WAPO columnist mocks "liberal score-settlers" for demanding prosecution of torturers

[nodramamama]

The "centrist" David Ignatius today does what Ruth Marcus of the same newspaper already did twice: oppose prosecution of Bush officials responsible for the torturing of prisoners. In doing so, Ignatius engages in name-calling against liberals.

To underscore the message, Obama indicated that he would oppose retrospective investigations of wrongdoing by the CIA and other agencies, arguing: "When it comes to national security, what we have to focus on is getting things right in the future, as opposed looking at what we got wrong in the past." This is the kind of realism that will disappoint liberal score-settlers, but it makes clear that Obama has a grim appreciation of the dangers America still faces from al-Qaeda and its allies. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/01/14/AR2009011402931.html?hpid=opinionsbox1

Glen Greenwald responds. Excerpt:


Now added to the pantheon of "liberal" dogma is the shrill, ideological belief that high government officials must abide by our laws and should be treated like any other citizen when they break them. To believe that now makes you not just a "liberal," but worse: a "liberal score-settler." Apparently, one can attain the glorious status of being a moderate, a centrist, a high-minded independent only if one believes that high political officials (and our most powerful industries, such as the telecoms) should be able to break numerous laws (i.e.: commit felonies), openly admit that they've done so, and then be immunized from all consequences. That's how our ideological spectrum is now defined.


Read it all: http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/01/15/ignatius/index.html

[derby378]

1. There's a big difference between the "realistic" and the "real"

What's real is that the Bush administration tortured people.

What's real is that they are not above the law, no matter what they believe.

What's real is the need to prosecute Bush administration officials for breaking the law.

[EFerrari]

2. Does anyone have a link to these remarks by Obama that is not WaPo?

:(

[nodramamama]

7. ABC News

"When it comes to my attorney general he is the people's lawyer... His job is to uphold the Constitution and look after the interests of the American people, not to be swayed by my day-to-day politics. So, ultimately, he's going to be making some calls, but my general belief is that when it comes to national security, what we have to focus on is getting things right in the future, as opposed to looking at what we got wrong in the past."

But the same piece says Obama "does not rule out" prosecutions.

http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Economy/story?id=6619291&page=1

[EFerrari]

8. Thank you!

[sui generis]

3. oooooh I'm a librool

and I'm comin' after you!

[John Q. Citizen]

4. Yep. Centrists are soft on crime! And proud of it.

[rudy23]

5. Sounds like a few posters on here!

I wonder who some of those posters are working for, and why that's the message they want to get out.

[hadrons]

6. This idiot Ignatius was one of the first to cite the Tv show 24 as a reason to justify torture ...

He also wrote an article stating how much hope was in the air in Iraq (the Green Zone of course) whe he was there following their "elections"

[Cha]

9. Fuck david ignatius and his fucking

fiction.

[AtomicKitten]

12. well said and I concur!

[polly7]

10. 'liberal score settlers'

well they should rename every prosecuting attorney who prosecutes every crime the same, because as far as I've seen, the 'score-settlers' want justice for justice sake only. I don't understand these people who would excuse some crime and campaign on big-talk against others. Hypocrite is the only word that comes to mind.

[KakistocracyHater]

11. neocon=savage tribalist

also any Republicans that damn others based not on personal actions but on group membership.