The Bush administration tenaciously pursued terrorists. The Obama administration tenaciously pursues the Bush administration for tenaciously pursuing terrorists. When Rep. Peter King remarks of Attorney General Eric Holder's investigation into the Central Intelligence Agency, "It's bulls#!+. It's disgraceful. You wonder which side they're on," the fact that it's not hyperbole is scary. What side are they on? Whatever side the Republicans aren't. It's the nature of hyperpartisans, like Mr. Holder, to take their cues from the opposition.

With the evidence mounting, one really has to wonder whether or not these people so hate this country that their plan to bring her down isn't completely afoot.

"The power of the executive to cast a man into prison without formulating any charge known to the law, and particularly to deny him the judgment of his peers, is in the highest degree odious, and the foundation of all totalitarian government."
-Winston Churchill

"An avidity to punish is always dangerous to liberty. It leads men to stretch, to misinterpret, and to misapply even the best of laws. He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach to himself."
-Thomas Paine

"The blacked-out portions hide the Inspector General's findings on the circumstances that led to the deaths of at least three of the detainees in the CIA's program, the official said. Two of the men reportedly died in CIA in Iraq and the third died in Afghanistan.

The Inspector General's findings about a fourth death involving a prisoner in Afghanistan were made public in the report. A CIA contract employee was convicted of assault in that case and is now in prison.

...Also hidden from public scrutiny, according to the official, was the discovery by the CIA Inspector General that the CIA could not adequately account for several of the 100 al Qaeda suspects who were part of the detainee program that the CIA maintained had been well administered.

The official said 'a few just got lost and the CIA does to know what happened to them.' "
-Brian Ross, on the IG report

It's distressing and sad that those who are superficially opposed to big government are its biggest cheerleaders when it involves unjustified state coercion and domination outside the bounds of the law. Distressing and sad, but to be expected.

PMA: Both Churchill and Paine were involved in wars that imprisoned soldiers from the opposing side without trials. This is in fact common practice, not just in U.S. history, but among nations at war in modern times. It is certainly a moral improvement upon killing or enslaving prisoners of war. Both Paine and Churchill condoned taking POWs. Why deceptively quote them as if they didn't?

I suppose conservatives would think that 12 year old civilians can legitimately be classified as POWs, but not reasonable thinkers. Who cares if Paine thought it was legitimate to imprison POWs? That's not what's at issue and that wasn't my point.

If you'd like a summary of this argument, you can view Greenwald's superior blog at salon.com/opinion/greenwald.

It's been proven through rigorous intelligence and Pentagon ana1ysis that the "War On Terror" prosecuted in Afghanistan and Iraq has fomented additional terror in the Mideast and abroad. Oddly enough, if I remember correctly you were against one of those wars, for good reason considering it failed the Just War test and it was stupid on its face. That you would make excuses for big government atrocities is what's most sad and distressing about the discourse between those with reasoned opinion and the mainstream right-wing.

Two more things. The context behind the Churchill quote is interesting and relevant to the discussion. Also, when I say Greenwald's superior blog, I mean that generally, not that it's better than yours. I regularly vist both and like each for different reasons.

And yet we are still very much in Iraq and in Afghanistan.

I don't care about his throwing political bones to the left. The reality is the governance in action where it couns (like in getting our soldiers killed as occupiers) suggests to me that there is no "Bush side" and Obama side" but just the side of our political ruling oligarchy.