FBI Director Nominee Says Waterboarding Is ‘Torture And Is Illegal’

[bhikkhu]

4. bush "made" it legal

as a matter of policy, backed up by legal opinions. For better or worse, the president has that authority and then people can either follow or not, according to their conscience. It goes back to how important it is to elect people to power whom you can trust. In any case, prosecution would be a mess, given the definition of "legal". They were careful to cover their bases, and prosecution in the US would probably fail.

With that said, torture was my number one issue in 2008. Both candidates were squarely against it, and Obama ended it by executive order on day one.

Could it happen again? Yes, of course, if we elect another bunch of asshats. The people in power have the power, so you have to be careful who you give that to. There isn't any way around shared responsibility.