Andrew Sullivan: War on Torture

This is an interesting take on the battle over executive wartime powers as they pertain to intense detainee interrogation (read: torture). This makes me think that the brief battle over Miers was perhaps not so trivial. By this I do not mean that this torture debate is new or that it is in a logical sequence following the crisis that her nomination provoked, but it shows the virtue in the Republican Party. When some are willing to break with the leader of the Party on a just principle (ensuring the competence of a SCOTUS justice) it empowers others to challenge IN PUBLIC and on a broader scale. Certainly the issue was always set to be contentious, but I feel that the defeat on Miers did something to bolster more independent figures and win them more support in the mainstream GOP.

I am hopeful that the lobbying by Cheney for a CIA exemption to the anti-torture provision will be defeated, and at the very least it will draw attention to a problem of a systemic disregard for principles for the sake of convenience.