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WHERE THE ELITE MEET TO EXONERATE ONE ANOTHER.
Roger Cohen makes a stunning argument in today's New York Times:
So I’m wary of the clamor for retribution. Congress failed. The press failed. The judiciary failed. With almost 3,000 dead, America’s checks and balances got skewed, from the Capitol to Wall Street. Scrutiny gave way to acquiescence. Words were spun in feckless patterns.I agree with Cohen that the press failed miserably in the aftermath of 9/11, but given that the coverage of the torture debate has focused not on whether American officials broke the law but rather how the president might be weathering the political storm surrounding the release of the torture memos, I'd suggest that the press really isn't done failing yet.Those checks and balances are recovering now. I don’t think this recovery would be served by prosecutions, either of C.I.A. operatives or those who gave them legal advice. Such legal action, if initiated, would split the intelligence services and the military in paralyzing ways at a time when two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan, are still being fought. The country would be lacerated.
Cohen's argument simply reflects the consensus among certain journalistic and political elites that the powerful simply shouldn't be held accountable when they make mistakes, because, after all, we all make mistakes. This compassionate attitude naturally doesn't extend beyond this small group. America has the highest incarceration rate in the world, fully 1 percent of the population. I'm sure there are millions of people currently incarcerated who would like it if Cohen's policy of absolution for crimes was extended to them.
More important, this entire philosophy has it backward. Accountability is the burden of the powerful in a democracy. Those who are responsible for upholding our laws shouldn't get a pass when they break them, precisely because they have that responsibility. Power without accountability is, by definition, tyranny.
-- A. Serwer
COMMENTS (12)
This is an excellently written post. I wish it could be tattooed on the forehead of every politician and journalist in the Village. Thank you.
Posted by: brewmn | April 23, 2009 12:29 PM
Glenn Greenwald has some good comments on this:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
Posted by: ron | April 23, 2009 12:55 PM
Here's Richard Cohen writing after Lynndie England was sentenced to 3 years for torturing prisoners at Abu Ghraib:
"Nonetheless, she deserves her punishment. So do the others. But at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo and elsewhere, the buck stops suspiciously low in the chain of command. Somehow, no one higher up is responsible for the situation England found herself in or for what she did."
Of course, he was otherwise incredibly sympathetic to England in that article. Just as he's incredibly understanding of her higher ups now.
Posted by: Jinchi | April 23, 2009 1:07 PM
Those drafting the memos made "a mistake"?
The Incompetence Dodge, round III.
The only "mistake" I see is, perhaps, they thought they'd never be held accountable. And at this point it seems quite uncertain that was a mistake.
Posted by: V.O.R. | April 23, 2009 1:22 PM
Umm ... when has the press ever stopped failing on the issue of human torture?
Unless you define "not failing" as
a) defending it.
b) ignoring it.
Posted by: Douglas Watts | April 23, 2009 1:40 PM
Those checks and balances are recovering now.
Cohen sounds suspiciously like an alcoholic who wants forgiveness for all the lives he's wrecked because he is now committed to being sober. He fails to mention that the first rule of AA is you have to confront, make amends, and make restitution for all the lives you screwed up.
He's just sorry he got caught.
Or as Chris Rock says:
You don't get credit for what you're supposed to do.
Posted by: Anonymous | April 23, 2009 1:46 PM
"Power without accountability is, by definition, tyranny."
Yes , however we now know that there are lawyers who can change that definition with some words and the approval of some disturbed *&%+$'s
Posted by: red | April 23, 2009 5:44 PM
Yep, the rule of law only applies to the weak and defenseless. Lynndie, we are behind you - you are owed a major apology from the government, military,and media.
Just to let you know, Lynndie has authorized her biography which is being written by Lynndie England (an Appalachian writer). The title is "Tortured: Lynndie England, Abu Ghraib,and the Photographs that Shocked the World". It is being published by "Bad Apple Books" and will be avaliable in bookstores on June 1 (Amazon, too).
Support her - she can't even get a job because of her felon status. Cheney is coming out with his memoirs soon - it sure would be nice to see her book sell while his just sits on the bookshelf.....
Posted by: Anonymous | April 23, 2009 8:29 PM
sorry, meant to say that Gary Winkler, Appalachian writer, is writing Lynndie's biography.
Posted by: Katrina | April 23, 2009 8:31 PM
If I were in charge, there would be no hearings and no trials. There would just be a whole lot of torturers who went missing a few ex-bush officials who had some 'heart attacks'.
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