As long as the fiction that Yoo's memos, however flawed, embody policy differences or are merely a result of incompetence, we are at an impasse. IMO, the only way out of the impasse is for professional bodies representing lawyers, responsible for the standards and ethics in the profession, to rule unambiguously that these go beyond incompetence, and are offenses against the legal profession, and to levy sanctions against Yoo.

The cover that Yoo's memos lie within the realm of the legitimate has to be blown, and in a non-partisan, i.e., by professional bodies of standard-setters.

Until then, I don't think anything is likely to happen. The political courage is just not there.

[But Amity's answer is better!]

February 2003 - The American Bar Association releases the report of its Taskforce on Treatment of Enemy Combatants. The report argued that detainees should be allowed access to legal counsel and to challenge their detentions in U.S. courts. [See February 7, 2003][48]

February 7, 2003 - Letter OLC to DoD; response to February 2003 ABA report; remains secret [1/29/09] [47]

Sources at: http://www.webdsi.com/jebbie/tline.html

Here’s the link to [48]:

http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/aba/abatskforce103rpt.pdf

"Didn't Watergate start as an investigation of one thing and culminate successfully with revelations of another?"

I suspect Obama will jump through hoops of fire to prevent anything from migrating upward. I'm with the 'toss em some bad apples' theory as a means of letting this take on a life of it's own.

When Rove appeared for his closed-door deposition the other day on the US attorneys scandal, Justice remarked afterwards that that was going to be about the extent of that.

BTW, thanks for the Eric Idle imagery.

Scott Horton posted an interesting piece on the DoJ the other day, specifically the euphemistically named Office of Professional Responsibility.

The Justice Department Roach Motel

http://harpers.org/archive/2009/07/hbc-90005320

In a nutshell.

I meant to say:'...as a means of *preventing this from taking on a life of it's own*.

N/T

After reading around on this a bit, there's room for some cautious optimism I think. But I also think this is may be the last best chance to get an investigation.

This whole story is still up in the air, with the outcome resting on Holder, and whether he will truly be an independent attorney general. When he took the job, Holder extracted the promise from Obama to allow AG independence. Now we'll see if Holder actually has the strength to utilize what he himself asked for.

Nobody minds putting the Lynndie Englands and Chuck Graners in the dock. The Obama Administration and Holder know that. So what's a few more 'bad apples'? You can call them 'rogue interrogators' or build them up to be educated specialist villains but really, they're just carrying out policy. Never mind that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I wouldn't be surprised if a torture tape surfaced somewhere, especially if Holder decides to go the 'bad apple' route. (Why should anyone believe the tapes were destroyed -- this comes from agencies and officials who've lied so much about so many things.) A leaked torture tape, like the Abu Ghraib photos of 'leash girl', would only make it easier to put the blame on the 'rogues' and 'bad apples'.

any actions taken by a president are legal, except lying about sex.

From WaPo article:

"But fresh disclosures have continued to emerge about detainee mistreatment, including a secret CIA watchdog report, recently reviewed by Holder, highlighting several episodes that could be likened to torture."

Eric Holder has the power and the authority to do the right thing here. What he may not have is the courage. (To be fair, it will take quite a bit.)

So how do we stiffen his backbone? Equate letting Yoo et al. off with letting Marc Rich off. We know that the Rich pardon is his greatest embarrassment. So we need to make as many comparisons as possible between that that failure and this situation.

Shouldn't be too hard -- the parallels seem pretty easy to draw.

could be likened to torture

That struck me like nails on chalkboard, too - one of the worst inventions yet.

What is the significance of this trial balloon, and news of a super-secret CIA program that Cheney concealed for the better part of his two terms, being released at the same time? If it's a coincidence, that's one thing, but if their near-simultaneous release was intentional, I'm left to wonder if this is, as Horton says, part of a greater effort to prepare us for a true investigation into torture practices. Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

I wrote at length of the dangers of this prevailing view that a President is free to do whatever he wants as long he finds some DOJ employee somewhere willing to say it's legal -- GG

This particular over-the-top expansion of executive power can't be overstated. In effect, the President is claiming the right to appoint Supreme Court justices without any hearings or Senate confirmation. It's kind of like an Employee of the Month incentive program. Who wants to be Chief Justice of the Month this April? What low-level functionary would like to step up to the plate and be -- for thirty whole days -- the Supreme Arbiter of what is and isn't legal in the USA? Where's whats-his-name? Out sick today? Okay, how 'bout that Yoo fellow? He's written some pretty slick jargon, let's go with him.

Actually, my analogy is flawed, because even the Chief Justice counts for only one vote in nine. So the President is really saying: "let's vest our Chief Justice of the Month with the power to make decisions unilaterally. You know, just like ME. After all, I want the branches of our federal government to remain equal. Checks and balances, and all that ...

In much the same way that the assassination of Kennedy could be likened to murder.

I thought we lived in a land where the rule of law was applied equally to all citizens, regardless of their position or power.

Must've been naive.