[Verginius Rufus]

I think the one thing that will make Obama hold back would be the uncertainty that this would be helpful to him politically--if he was sure the majority of the public supported it, he's be happy to push ahead. O'Reilly showed a poll recently that only 17% of Americans thought this would be good for the country. Since that 17% includes most of the media bigwigs, much of the Democratic leadership in Congress, and the activists within the Democratic party, it could happen if they could sell it to the public.

There was one of the leftwing legal pundits on C-SPAN recently (I think it was), but I forget if it was Turley or someone else, who was arguing that the correct punishment for torture is the death penalty, and he obviously thought Bush guilty. I don't think they'll go that far--even with all the comparisons to Pinochet, there is a difference between killing several thousand of your own citizens and waterboarding three terrorists (which is the main component of the "torture" allegation). I don't think the public would agree to having President Bush hanged for waterboarding 3 terrorists.

[okie01]

I don't think the public would agree to having President Bush hanged for waterboarding 3 terrorists.

Don't be so sure.

A majority of "the public" thought it would be a good idea to elect an anti-American radical as President.