A litle humble pie

It was nice to see the Pres actually admit that " Hey, maybe we made a mistake or two" instead of the standard bull headed hubris laden spew that usually comes out of his mouth.
Also, my agenda is not beat Bush at all costs - it is to see the course of this country return to the one that promotes the freedom of ideas; supports the freedom to criticize policy wihtout fear of being Roved; that is always in the moral forefront when it comes to items such as torture; that truly believes in helping the poor, tired, and wretched; that is the shining beacon that the FF envisioned when they started this grand experiment of theirs.

Just to touch on the torture issue one more time - torture is evil. We should not just sink to the level of our enemies, justifying it by saying we have to resort to these measures because it levels the playing field. That cheapens the whole American Way package that we are trying so hard to peddle in Iraq right now. They can get the torture package anywhere - we have an obligation to lead by example - the do as I say and not as I do will not fly when you are trying to get people to reincorporate themselves into a whole new way of thinking and living. We must continually show that Democracy is a better way of life - and by refusing to condone torture as a tool to be used whenever it is expedient for us to do so is a big step in that direction.
The problem with the expansive interpertation of executive privilege by the current administration sets a very bad precedent - the problem is not who's minding the store right now (though there are some very good arguments for that), but the unknown pedagogue that might be there in the future.
Remember some sad tales from our recent past -

1. The internment of Japanese- Americans - most of whom were citizens, due to the specter of fear and racism that was promoted by the administration at the time. (why weren't there any German-American internment camps????){by the way - did you notice - a little FDR bashing}
2. The great Red Scare of the 50's promoted by Tail-Gunner Joe.
3. The trail of broken laws by the Nixon admin - too numerous to mention.

It was things like this that led the FF to maintain that a free press, equal branches of government, and the fourth amendment were essential for this democracy to succeed and thrive.