While we lawyers get all het up about how people with a JD and a basic knowledge of the Constitution could sign a torturer's charter, and whether this is a banal evil or virulent evil, or both, Kevin Drum has his eye on the basics:
But put aside the technical analysis and ask yourself: Why has torture been such a hot topic since 9/11? The United States has fought many wars over the past half century, and in each of them our causes were just as important as today's, information from prisoners would have been just as helpful, and we were every bit as determined to win as we are now. But we still didn't authorize torture of prisoners. FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, LBJ, Reagan — all of them knew it wasn't right, and the rest of us knew it as well.
So what's different this time? Only one thing: the name of the man in the White House. Under this administration, we seem to have lost the simple level of moral clarity that allowed our predecessors to tell right from wrong. It's time to reclaim it.
And just imagine what those guys will do if they don't have to worry about re-election.
What is wrong with US legal education, that it produces and rewards creatures such as Berkeley law professor John Yoo, who are all too willing to help shape policies that have deeply injured the worldwide reputation of our country?
Pingback: Beautiful Horizons
In my observer’s opinion Bryan, it’s the economic underpinnings of quite a bit of modern legal education.
I am an observer of seven friends who are either currently in or recently completed law school at seven different law schools across the U.S.
Five of those seven are either on their way to being or are happily wallowing in their status as ethically neutered predators seeking the path of least resistance to profit.
There are programs where pinning the entire meaning and interpretation of law on conservative economic theory is not accepted practice, but there are slightly more where your understanding of the law is pinned to conservative economic theory.
Taking that into consideration, is it any surprise these Constitution-hating jackals would come up with such an autocratic interpretation of things?
—–
Pingback: Crescat Sententia
Pingback: Political Animal
Pingback: Political Animal
Pingback: Political Animal