Ruben, Ruben I've been thinking (Have you)

In a Ruben Navarette Jr. editorial in the San Diego Union-Tribune via SFGate some great logic appears right before our eyes. It's the old shift and transform, smoke and mirrors trick. What thrills me so much is it's so easy to see. Here is how it works.

1. Take an event (Torture justification)
2. Present a fact (Memos by Administration Attorneys)
3. Sidestep (Argue that Investigation hampers the C.I.A.)
4. Brand the Opposition (Those who want an investigation as "political" and "trying to settle old scores" or "seeking perverse satisfaction")
5. Close (Congratulate Barack Obama for not prosecuting those who "followed orders")

"While thrilled about the disclosure, many on the left are furious over the reluctance to prosecute.

Such a reaction is unfair. Obama was right to release the four memos and also right not to prosecute CIA officials who acted with authorization from superiors. You'll never convince the extremes - on both right and left - but both decisions serve our national interest.

Americans should not use truth commissions and political show trials to settle old scores, even if it would - in this case - give the Bush-haters some perverse satisfaction. What it would certainly do, as former officials in the Bush administration and others have said in recent days, is hamper the work of the CIA by making agency operatives afraid they could be punished depending on the prevailing political winds." ~ Ruben Navarette Jr., San Diego Union-Tribune

But Ruben you missed a spot.

Barack Obama never said there was be no crime.
Barack Obama never said there would be no investigation.
Barack Obama never said there wasn't wrongdoing.
Barack Obama never said anything about what Eric Holder and the justice department would do.

Don't gloat too soon Ruben it's not political revenge. This is really about something America believed strongly enough we prosecuted Japanese soldiers for using the waterboarding method against American soldiers in WW II. Perhaps you should read some very good reporting in the New York Times to gain some real perspective before you lecture anyone else like this:

"Those who serve our country, often at great personal sacrifice and against impossible odds, should be proud. And when elected officials simply do the right thing rather than manipulate public perception by making themselves look good and others look bad, they provide a kind of leadership of which we can all be proud." ~ Ruben Navarette Jr., San Diego Union-Tribune

Those who served our country against all odds should include our soldiers who have been tortured by countries who ignored the Geneva Convention. All policemen, firemen, Coast Guard, Navy, Marines and Army personnel know that they are subject to the laws of the land. Even the President and Vice President, Congress should know they are not above the law no matter how much good they have done at other times in their lives.