Justice Department White-Washes Torture Memos:

Yesterday, the Justice Department announced that the lawyers who prepared the now infamous memos justifying the use of torture during the Bush administration were innocent of any wrong doing, that they had simply used bad judgment (thus providing every suspect apprehended, from this point on, with an immediate defense, no matter the crime).

The report concludes, in the words of Eric Lichtblau and Scott Shane of The New York Times, that Jay S. Bybee and John C. Yoo "had demonstrated 'professional misconduct.'" And that they "had ignored legal precedents and provided slipshod legal advice to the White House in possible violation of international and federal laws of torture."

Beyond that there seems to be no indication that the Justice Department intends to prosecute the lawyers. One lawyer with the department adds that the two were functioning under a particularly difficult climate at the time the memos were written, which did not allow for any reflection. However, John Yoo, who has made a career out of having written the memos, denies that there was any pressure. Yoo, it seems, was chomping at the bit to do his part to help the Bush administration create a police state of the U.S. at the first opportunity.

Bybee is currently a federal judge. Evidently that was his reward for generating paperwork to help justify Dick Cheney's attempt to destroy American democracy.

While we're on the topic of Cheney, "Darth Vader" appeared at CPAC in Washington this week where he was welcomed to chants of "Run, Dick, run!" indicating the desperation of conservatives to find a candidate for 2012.