Where's Joe Wilson when you need him. Today, John Yoo -- feeling exonerated by a report that was watered down by last-minute political interference and still make him look terrible, making legal decisions based on political interference and telling investigators that, "sure," it's fine for POTUS to order the massacre of a bunch of civilians -- wrote an embarassingly self-serving column in today's Inquirer. I always thought that op-ed columnists were supposed to shed light on issues of broad public interest and not crow about their own non-disbarment, but it's even worse than that. Yoo also told a whopper of a lie. He wrote:
The men and women on the front lines of the war against al-Qaeda have had good reason to wonder if their elected leaders have their best interests in mind. Attorney General Eric Holder allowed his OPR to conduct a persecution that would placate the far left of the Democratic Party and its representatives in Congress - at the expense of the nation's security. Holder's decision in our case continued this administration's disturbing trend of treating the war against al-Qaeda as a simple criminal-justice problem: announcing the closing of the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the transfer of al-Qaeda prisoners to the continental United States; launching a criminal investigation into CIA agents who handled terrorists after the 9/11 attacks; trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in civilian court in New York City; and automatically treating Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as a criminal suspect rather than an enemy combatant.
In fact, the Justice Department probe of Yoo and his colleagues began in 2004, long before either Eric Holder or Barack Obama arrived on the scene, as reported by the Washington Post. In fact, it was Holder and his allies who spared Yoo from a worse outcome -- he should have actually written a column thanking the Obama administration. The Post wrote last May:
Government sources indicated this week that a forthcoming Justice Department investigative report would refer both men to state bar associations for possible disciplinary action as early as this summer. The report, which summarizes the findings of a nearly five-year review, cites sloppy legal analysis, misjudgments and possible political interference in the process, the sources said.
The guy wasn't held accountable for torture, so I guess lying a newspaper op-ed column is no big deal in comparison. Pretty sad.
In a related matter, you may have noticed a new heading, "5 Minutes Over Attytood." That's because starting today into early April, it's all about the book. Any blog posts will be limited to what I can put together in 5 minutes (I'm actually going to be on vacation from the DN), so you guys (and gals) will have a regular new threads to keep arguing amongst yourselves. Have fun.
So what are you gonna do with the other 4:30?— SteveMG
News: Obama signed a one year extension on the Patriot Act. Where is your outrage Chubby! No Body Cares: John Yoo “story”— AuH20
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- Frankly, I'd be thrilled to never write about John Yoo again. But he shouldn't be allowed to lie in print and not be challenged about it, either.— will
- I agree with Bunch here. This is ridiculous that Yoo gets an open forum to discuss his BS.— birds
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Farewell, AttyYoo'd— Mr. Smith
Au Contrair, Mon Cher!! It appears that you have not bothered to investigate WHY Yoo IS truly exonerated. Some quotes for you to peruse.... "....when the Justice Department released its report to Congress, inevitably ensuring that it would be made public, it did not release a crucial letter to OPR written by the Bush Justice Department’s two highest officials, Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip. That letter, dated January 19, 2009 (the last full day of the Bush administration), shredded OPR’s initial Draft Report and the process by which OPR's preliminary conclusions about ethical misconduct were reached." http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=YjllMDAyOGE1MDhhZDk0Y2QwNDc2OTU0NGMzMWFlMGI= Filip is career justice, not a political appointee. Full copy of the letter can be found here. http://www2.nationalreview.com/dest/2010/02/20/description011909.mukaseyfiliplettertoopr.pdf Reading the letter, it's clear that the OPR effort is amateurish at best. Yoo are riding the wrong horse on this one Will.— rudytbone- By the numbers: 3,577 vs 110,782... John Yoo's book vs. Will Bunch's. Will, it must kill you to think that this guy is way outselling you. I skimmed Yoo's article, and I can't see where the "whopper" is... All I see is a guy expressing his opinion -- it's his opinion that the OPR was politicizing his case. And Birds -- how can you say that someone doesn't have the right to free speech? Or if you are saying that the Philly.com people should be publishing his works, think about this point. Who would you rather have on your OpEd section: a guy who served in the Bush Administration and was a focal point of an era, or someone who sat on the sidelines, and writes barely readable blog posts and books?— IggleFan68
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- This was a witch hunt from the start. Will, did you actually ever read the memo at issue? These were memos testing the limits of presidential authority during time of a war against terrorism. Will is way over his head.— pj katauskas
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
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