Some things El Somnambulo just cannot make up.
At a time when newspapers are at death’s door, the Philadelphia Inquirer has hired Bush’s point man on torture to write a monthly column.
Philly Daily News’ Attytood columnist Will Bunch is not too thrilled with the move.
The Inquirer thus handed Yoo a loud megaphone on what was once a hallowed piece of real estate in American journalism — to write on the very subjects that have now led Justice Department investigators to reportedly recommend disbarment proceedings against Yoo and has led international prosecutors as well as millions of politically engaged Americans to consider the Episcopal Academy graduate worthy of charging with war crimes.
It was Yoo’s immoral guidance that aided the United States in sanctioning the torture practice known as waterboarding — used in the Spanish Inquisition, by despots such as Pol Pot and by Chinese Communists in the Korean War to obtain false confessions from Americans — as well as slamming detainees into walls, part of a harsh interrogation regime that has been linked to the deaths of at least a dozen U.S, detainees and possibly more.
Here is the full defense by Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Page Editor Harold Jackson:
John Yoo has written freelance commentaries for The Inquirer since 2005, however he entered into a contract to write a monthly column in late 2008. I won’t discuss the compensation of anyone who writes for us. Of course, we know more about Mr. Yoo’s actions in the Justice Department now than we did at the time we contracted him. But we did not blindly enter into our agreement. He’s a Philadelphian, and very knowledgeable about the legal subjects he discusses in his commentaries. Our readers have been able to get directly from Mr. Yoo his thoughts on a number of subjects concerning law and the courts, including measures taken by the White House post-9/11. That has promoted further discourse, which is the objective of newspaper commentary.
Does this mean that the Inquirer will next hire Marion Barry to get his thoughts on “bitch(es) set(ting him) up”? This is plumb loco. The Inky already has Rick “Man on Dog” Santorum writing a regular column at $1750 a pop, according to Bunch.
So, The Beast Who Slumbers proposes this solution. Instead of hemorrhaging reporters left and right, how about the Inky drop both Santorum and Yoo and spend the money they save to do real investigative reporting…like following up on the links between Yoo and torture.