Well, Excuse You!

“BEFORE President George W. Bush left office, a group of conservatives lobbied the White House to grant pardons to the officials who had planned and authorized the United States torture program. My organization, the American Civil Liberties Union, found the proposal repugnant. Along with eight other human rights groups, we sent a letter to Mr. Bush arguing that granting pardons would undermine the rule of law and prevent Americans from learning what had been done in their names.

But with the impending release of the report from the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, I have come to think that President Obama should issue pardons, after all — because it may be the only way to establish, once and for all, that torture is illegal.”

The forgoing quotation is from a brilliant Op Ed in the New York times by Anthony D. Romero in which Mr. Romero argues that President Obama should issue explicit pardons to George W. Bush and those who tortured rather than letting what amounts to tacit pardons stand . What Mr. Romero is advocating is a bit like saying “Well, excuse you!” to a quest who farted at the dinner table, only the offenses committed by Bush and the torturers rise to the level of crimes, and the pardons recognize the criminality of those acts (click here).