A slap on the wrist and Yoo is back in our faces claiming HE did Pres. Obama a favor

[bigtree]

My Gift to the Obama Presidency

By JOHN YOO

Barack Obama may not realize it, but I may have just helped save his presidency. How? By winning a drawn-out fight to protect his powers as commander in chief to wage war and keep Americans safe . . .

infuriatingly more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704188104575083473537079844.html?mod=rss_Today%27s_Most_Popular

Fuck Yoo.

Yoo to speak at UVa forum; protest planned
http://www2.dailyprogress.com/cdp/news/local/article/yoo_to_speak_at_uva_forum_protest_planned/52675/

[G_j]

1. oh joy

:argh:

[spanone]

2. an emboldened criminal....

[City Lights]

3. Fuck Yoo indeed! nt

[mmonk]

4. Thanks. Bookmarked. I'm currently working on a piece

on the torture issue and can use it.

[bigtree]

8. does it involve the Padilla trial?

I was just reading where the Ninth Circuit is reviewing a lower court’s refusal to dismiss a lawsuit Padilla that accuses Yoo of approving his allegedly illegal detention and providing the legal cover for the government’s harsh interrogation techniques.

Click here for the San Francisco Chronicle story: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/02/22/BAPH1C5G70.DTL

(Hat tip: Main Justice); here: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/02/10/prominent-lawyers-aiming-to-keep-john-yoo-in-the-news-a-bit-longer/

and here for previous LB posts on the Padilla/Yoo situation: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/02/01/doj-to-clear-torture-memo-authors-yoo-bybee-of-wrongdoing/

article link: http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2010/02/23/yoo-lawyer-attacks-dawn-johnsens-partisan-assertions/

[mmonk]

10. Thanks for that.

I'm hoping to include as much as possible. I haven't set parameters yet. I've only started part of it which also includes the British high courts decision in the Binyam case.

[Echo In Light]

5. "...keep Americans safe." - from who? The US govt is the primary force of negativity

[bullwinkle428]

6. If anyone makes an inadvertent case IN FAVOR of waterboarding, it's Yoo!

Open wide and say "AHHHHHHHHHHHH", Johnny! :evilgrin:

[Solly Mack]

7. lol

Well, allow war criminals to go free and this is what can be expected...

If anyone in D.C. doesn't like it, they know the cure...

[bigtree]

11. I hate to say it

. . . but this is emblematic of the consequences of the 'even-handed' approach of this new president. He's either ignorant of the effect of his refusal to come down hard on the abuses of the last administration; naive about the reciprocal effect of his 'bipartisanship'; naive about the danger of the 'extra-constitutional' allowances Yoo contrived for the presidency; or just plain outmatched politically and otherwise by these Bush-era criminals. Whatever the case, it's infuriating to see this predictable slap in the president's face, knowing that he just asked for it by letting Yoo and Bybee walk without prosecution.

[Solly Mack]

14. I don't think him naive or ignorant or unaware of the predictable.

I'm positive Obama knows Yoo and the others will attack him even as they benefit from the lack of prosecutions. He would be stupid otherwise, and I don't think Obama is stupid.

[bigtree]

15. politically

. . . I think the president believes he will get something in return for his 'reaching out' and adopting of conservative and republican initiatives and maintaining Bush-era doctrine regarding the 'war on terror'. I really do believe he expects something reciprocal from republicans by unilaterally ceding ground that the majority of our party appeared to be fighting for just over a year ago. The business of giving without some guarantee of a return on the investment is what appears politically naive. Like the nuclear loan guarantees . . . offered up with the stated expectations of cooperation with more Democratic-oriented planks of his energy agenda, for instance. He's undoubtedly smart, I just don't see a great deal of smarts in maintaining Democratic principles which enhance our party membership and our prospects for support at election time. There's nothing to be gained, in my view, from bending toward a conservative agenda or soft-pedaling discipline of his predecessors.

[asdjrocky]

9. He did.

He helped to expand the Presidential powers considerably and I think the current administration, or any administration, would like that.

Who doesn't want more power?

[mmonk]

12. That is why impeachment was essential. It is mentioned

at least 7 times (I believe) concerning abuse of power. This is what those of us that wanted it warned people about.

[Mojorabbit]

13. A regular love fest

in the commment section. I am restraining my urge to post. These people piss their pants and throw over everything this country stands for at the drop of a hat. Home of the brave indeed.

[newtothegame]

16. I don't know what the punishment should be for this, but the calls for hanging were ridiculous.

We start executing for thought-crime (however misguided it was) and this will become a whole different country. I'd hate to see what a conservative administration would do to me for some of the papers I wrote in college.

[bigtree]

17. we could start with charges

. . . and move on from there.

Unfortunately, the Justice Dept. decided to defend these two (against the recommendations of the department's Office of Professional Responsibility to the point where they even recommended against disciplinary action at the bar.
_________________________

Investigators for the Justice Department's Office of Professional Responsibility concluded last year that Yoo, a professor at UC Berkeley, "knowingly failed to provide a thorough, objective and candid interpretation of the law" and that Bybee, now a federal judge, "acted in reckless disregard of his professional obligations." They recommended that the Justice Department refer their findings to state bar associations for possible discipline.
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/23/opinion/la-ed-yoo23-2010feb23

[Wilms]

18. k&r n/t