Show Trials

The L.A. Times is reporting that Eric Holder, the U.S. answer to Felix Dzerzhinsky, has announced that he is near to appointing a special prosecutor:

U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. is poised to appoint a criminal prosecutor to investigate alleged CIA abuses committed during the interrogation of terrorism suspects, current and former U.S. government officials said.

Apparently using anything beyond the dreaded "comfy chair" on people who feel a religious obligation to kill as many Americans as possible is frowned upon by the current leadership, although publicly beating domestic dissidents and stationing "voter screeners" at polling places is acceptable.

Some cases have not previously been disclosed, including an instance in which a CIA operative brought a gun into an interrogation booth to force a detainee to talk, officials said.

Cultural equivalency takes the position that a bone in the nose is equivalent to, say, walking on the moon. In the detainees culture, if you are being questioned by the local authorities, and one of the interrogators brings a gun into the room, you may safely assume that if the quality of information you have been giving does not improve markedly in the next 30 seconds or so, that you will be leaving the room feet first in about 35 seconds.

Bracing for the worst, a small number of CIA officials have put off plans to retire or leave the agency so that they can maintain their access to classified files and be in a better position to defend against a Justice investigation.

"Once you're out, it gets a lot harder," said a retired CIA official who said he had spoken recently with former colleagues. The inquiry would probably also target private contractors who worked for the CIA during the interrogations.

Going after people who are in a poor position to defend themselves improves the chances of getting a headline-grabbing conviction. How much this will divert attention from the administrations problems with Cap and Tax and Nationalized Health Control remains to be seen.

On that note, it seems the congress critters, home to party with the people, seem to be genuinely surprised to find the natives to be quite restless:
Aide: "Sir, the peasants are revolting!"

Congress Critter, to himself: "You can say that again!"

The congress seems to take it as an affront that anyone should question their judgment. They seem to have forgotten that we didn't elect them for their judgment, we elected them to express ours.
Keep up the pressure. To paraphrase a quote attributed to Adlai Stevenson and Everett Dirksen; When they feel the heat, they (sometimes) see the light.