Obama's Anti-Torture Trifecta

Our Constitution defines the rules that guide our nation. It was drafted by those who looked around the world of the eighteenth century and saw persecution, torture, and other crimes against humanity and believed that America could be better than that. This new nation would recognize that every individual has an inherent right to personal dignity, to justice, to freedom from cruel and unusual punishment...

We cannot simply suspend these beliefs in the name of national security. Those who support torture may believe that we can abuse captives in certain select circumstances and still be true to our values. But that is a false compromise. We either believe in the dignity of the individual, the rule of law, and the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment, or we don't. There is no middle ground.

We cannot and we must not use torture under any circumstances. We are better than that.

Words of a left-wing blogger, a torture victim, or perhaps Amnesty International? No-- these were penned last year by Leon Panetta, Obama's choice for CIA Director.

The blogosphere-led upheaval surrounding his previous (short-lived) choice of torture-enabling John Brennan for the job appears to have left an indelible mark on the transition team. In addition to stridently anti-torture Panetta, Obama also announced Dawn Johnsen to lead the Office of Legal Counsel, the Department of Justice outfit responsible for fully legalizing (in their twisted view) American torture after 9/11.

What has Johnsen to say about torture and the abuse of rule of law? Upon revelation of John Yoo's OLC torture memo, she cried:

Where is the outrage, the public outcry?! The shockingly flawed content of this memo, the deficient processes that led to its issuance, the horrific acts it encouraged, the fact that it was kept secret for years and that the Bush administration continues to withhold other memos like it--all demand our outrage.

Yes, we've seen much of it before. And yes, we are counting down the remaining months. But we must regain our ability to feel outrage whenever our government acts lawlessly and devises bogus constitutional arguments for outlandishly expansive presidential power. Otherwise, our own deep cynicism, about the possibility for a President and presidential lawyers to respect legal constraints, itself will threaten the rule of law--and not just for the remaining nine months of this administration, but for years and administrations to come.

To complete the set, the Obama team has picked Dennis Blair as Director of National Intelligence. OK, while he hasn't blogged against torture like the other two choices, his resume is devoid of any support for the odious act. While precise details surrounding his decision to retire from the Navy are unknown, Blair did leave in 2002-- a time when Naval opposition, led by Alberto Mora, to the Bush torture regime first peaked.

Barring any unforeseen scandal or unduly harsh confirmation processes, arguably the most important intelligence and legal spots in the Obama administration will be led by officials untainted by Bush torture-- two which are actually outspoken on the issue. The fact that this, in itself, is commendable only underscores how far America has fallen as an ostensible global leader of human rights.

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UPDATE 01-16-09:
Panetta faces rendition queries-- a stellar stance on torture compromised by Clinton-era rendition?