Obama's Release of Bush Torture Policies, Earth Day, and the Morality of Welfare

Our daily look at stories and topics that are lighting up the Internets:

Torture, Cont'd...

Just like yesterday, the torture debate keeps rolling along. And many bloggers are reacting to former members of the Bush administration who are increasingly speaking out. Conservative Ed Morrissey likes what Cheney has to say. Liberal Brian Ross gets all over-the-top reacting to the former VP (he's not a fan). Johanna Neuman wonders if Cheney should be held responsible for the interrogation techniques. Liberal Amanda Terkel writes that the techniques were originally based upon Communist torture methods. Conservative Mary Kate Cary wants a stronger advocate for the CIA amid the controversy—ever wonder why its headquarters is named after George Bush? Liberal Dan Amira thinks the Bush administration knew torture didn't produce actionable intelligence... and liked it. Liberal Steve Benen echoes the point, while this conservative blogger has advice for those of every political persuasion. And Robert Schlesinger explains the rationale behind the interrogation techniques: "Torture me enough that I am liberated to tell you what you want to know."

Happy Earth Day!

Let's start with the wisest voice of all: Kermit, who laments the difficulties that arise as a result of being green. Brad Bannon concurs. Conservative Max Schultz feels like he's trapped in an environmentalist version of Groundhog Day: "Didn't we just, er, celebrate it? Of course, it feels that way partly because of a political and media elite that wants us to think of every day as Earth Day." President Obama lays out his new energy plan. Conservative Conn Carroll thinks that free markets are better for Earth than markets regulated to protect it. Hilary Clinton gets green and diplomatic. Mark Hemingway explains why he doesn't like the modern environmental movement: "It's packaged and sold as a luxury lifestyle." More on this here. Others use Earth Day as an excuse to talk about legalizing marijuana. And let's not forget that April 22 is the birthday of Peter Frampton, too.

The Morality of Welfare

For those interested in understanding the deeper conservative objections to the welfare state, conservatives Charles Murray and Greg Forster are having an interesting debate on the morality of welfare. Last month, Murray delivered this speech at the American Enterprise Institute's Annual Dinner. Here's the gist of his argument: 1) welfare states are "not suited to the way that human beings" achieve satisfaction with their lives, and 2) "twenty-first-century science will prove me right." Responding to Murray's speech, Forster writes that any justification for full-throttled capitalism must be based upon "the rightness of capitalism in the context of an ethical culture." Forster asks this provocative question: "Faced with Murray's argument that the welfare state makes everything too easy, a socialist might well retort: Should everything therefore be made more difficult, so you can have the deep satisfaction of overcoming difficulty? If the welfare state is bad, why are police good?" Murray responds to these points here.

... Meanwhile ...

Bad, bad news for the economy... Sixteen reasons you'll miss the recession once it's over... Indian business students look to Hitler for management advice (seriously)... And PETA attempts to stop the world's largest chicken dance.