Chuck Todd Depicts Support For Torture Investigations As Outside-The-Mainstream Phenomenon

I really have to object with the way Chuck Todd is characterizing the underlying public pressure that's being brought to bear on President Obama and the White House to investigate and potentially prosecute the authors and the agents of the previous administration's torture regime.

The whole thing is knit up in political process tropes and infused with the pointless melodrama of the day, when a serious and substantive look at this issue is called for.

MITCHELL: They clearly are responding to the letter from Diane Feinstein...and the whole question of whether - in the liberal blogosphere whether they have been too quick to shut down any prosecutions.

TODD: There does seem to be a little bit of a reaction to how this was received on the left. And the president, when he went on in those comments, Andrea, to suggest that he'd be open to some sort of special commission that was bipartisan, you know, he said, on one hand said he's worried about the process getting politicized, and frankly this feels like a political food fight now. Vice President Cheney on one side, President Obama on the other. The hard left, the hard right, fighting over this in the blogosphere. When he talks about - he fears the politicization - that may be too late, so the compromise might be, and the president basically comes out and endorses it in that photo op, questioning that he got there, which is a special commission to look into this but it opens up all sorts of doors on when legal opinions matter and all that. That is just -- this is some touchy situation, issues having to do with legal opinions, the constitution, it's a real tightrope. And the political pressure on both sides is intense.

In the first place, Todd and his fellows need to move off of this Dick Cheney versus Barack Obama storyline. The two men are not, as Todd depicts, on opposite "sides." One is the duly elected President of the United States. The other is a retired man who holds no political power and who plays no role in policy making. The two men are not equals, any more than they were a year ago this time when Cheney was Vice President and Obama was the junior Senator from Illinois.

But more to the point, to suggest that public support for torture prosecutions is a struggle the "hard left" or the blogosphere is to miss the point entirely. There is strong, active, mainstream support for prosecutions. Period.

As you can see, the last time Gallup polled this issue, a plurality of respondents specifically favor a criminal investigation into the possible use of torture in terror investigations. A substantial majority want an investigation of some kind. Of course, Gallup concludes, "No Mandate for Criminal Probes of Bush Administration," but I'd point out that this poll was taken prior to the release of the torture memos. Regardless, to call the desire to investigate the use of torture an obsession of the "hard left" is just not true.

Viewing these responses by party affiliation bears this out, as well. That two-in-ten Republicans favor a criminal probe is nothing at which to scoff. I'd daresay it's significant that only 54% of Republicans want to simply walk away from the issue is significant as well. That's no slam dunk support for letting sleeping dogs lie.

I gather that the invocation of the "blogosphere" here is meant as a further means of belittling this issue, but Todd should check himself. Those poll numbers indicate that the blogosphere is but a small part of the broad support for investigations. Furthermore, those bloggers are doing the work on the issue that the traditional press can't seem to be bothered to do. Check out this New York Times article, published over the weekend, that documents the waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and Abu Zubaydah. All of the enterprise reporting for the article was done by blogger Marcy Wheeler, of Emptywheel. Good thing, too! It's not like the Times, in possession of the same memos, noticed the story.

You know what is, chiefly, an obsession unique to bloggers? The campaign to install Chuck Todd as the host of Meet The Press! This can easily be corrected.

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Comments

[swo68]

HP article says: "As you can see, the last time Gallup polled this issue, a plurality of respondents specifically favor a criminal investigation into the possible use of torture in terror investigations."

Title of the Gallup article referenced: "No Mandate for Criminal Probes of Bush Administration"

Gallup article says: "While Americans appear to support some kind of investigation into these matters, no more than 41% favor criminal probes."

[Absintheforall]

This whole notion that Americans (especially those who have thought deeply) want to open the entire goverment to prosecution is absurd. We don't want to see our Senate, House, Judiciary, Executive Branch and Military and Security branches castigated, dragged through the mud and imprisoned. Who would be left? The ridicule and pure glee the rest of the world would exhibit at our folly would be suicidal to our nation.

[toggan]

Are you serious?

[liberty68]

Chuck Todd is getting all wrapped up in his ego. He believes his word and perspective is absolute truth. He's losing his bearings. He was good a guest on Hardball. He's losing it as a White Correspondent. Chuck seems to fabricate a viewpoint because he's expected to come up with one and hopes it will catch on and be talked up. Lately it's like he's throwing mud against the wall and hopes something sticks.

[cgr]

i'm about as mainstream as you can get: older white American woman, and I support investigation and prosecution of any directly responsible for these immoral acts. To not do so simply says some people if powerful enough are above the law. Not in this country, they aren't!

I'm truly surprised Bush & company who are directly responsible haven't been charged with war crimes by the War Crimes Tribunal, or by other countries..

