Ending torture: Torture and the Establishment press

Glenn Greenwald has been great on the torture issue in the US for years now. In Jeffrey Rosen vows never to "blog" again Salon 03/31/09, Glenn describes how our Establishment press pathology today has proved a valuable support for the Cheney-Bush torture program:

The one trait that defines establishment pundits more than any other is a pathological inability ever to accept blame or admit error. That's because they work in the most accountability-free profession in America, where people like Bill Kristol (with a record like this) and Jeffrey Goldberg (with a record like this) get promoted despite no retractions or remorse, and establishment media stars in general can pretend that they bear no responsibility for enabling the abuses and crimes of the Bush years. And all of that is simply an extension of the prevailing ethos that political, financial and media elites should be immunized from accountability in general -- which is why the Beltway elite class collectively scoffs at the very notion that there should be any consequences at all when our highest political leaders commit the most serious crimes. [my emphasis]

This really is an astonishing attitude. But I was at least encouraged to hear in an interview that Glenn did with Philippe Sands, author of Torture Team: Rumsfeld's Memo and the Betrayal of American Values (2008), saying that based on his knowledge of other transitional justice situations like Argentina and Chile, that the pressure for accountability for the torture program is surprisingly far along. Also in an interview with human rights expert Scott Horton at Antiwar.com this week, Horton sounds confident that their will be some substantial investigations of the torture program.

The media breakdown on the torture program looks to me even worse than on the Iraq War.

Tags: accountability for torture, establishment press, torture

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