You know, I thought Jay Bybee felt bad about the torture memos, after all, that’s what his friends told us. But if this New York Times article is any indication, Bybee’s friends clearly don’t know him very well; far from feeling some sense of shame, it turns out that Jay Bybee has no regrets:
“The central question for lawyers was a narrow one; locate, under the statutory definition, the thin line between harsh treatment of a high-ranking Al Qaeda terrorist that is not torture and harsh treatment that is. I believed at the time, and continue to believe today, that the conclusions were legally correct.”
Other administration lawyers agreed with those conclusions, Judge Bybee said.
“The legal question was and is difficult,” he said. “And the stakes for the country were significant no matter what our opinion. In that context, we gave our best, honest advice, based on our good-faith analysis of the law.”
It’s comforting to know that we have a veritable sociopath serving in the federal judiciary.
“Legally correct” and “the right thing to do” can be two very different things. When I read that article I don’t see a man who believes torture is right, I see a man not strong enough to ask that question.
One of those things is slightly more forgivable than the other, I think. Unfortunately that’s about the best defense I can muster for Bybee.