The mainstream media gets one right

It’s a rare moment in time when a member of the mainstream media goes off the corporate-approved script and speaks the truth to power. The New York Times did just that yesterday in an editorial calling on Obama to order a criminal investigation of top Bush administration officials who authorized torture after 9/11. And to its credit, the Times’ editorial was unequivocal. There was no hemming and hawing, no “equivalency” nonsense, no slippery rhetorical escape hatch for the accused. The editorial was short and sweet: Investigate the bastards.

On a similar note, Dick Cheney has been on a media campaign for the last few weeks trying desperately to put the lid back on the box of torture charges. For all his sneering and cranky expletives, many of Cheney’s statements on the subject have been labeled mostly or completely false by fact-checking organizations. Saddam Hussein did not have a 10-year relationship with al-Qaeda. And yes, detainees captured under the war on terror are covered by the Geneva Convention.

I applaud the New York Times editorial board having the courage to call for an investigation into our government’s use of torture. I wish that Obama had the same level of courage to actually carry out what justice demands, but I wouldn’t put any money on that bet. Who knows? Maybe he’ll surprise me too.