Nancy Pelosi and Torture, Bank Stress Test Spin, Gay Rights, and Captain Kirk

Sometimes you wonder how these things get started. Take this big flap in the news about what House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was told about prisoners being tortured by American officials, and the fact that a growing number of Republicans are saying she concurred with the practice. How damned convenient for them that she was once briefed by the Bush Administration.

Now, remember: Nancy Pelosi didn't torture anyone. Nor did she ORDER torture to be committed. Nor did did she WRITE a memo that authorized it. Nor did she make any CLAIMS that what was being done in America's name wasn't torture. IT WAS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION THAT DID THOSE THINGS. The blame rests solely upon those who wrote the memos, ordered the torture to commence, and who actually performed that torture. But you wouldn't know that if you listened to the news.

Focusing upon Pelosi is like blaming a bystander for witnessing a car wreck. Peter King, for example, who's the top Republican on the House Homeland Security Committee, said that if Pelosi failed to object to the torture techniques at the time she was briefed, then -- now, pay close attention to this neat twist of logic -- she was “an ENABLER” and “an ACCOMPLICE.” Republicans say that any probe into torture should be broadened to include what Pelosi knew and how much influence she had in shaping the Bush administration’s controversial policies. Can you appreciate the chuztpah it takes to make such a statement? Do you catch a whiff of blackmail in the air?

People who do bad things to other people, regardless of their motives, are rarely found to be fountains of honesty. And when they descend from their self-appointed high places to explain themselves, they not only tend to blame others for their actions but also rush to find accomplices where none exist.

What you're seeing is a distraction, pure and simple, one which was purposely orchestrated by the brain trust of the Republican Party. They want to divert your attention away from what really happened and, instead, keep you busy pondering some other crappy little details that don't amount to a bead of sweat on a gnat's behind. It's another form of "bait 'n switch," except here the Republicans are successfully switching the public's attention away from some terribly rotten bait that came right out of their own bag several years ago, but which is now stinking up the ship of state. They keep pointing in other directions as the source of the smell. And the media, which should know better by now, is stupidly falling for the switch and is performing as their salesmen. In a word, it's shameful.

Howard Lauther of OH 11:25AM May 17, 2009