Here’s his response to a softball question yesterday:
Q: Mr. President, I’d like to ask you about the Gonzales nomination, and specifically, about an issue that came up during it, your views on torture. You’ve said repeatedly that you do not sanction it, you would never approve it. But there are some written responses that Judge Gonzales gave to his Senate testimony that have troubled some people, and specifically, his allusion to the fact that cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of some prisoners is not specifically forbidden so long as it’s conducted by the CIA and conducted overseas. Is that a loophole that you approve?
THE PRESIDENT: Listen, Al Gonzales reflects our policy, and that is we don’t sanction torture. He will be a great Attorney General, and I call upon the Senate to confirm him.
Notice how Bush won’t address the issue in front of him. He won’t disavow the loophole. He won’t address the fact that his administration has carved out a remaining exception for the CIA, and stopped the Congress from ending it. Notice that his definition of “torture” is left vague – and subject to the Bybee non-restrictions. If you want clear evidence that this president condones the cruel, inhumane and degraging treatment of detainees, what he doesn’t say is as instructive as what he does. (Hat tip: Marty Lederman). My Q and A with NYT readers on my book review-essay can be read here.
BACK-STORY ON SPELLINGS: She was once out of favor with the religious right for seeming to believe that single moms could be ok at parenting. You know: like, er, Margaret Spellings. So what do you do if you’re in the Bush administration and want to curry favor with the base? Duh.
The Dish 