* Torture destroys the torturers as much as the tortured. Spc. Alyssa Peterson's suicide is one poignant tragedy:

"Peterson objected to the interrogation techniques used on prisoners. She refused to participate after only two nights working in the unit known as the cage. Army spokespersons for her unit have refused to describe the interrogation techniques Alyssa objected to. They say all records of those techniques have now been destroyed."...

Peterson, a devout Mormon, had graduated from Flagstaff High School and earned a psychology degree from Northern Arizona University on a military scholarship. She was trained in interrogation techniques at Fort Huachuca in Arizona, and was sent to the Middle East in 2003.

* Peterson was far from alone in her fierce objections. When the CIA started torturing in 2002, the FBI refused to participate. They even tried to prosecute the torturers, but Attorney General John Ashcroft blocked them. This battle between the FBI and CIA is hugely important and straight out of Watergate.

* Gen. Janis Karpinski went on Countdown to connect the dots and find a "straight line" between the approval of torture by the White House and the crimes of Abu Ghraib, where her command was sabotaged by the torture branch of the Pentagon - the DIA led by Stephen Cambone. This was just one of Countdown's outstanding interviews, including Jonathan Turley, Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Rep. Jan Schakowsky, and former CIA officer Jack Rice. No one in the Corporate Media is doing more to demand accountability than Olbermann.

* Rachel Maddow is also doing incredible interviews with people like Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, Ron Suskind, Philip Zelikow, Colonel Steven Kleinman, and Lou Dubose.

* FOX's Shepard Smith speaks for all of us when he pounds the table and declares

"I don't give a rat's ass if it helps. We are AMERICA! We do not fucking torture!!"

He also said

"We are America, we don't torture! And the moment that is not the case, I want off the train! This government is of, by, and for the people -- that means it's mine. That means -- I'm not saying what is torture, and what is not torture, but I'm saying, whatever it is, you don't do it for me! I want off the train when the government starts -- I want off, next stop, now!"

Smith proved he was the only human being at FOX during Hurricane Katrina, and regularly criticizes Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly.

* Two psychologists played key roles in creating the Bush System of Torture: James E. Mitchell, a psychologist with the SERE program who had monitored many mock interrogations but had never conducted any real ones, and Bruce Jessen, another former SERE psychologist. They

helped persuade C.I.A. officials that Qaeda members were fundamentally different from the myriad personalities the agency routinely dealt with.

“Jim believed that people of this ilk would confess for only one reason: sheer terror,” said one C.I.A. official who had discussed the matter with Dr. Mitchell.

Looseheadprop notes:

Now, if somebody were to give me subpoena power, this Dr. Mitchell guy is someone I would definitely want to talk to under oath. For a long time. With no immunity offer on the table. Why? Because the White House just threw him under the bus and fingered him as the criminal mastermind behind all this evil.

And chances are very high he knows where the truth actually lies. . . and probably has a nice set of notes. Shrinks are usually pretty good about keeping notes.

Golly, I'm in danger of drooling all over my laptop. This would be such a juicy investigation. Why isn't Eric Holder slavering all over it? 

* Digby demolishes the Rush Limbaugh "mentality":

Here's the thing: these people are puerile, schoolyard thinkers who believe in any means to an end. If they could have done what they truly wanted to do after 9/11, they would have opened concentration camps or started a nuclear war. They believe that you have to use everything you have at your disposal or the wogs (everyone but us) will think you are weak. That's the full extent of their understanding of the way the world works.

That using torture and endless imprisonment of innocent people are immoral and disgusting taboos that put the perpetrator in the same company as history's most evil villains is entirely unpersuasive to these people --- they think that's a good thing. But even on a practical level that even a very average 9th grader should be able to understand, you would hope they could see that these people hurt the nation in ways that we'll be dealing with for decades --- we showed that America loses its head when attacked, overreacts, spends and then botches the whole thing so badly we don't know whether we are coming or going. We've shown that we are pants wetting, panic artists who will harm ourselves when frightened. And that is a weakness no powerful nation should ever allow the world to see.

Perfectly said.

* Does anyone in America give a crap what the Three Stooges say?

In a joint statement, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.) said prosecuting Bush administration officials for their legal opinions would have a "deeply chilling effect" on any administration receiving legal advice. And they said a commission would "focus on the mistakes of the past" instead of "looking forward to solutions."

We are "looking forward" to defeating the Three Stooges in their next elections.

* Glenn Greenwald is brilliant as always. But here's a rare point of disagreement:

(3) The single most sacred Beltway belief is that elites are exempt from the rule of law.

That's simply not true. If a Democrat is simply accused of a crime - or even a moral failing - The Village demands swift and summary punishment. Think of Bill Clinton, Gary Condit, Spitzer, and Blago. It's only Republicans who are exempt from the rule of law in The Village. Compare David Vitter, who is still in office, with Spitzer, who lasted 3 days. Compare Joe Scarborough (R-FL), whose young intern was mysteriously found dead in his own office yet rules morning cable TV, with once-obscure Congressman Gary Condit (D-CA) who was driven out of public life for a crime he didn't commit. The only line Republicans are not permitted to cross is child predation, which turned The Village against Mark Foley. Cokie Roberts rules!