was forced on CIA from above may not have been such a tin foil hat theory after all.

Sunday talk show lineups, and other public policy programming. Major topic: Obama’s first 100 days. Also, interviews with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (ABC), Jordan’s King Abdullah II (NBC), and VP Joe Biden (60 Minutes).

Baby Puss starring Tom and Jerry.  This 1943 cartoon was directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera and was produced by Fred Quimby.  Animation by Kenneth Muse, Ray Patterson, Irven Spence, George Gordon and Pete Burness.  Voices by Sara Berner.  Music by Scott Bradley.

What’s on your mind tonight?