That was the best post of the year. (to my taste of course)

It is the ongoing, brutal occupation that harms women and children in many horrible ways that is hurting millions and millions. Thanks for highlighting that.

That picture you used should give everyone something to reflect on.

Another good catch, Glenn. Still, we knew Obama was going to continue Bush/Cheney's running of the war machine when he kept Gates. He was a sop to the "America First" people (many of whom now want to secede...).

Still, as you say, Obama is wrong. On moral grounds as well as on the grounds that it probably wouldn't hurt America's standing in the long term. Let's hope he gets around to dealing with this issue correctly pretty soon.

I want my country back!

I'm no lawyer, but couldn't the ACLU agree not to seek the release of the photographs if the government would stipulate that the images do indeed depict (however many acts of) torture and where those acts occurred? Then the trials could proceed, right?

I can’t believe in his change anymore. I want to. He looks good, he sounds good (usually), but he’s turned his back too many times already on the transparency in government that he promised. In this area, he is only marginally better than George W. Bush, and in some ways worse. Does anyone think that Bush would have gone out of his way to cover up any crimes that Clinton might have committed?

This reminds me of Nixon's "secret" war in Cambodia. Who exactly was that a secret from? Certainly not the Cambodians.

In the same way, it's no surprise to those on the receiving end of detainee abuse- and their families and communities generally- that these things occured. It seems clear to me that Obama's decision has mostly to do with domestic political considerations.

I find that repugnant.

For writing this post and for calling attention to the efforts by PDA and ondelette in yesterday's thread. It is simply amazing, and incredibly disheartening to have the exact same arguments with Obama supporters that we had with those who defended identical actions from Bush.

Criminals, as well as authoritarians, come in all stripes, colors and flavors.

Enuf said.

Could Glenn or someone here remind us how the original photos came to light and under what circumstances? I'll ask Mr. Google in the meantime.

..with Joe Klein

somebody is going on about how "The Vice President" has said or done something, and they are always referring to Darth Cheney.

When they want to talk about actual VP Joe Biden -- and the only time they want to do that is to point and laugh -- they refer to him as "Joe Biden" or sometimes just "Biden."

But Cheney is always "The Vice President."

Given Obama's now routine capitulation to Bushevik framing and demands, my conclusion is that "The Vice President" still rules from behind the Throne.

Wags speculate that there wasn't really a change of "administration" at all. Just a change of management.

that's why we elected Obama and you have to see it just as the beginning of a long time strategy - because even you couldn't have thought he is going to stop all these 'atrocities' right away -

For that you just have to be a little bit more patient and rally wait until all the old warriors are dead! (or if you are in a hurry you would have to do something - you once accused me thinking about) - But see Glenn I'm patient - and if I start to get impatient I visit my uncle in Egypt -

and he always tells: One day everything is going to be fine - and when you going to elect me for President in thirty years you will have much less to complain about!

File the divorce papers. Obama's lies are just as blatant as those of Bush. And he is in a really crazy position: The right attacks him for doing pretty much what they approved of Bush doing. The "left" (as defined yesterday) is pissed off. And then there are the others, the true believers. There number seems to be going up, not down!

I helped Obama's campaign, and gradually I'm seeing the truth of what Turley said on the Rachel show...this is the most colossal bait and switch in American history.

I had to campaign for Obama because I couldn't imagine the Republicans continuing their criminal behavior. But here we are, exactly where we were before the election.

It's beyond sickening.

Turley suggested that maybe Obama is merely hoping that his attempt to suppress the torture photos will provoke an outrage that will give him political cover to begin investigations and prosecutions.

I used to think that was the case (multiple-dimensional chess!), or I should say that I really HOPED that was the case. But no more.

Your article today was absolutely 100 percent correct - I am going to send Obama an e-mail about how wishy-washy and weak he appears when he capitulates to the generals and the right wing. He is only hoisting himself on his own petard.

I'm no "true believer" or whatever name calling you people call anyone who dares think differently than you, but Obama is not "suppressing" evidence, he's keeping it under internal investigation. Since when does the public get all the evidence of a crime case? If you are raped are your snatch shots displayed on CNN?

Glenn is a self-serving navel gazer who'll do anything to stir the pot for ratings. He's the Limbaugh amongst us. Get the facts first.

When ever I hear Obama say "Let me be clear", I know he's about to say something that's full of shit. I believe Rachel Maddow nailed the real reason Obama is suppressing these photos. He is trying to block public demand for investigations and prosecutions into the Bush torture program. It really pisses me off that Obama used the phrase "small number of individuals". It's total fucking lie, and he knows it. This was a systematic torture program, authorized by Bush and Cheney. Cheney just confessed to that the other day, that Bush approved the torture techniques. We are supposed to believe that troops in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Cuba all did similar things all on their own without any guidance from above? Does Obama think we are fucking stupid? Let me be clear, Obama is full of shit.