Then again, she’s writing in an op-ed in the WSJ (since she’s on the editorial board, and all), so this shouldn’t be too surprising. In this case, she is presenting Panetta as a stalwart worthy (which he may very well be to one degree or another) who according to her “has officially become the president’s designated fall guy.” She reserves special vitriol for AG Holder, who she describes as “giving the term ‘ideological purity’ new meaning.” Speaker Pelosi is also singled out for special contempt here:

Then came House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s full-frontal assault [SB: interesting choice of image by KS], claiming the agency had lied to her about waterboarding. This would have been an excellent time for some “vigorous” protection of the CIA, since agency documents flatly contradict the speaker. But with his domestic agenda in the hands of Congress, the White House was mum. It showed equal interest in defending Mr. Panetta against the threat of congressional investigations.

She is subtly disingenuous is where she indirectly outsources the assumption that torture is a good thing, by letting the (presumably paraphrased) words of Sen. Bond do the talking:

Sen. Bond notes that the Obama moves are “reopening old wounds” after years of effort to tear down walls within the intelligence community. Arguably the high point of cooperation was the work Justice and CIA did together in devising the interrogation program, which has yielded invaluable information. Now, the Missouri Republican tells me, “instead of the CIA viewing the Department of Justice as their lawyer, they view them as their prosecutor.”

Just for the record: nowhere does she express the slightest concern that some of this conduct may have been illegal, immoral, or (yet another) threat to what little remains intact of our Constitutional system of government. Nor does she justify the argument that this is somehow an attack on Panetta, rather than the interrogation program (and other abuses both past and current).

I almost wish I could lie so freely, and with such little regard for reality – if only for the rewards. Then I remember that I cherish the ability to sleep well at night.