Obama Reverses on Torture Photos, Pelosi Denies Torture 'Briefing'

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

Obama's Torture Photo Flip-Flop

Yesterday came news that President Obama had changed his mind about releasing photos allegedly showing U.S. soldiers torturing detainees (the ACLU is demanding that the photos be released)—the administration will now attempt to withhold them. And an interesting debate is shaping up on Obama's reversal between conservatives Peter Wehner, who supports the withholding of the photos, and Andrew Sullivan, who wants full transparency over the Bush administration's misdeeds. Wehner pens a tongue-in-cheek attack that makes Sullivan look naïve and self-righteous: "What Andrew has had to endure as a Watchman on the Walls of Truth, it appears, has been even more difficult than undergoing waterboarding itself." Initially, Sullivan is unhappy with Obama's decision: "Slowly but surely, Obama is owning the cover-up of his predcessors' [sic.] war crimes." And then comes Sullivan's reversal on his condemnation of Obama, well worth reading. In other torture-related news, this blogpost by Lawrence Wilkerson rips Cheney a new one. And liberal Joe Klein explains why a picture's worth more than a thousand words.

The Pelosi Denial

Pelosi, like Cheney, seems to bring out the worst in bloggers of the opposing party. In that light, here's a joke that Tom Ricks picked up from D magazine's website: "If you gave any U.S. soldier a gun with two bullets in it, and he found himself in an elevator with Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, and Osama bin Laden, there's a good chance that Nancy Pelosi would get shot twice." Now the news: Addressing the apparent inconsistencies in her stance on torture (video), Pelosi gave a press conference today in which she clarified when she was "informed" about the CIA's use of torture and defended her meager opposition to the interrogation methods at the time. Conservatives aren't buying her spin. Karl Rove thinks Pelosi was an accomplice to the torture that the Bush administration authorized. Ramesh Ponnuru explains the conservative attacks on the House speaker (video). Conservative Brian Faughnan thinks even the left "recognizes Pelosi's lies for what they are." Democrats, however, are labeling attacks on Pelosi a distraction. But that doesn't mean that liberals like Ali Frick can't have their say. See John Farrell and Marc Ambinder for the nitty-gritty of how the story might pan out.

... Meanwhile ...

John McCain's mom lays the smack down on Rush Limbaugh... Rahm Emanuel's secret service codename, leaked... Maxim names Michelle Obama 93rd hottest woman in the world... And who cares what kind of underwear you're wearing when you're fighting the Taliban? The media—and they were pink "I love NY" boxers, not briefs.