I regularly bewail the lack of factual information in our political dialogue. We go nose-to-nose with emotions rather than data, depending upon volume and repetition to make our case.
Here is an effective dismantling of the "truth commission" concept by someone who is definitely knowledgable:
Making Up the History Won't Work
Regular readers will recall that I pointed out several weeks ago that it seemed improbable that any sort of legal conviction could be obtained against an attorney who reviewed the relevant laws on an issue and provided client advice on what could be done...even if the advice turned out to be incorrect.
The opinion piece describes what the law is and what the interpretation was by the White House counsel. It could be that the law isn't what some folks would like it to be, but that doesn't change the fact that it remains the law.
What is most surprising to me, looking at the world through cynic colored glasses, is that apparently the various international agencies that crafted the agreements on torture are more realistic and rational with regard to what needs to be done than I had expected.
Increasingly I recognize that torture is much like pornography. Recall that Supreme Court justice, Potter Stewart, said, "I don't know what hard core pornography is, but I know it when I see it."
There is a lot of stretch between being locked in a dark room with a caterpillar, or forced to lean against a wall and the infamous "rope tricks" of the Hanoi Hilton. The degree of intensity varies significantly.
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