[Lady Justice]

Your are absolutely right. Very strong support. And it did not start now, but a long time ago, even before articles of impeachment were filed. Since we believe all/most are implicated in one way or another, there was to be no impeachment. Today, MSNBC and other mainstream media continue to give credence to GOP/Bush/Cheney agenda. Our hope now is that international outrage/in­dictments/­arrests will bring Bush/Cheney to account. They not only committed over 4,000 soldiers to their deaths, COUNTLESS maimed and permanently injured; displaced 100's of thousands of Iraqees from their homeland; caused 100's of thousands of Iraqee deaths, and robbed the world of their savings. THERE IS EVIDENCE ,and main stream media has chosen again to ignore/ali­gn/support the GOP agenda, just like they did in the run up to the war - it won't stop. Their ideology is to divide and conquer. We must not let them succeed.

[Tonyrich300]

Dear Mr. Chuck Todd,
You are a prime example of the the so-called reporters nowadays who propagate right wing propaganda and help make them seem mainstream. You are simply helping fox news do their job while they are simultaneously painting you and the rest of NBC and OBAMAMANIA MEDIA. Please do you job and stop reading republican talking points. Thank you

[StJames]

I was amazed when Todd was promoted. It's that pesky Peter Principle once again.

Why is anyone still following the torture issue? Yes American intelligence agencies and military personnel have used torture is the past, and yes they will continue to do so in the future. That's life. I support the Obama administration but I have no doubt about the cynicism involved in the "America does not torture" stance. This is an attempt to regain "plausible deniabilit­y"...that'­s all it is. Frankly, I personally don't care much about known terrorists being tortured. I do care, and quite deeply, for the hundred thousand + Iraqi civilians killed by American bombs. Their lives were as valuable to their families as the lives of the innocent civilians killed here on 9/11 were to their families. Yet we seem to bligthly accept this "collateral damage" (have you ever heard a more immoral phrase than that?) I blame the MSM for not being able to differentiate between the truly important from the trash.

[Brian Ross - Huffpost Blogger]

The way in which use of torture was authorized bypassed law. That is clear. The lawyers, and ultimately their clients are accountable. The problem, as I lay out in my Huffington Post piece "Dick Cheney: Through the Cracked Moral Compass, Darkly" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brian-ross/dick-cheney-through-the-c_b_189959.html is that Cheney is throwing himself under the media bus to open up a schism in our government that prevents Obama from achieving his goals and perhaps ushers in another age of Neocon darkness.

[Dustee]

I didn't think of that, thanks.

[johnwinner]

Since the story first broke, the mainstream media has attempted to legitimate torture as something Americans caan do to non-Americans, 'so what's the problem?' The MSM isn't simply a symptom, it is a part of the disease.

[medici]

Chuck Todd?? I thought it was Danny Bonaduce.

[stargazer13]

I am main stream and I want prosecutions Now

not to be confused with persecution because I am not asking for that

can we muddy the waters any more ?

[Greywolf Borealis]

I am neither hard right or hard left, but when laws are broken, I want to see justice done. If that embarrasses anyone, who may have broken these laws, then so be it. We have a system of laws for one reason, to maintain order and to protect people. If those laws were broken, then someone belongs in jail, up to and including the ex-president of the United States.

[lwaxanatroi]

What we're talking about when we talk about moving on is closing our eyes to crime. What if Dick Cheney called for just moving on from Madoff's fraud? Hey, it's a crime, but it's water under the bridge, no need to prosecute anyone. Would that turn Madoff's incarceration and prosecution into a partisan food fight? Would we give both sides of the argument equal credence? Would we label the pro-prosecution crowd the "far left"?

Oh, it's only a war crime, not a real crime. It doesn't involve stealing someone's money, and it's a crime on the international stage, not a crime like picking someone's pocket. This is a continuation of Bush-era attitudes toward anything that involves behaving ourselves as a nation among nations instead of we-make-ou­r-own-rule­s cowboys. Before W, the Geneva Convention was sacrosanct, at least in principle. After W and his cabal, it was toilet paper (used).

This attitude is what cannot stand. And if you can't see that, Chuck, then you are way not smart enough to be the next Tim Russert.

[december30]

Jason Linkins is always on spot. I just love him.

[december30]

Chuck Todd wo? Andrea Mitchell who? he is republican and his wife all. Andrea is Republican,husband is greenspan and we know what he stands for. Also, both Andrea and Chuck are lovers of morning joe and his crew and they get their cues from him. hOW LAUGHABLE

[b1rd67]

So Chuck, what you're saying is upholding the rule of law is out of the mainstream? This is being politicized by the RIGHT to OBSTRUCT JUSTICE... if the Attorney General were to find that Obama, Biden, Pelosi and Reid were complicit in forming this policy I would want them all to be prosecuted as well. This is NOT about any political party. As a former Marine I see this as an issue of protecting the honor and well being of those who are serving and protecting us. You will all eat your words when one of our servicemen or women is captured and tortured and the enemy, whoever they may be says "you did it so piss off!" It is inevitable that it will happen, and has happened, but we have never before surrendered the high ground on this issue! We are supposed ot be better than that and the only way to prove that we still are is to HOLD THOSE WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE, ACCOUNTABLE!