This is simple, folks. Don't make it harder than it really is.

A) The conclusion as to who is going to hang for all this "torture stuff" has already been determined. That is why it has taken this long to come to the conclusion that an investigation is even going to happen, regardless of its scope. They've already worked out a prosecutorial guideline which will swerve around any and all high-level officials who need to be protected from a wider-ranging probe. For all of you who are thinking that this "narrow" inquiry is going to open up a larger can of worms, stop kidding yourselves. It is not going to happen that way. Need proof? See Abu Ghraib investigation [sic]. Need more proof? See Anthrax/Bruce Ivins investigation [sic].

B) Powers (political) That Bee realize that we citizens are a largely uninformed, misinformed (those are very different), slothful, and dispassionate group with a short attention span and memory as a whole. That being the case, the "solution" to all this is to quell the rabble-rousers with a super narrowly defined show-trial or two, take down a couple no-name so-and-sos, and present the results with great fanfare and pronounce the entire affair "settled--once and for all." That way, the "Looking-Forward-Not-Back" mantra can be dusted off and used at the next Horrors of Injustice distraction that comes up.

C) The producers and directors of this Gov't of Horrors Gameshow realize that with each passing day, week, and month this issue is left unresolved, the more crises, situations, panics, and pandemics will bubble up to the surface of the news cycle, thus drawing more and more attention away from this issue, making it less important that the "right thing" actually get done. No point in upsetting the elite and powerful's apple cart if a little time and tap-dancing will maintain the status quo just fine.

Is this view cynical? Hell yeah. But those who are willing to view the truth in its unadulterated, un-rose-colored form know it is exactly what is happening and what is going to happen.

Meanwhile, we get bombarded by Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh bullshit and do nothing except sit here and type in a blog comments section. Yay us.

Daphne, I appreciate your contributions to Glenn's blog while he's away. I do find your conclusions very naive, however, and I don't think I could put my thoughts on that any better than "Adams" just did above. Also, Mike Sulzer's brief point at the top of page 2 is spot on as well.

If you've not learned from Iran Contra, Abu-Ghraib, or the Anthrax investigations, I suggest you review those cases and their outcomes in order to have your "Table of Contents" for exactly how this bogus investigation by Holder is going to go down.

Now, I need to get back to all the coverage on CNN and every other major news outlet about the Tea Bagging Healthcare protesters. Oh, oh, and I need to compare and contrast this against the amazingly thorough job these same news agencies did in covering the hundreds of thousands of people who marched on Washington and all over the country protesting the invasion of Iraq prior to that fateful day.

Oh wait....you need actual coverage of the latter in order to do a proper compare and contrast.....dagnabit, another great plan ruined at the hands of our MSM....

So the gov't doesn't want to release these photos because it might "enflame" anti-US sentiments, and someone might get hurt or killed as a result.

Awesome.

Why is it that when people state this when making an argument or post, they don't also directly contrast that statement against the whole existence of Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, Bagram, and even the entire package of lies sold to the world for the invasion of Iraq in the first place? Aren't those things the real Statue-of-Liberty-sized examples of what "enflames" the people of those countries?

It's like throwing a piece of notebook paper into a California wildfire for cripes sake.

What passes for mainstream intelligent discourse in this country is truly embarrassing.

I wonder if it would be possible to find a right-wing nutball who would agree to come on Salon Radio with you so you could interview them and figure out how it is they go about interpreting life by ignoring so much reality. I'm serious.

I know several right-wing nutballs who are all alike in terms of how they ignore facts, deny reality, fight against their own interests, and process information with such a grotesque hypocrisy that it would give me a migraine to think like that for even a minute.

Of course, the really weird part is: Any nutball fitting this description has juuuuuuuusssssssssst enough common sense to know better than to be interviewed by you, or anyone who sees completely through their bullshit.

The interview that Rachel Maddow had with that right-wing lobbyist a few weeks ago was a rare exception--he totally behaved according to script throughout the entire interview, ignoring facts, denying reality, etc.....

Glenn, think about it.....see if you can find someone willing to come onto your radio show.....maybe one of Glenn Beck's multiple personalities might agree to it if you catch it just after the Zanax kicks in.

Anyone with an idea of how to make the noise that the media will bother hearing and showing?

Yes. A week-long national work stoppage. Bring it all to a halt. That would get their attention.

Herd cats much?