Just admit you want to kill people

Arthur Silber notes that no one has resigned from the Obama administration over its claim to have the power to murder American citizens (and anyone else) at will, with no judicial oversight. Which reminds me that I’ve been meaning for some time to point out that Obama has never been asked to make this claim in his own words out of his own mouth. Remember when presidents used to take questions from the press from time to time? Me neither. In this regard, Obama may be even more embubbled than Bush was, although Jon Stewart did call him “dude” that one time, and the republic’s foundations trembled.

In the same way, he’s been able to wage undeclared wars in Pakistan and Yemen without ever being forced to acknowledge his lethal actions, much less make any sort of public argument for their necessity.

Speaking of acknowledging shit, everybody points out that Bush’s memoirs admit that he ordered waterboarding (“Damn right!”), but as an admission of torture it actually goes further: “No doubt the procedure was tough, but medical experts assured the CIA that it did no lasting harm.” In other words, he admits that waterboarding caused physical harm, just not lasting harm.

Also, I want the names of these medical experts. Some medical licenses need to be revoked.