Tendentious Argument of the Day Award

For many years, my impression of the Washington Post was formed by the picture of heroic journalism created by All The President's Men. I don't know what happened to that Post, but today's Post has decided that scraping the bottom of the barrel to find third-rate apologists for torture to populate its editorial pages is consistent with its reputation for fine journalism.

Witness the recipient of today's Tendentious Argument of the Day award:

Where was the moral outrage when fine lawyers like John Yoo, Jay Bybee, David Addington, Jim Haynes, Steve Bradbury and others came under vicious personal attack? Their critics did not demand simple transparency; they demanded heads. They called these individuals "war criminals" and sought to have them fired, disbarred,impeached and even jailed. Where were the defenders of the "al-Qaeda seven" when a Spanish judge tried to indict the "Bush six"? Philippe Sands, author of the "Torture Team," crowed: "This is the end of these people's professional reputations!" I don't recall anyone accusing him of "shameful" personal attacks.

Marc Theissen really is a despicable and immoral creep. First, he defends the indefensible Bush Administration use of torture against detainees. Then, he attacks Justice Department lawyers who defended these detainees according to the standards of the American legal tradition. Then, in an act of dishonesty and shamelessness worthy of a first class sociopath, he combines the two arguments, by excusing war criminals John Yoo and Jay Bybee in the process of attacking lawyers who did precisely what they were supposed to do.

Yoo and Bybee, just to be clear, weren't fulfilling their professional responsibilities as lawyers. They were thwarting them. The lawyers who defended Al Qaeda suspects (many of whom, as it turns out, were actually innocent!), were acting in the best traditions of the U.S. legal system.

I continue to hope that one day John Yoo will decide to take an ill informed vacation in Spain, a country which claims universal jurisdiction for human rights crimes, so that he'll eventually get the trial he so richly deserves. Marc Theissen has committed no crime, and so there's nothing to prosecute. He's just morally bankrupt.