An Eternal Story?

The attached article is entitled "The Unending Abuse Trail." When I started this series of posts, I said something about the tendency of the media to prolong a story as much as possible. I think this title contains a little bit of wishful thinking.

I might also note that one reason this story has legs is that it serves as a test of just how different the Obama administration is from the Bush administration. Just as many on the far right, those called "social conservatives" and "religious conservatives," for example, are disappointed when a Republican administration fails to impose the Christian equivalent of sharia law, so many on the left have been disappointed by Democratic administrations. The torture, abuse, intrusive intelligence issue - in short, the assault on civil liberties after 9/11, is a good test case for just how far left Mr. Obama and his people will go.

So far, the performance of the Obama administration has been equivocal. (Sort of "hate the sin, love the sinner," if you see what I mean.) On the one hand, staying in the wobbly center could prolong the controversy, and won't satisfy anyone. On the other, moving to satisfy the "hard left" will be seen as partisan and excessive. Believe it or not, there are people who don't want to see Dick Cheney behind bars.

It is worth remembering, though, that many of the "hard left" are also pacifist to the point of eschewing all forms of defense except chanting and strewing flowers. They see all of the military, all of the security forces, all of the intelligence people as essentially criminal. Their opinions on whether particular acts were illegal aren't worth a lot.