Truth and the Speaker

A significant portion of the left wants some sort of show trials for the Bush administration. The first step was going to be the establishment of a "Truth Commission" to investigate the use of torture against terrorists. It sounds simple but things get sticky quickly.

If the left was serious about discovering the truth then they would pursue it at all costs. That has not been the case. There was concern from the CIA that current agents would be held accountable for actions that were thought to have been legal when performed even though they are now considered improper. President Obama assured the CIA that they were exempt. Instead the movement talked about going after the lawyers who wrote the legal opinions justifying the interrogation techniques used.

This is the first proof that the whole thing is nothing more than a partisan charade meant to embarrass the Republicans. Much of the argument against waterboarding is that any reasonable person would regard it as torture therefor, the people who actually got their hands dirty should be at least as culpable as a lawyer who wrote an opinion. The problem is that the lawyers are Republicans and the CIA agents are not.

Then the Republicans found out that Nancy Pelosi knew about the waterboarding as early as 2002, 2003 at the latest. They started an uproar. Why limit the inquest to Republicans? Someone who insists that waterboarding is torture knew all about it but was silent on the matter for years. Doesn't that make her an accomplice?

Pelosi gave various answers. She insisted that she was told that waterboarding might be used but not that it had been. By last week she was insisting that the CIA never told her about the waterboarding and that they are lying when they say that they did. She accused them of regularly misleading Congress.

That's a serious charge. The Speaker of the House is saying that the government cannot trust its own intellegence agency, even when headed by a Democrat. The Republicans proposed creating a joint committee to investigate this charge. The Democrats (plus two Republicans) voted it down.

Think about this. If Pelosi is correct then our government is in serious trouble. How much of our foriegn policy is based on misinformation? You would think that this would be a high priority for Congress. Since the Democrats rejected the investigation the only conclusion is that they already know what they would find - the CIA told the truth and Pelosi lied.

So much for the truth. Pelosi dug herself into a hole. The Democrats tried to dig her out but she is in too deep.

This is the final proof that the whole waterboarding investigation is partisan. If the Democrats were interested in the truth then they would not hesitate to implicate any CIA agents and Democrats involved. By trying to limit their investigation to Republicans, the Democrats are making themselves look bad. This may end Pelosi's term as speaker.

She could have shot down the whole truth squad movement when it started. She knew that her own hands were dirty, that she had given her implied concent when informed of the procedures years ago.