Download audio here Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets , Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by John Yoo, former Department of Justice official under President George W. Bush to discuss how enhanced interrogation techniques lead to Osama bin Laden’s death, how Bush administration policies have helped the war on terror, and what missteps lie ahead for Obama. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates . If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show. Related Links: Robert Gates on America’s Role in the World Robert Gates: ‘If America Declines to Lead in the World, Others Will Not’ John Yoo: Tough interrogations worked From Guantanamo to Abbottabad Libya and the War Powers Abdication John Yoo’s Book – Crisis and Command: A History of Executive Power from George Washington to George W. Bush John Yoo at AEI Follow Brad on Twitter Follow Ben on Twitter
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John Yoo Talks About Interrogation Techniques that Lead us to Osama Bin Laden
President Obama defended by John Yoo.
In some ways, John Yoo’s argument (” Antiwar Senator, War-Powers President “) is almost… superfluous. The basic point is straightforward enough: President Obama, just like every other President since 1973 , has come to the conclusion that the War Powers Act is in fact an unconstitutional and onerous restriction on the executive branch’s constitutionally mandated oversight of military affairs. This conclusion follows the usual evolutionary arc: as Yoo helpfully points out, Senator Obama and Candidate Obama had a fairly different view of unilateral action than does the (theoretically) better-educated and (theoretically) more experienced President Obama. Couple that with the further detail that the usual Democratic suspects will not be trying to repeat with Libya their largely ineffectual push against the liberation of Iraq ( Kuchinich and Dean , to give just two examples, have already been effectively whipped back into place), and one is left to conclude that there was a lot of deliberate lying about motivations being made over the last decade by the Democratic party. Again, this is almost superfluous. John Yoo is arguing on Barack Obama’s behalf. His major complaint is that Obama’s doing a worse job than George W Bush did*. John Yoo . The guy who did the waterboarding memos. There are antiwar progressives asking themselves right now, Were we really this stupid? Did we really let the Democratic party shake us down for money and time and effort and votes, just so we could have it rubbed in our faces that they cared less about our beliefs than they would a used tissue? Are we really this easy to manipulate? – and the answer is, of course, “yes.” They’re also quite abysmally stupid. And the best part? They still have no excuse for not anticipating this. Even the abysmally stupid should have seen this coming. That they chose not to is an ironic testament to the power of human delusion. Or possibly it’s just funny. I can’t quite decide which. Via Instapundit , who is enjoying putting the boot in as much as I am. Moe Lane ( crosspost )
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President Obama defended by John Yoo.
President Obama defended by John Yoo.
In some ways, John Yoo’s argument (” Antiwar Senator, War-Powers President “) is almost… superfluous. The basic point is straightforward enough: President Obama, just like every other President since 1973 , has come to the conclusion that the War Powers Act is in fact an unconstitutional and onerous restriction on the executive branch’s constitutionally mandated oversight of military affairs. This conclusion follows the usual evolutionary arc: as Yoo helpfully points out, Senator Obama and Candidate Obama had a fairly different view of unilateral action than does the (theoretically) better-educated and (theoretically) more experienced President Obama. Couple that with the further detail that the usual Democratic suspects will not be trying to repeat with Libya their largely ineffectual push against the liberation of Iraq ( Kuchinich and Dean , to give just two examples, have already been effectively whipped back into place), and one is left to conclude that there was a lot of deliberate lying about motivations being made over the last decade by the Democratic party. Again, this is almost superfluous. John Yoo is arguing on Barack Obama’s behalf. His major complaint is that Obama’s doing a worse job than George W Bush did*. John Yoo . The guy who did the waterboarding memos. There are antiwar progressives asking themselves right now, Were we really this stupid? Did we really let the Democratic party shake us down for money and time and effort and votes, just so we could have it rubbed in our faces that they cared less about our beliefs than they would a used tissue? Are we really this easy to manipulate? – and the answer is, of course, “yes.” They’re also quite abysmally stupid. And the best part? They still have no excuse for not anticipating this. Even the abysmally stupid should have seen this coming. That they chose not to is an ironic testament to the power of human delusion. Or possibly it’s just funny. I can’t quite decide which. Via Instapundit , who is enjoying putting the boot in as much as I am. Moe Lane ( crosspost )
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President Obama defended by John Yoo.
Don’t Cry for Jay Bybee, the Torture Memo Boss Who Became a Judge
Filed under: Bush Administration , Terror , National Security Sitting pretty on the federal bench, an unrepentant Jay Bybee, torture memo author, wants you to feel his pain.