I haven’t read the whole thread, but can somebody tell us what we’ve actually learned that we didn’t know before?
Go to http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/documents/olc-memos.htm, download the memos, and read them for yourself. What I've seen so far is summaries of deprecated legal theories that pertain to [exclusive] executive authority in the areas of detention, treatment of prisoners, surveillance, and similar subjects. President Bush's administration maintained that its efforts in ferreting out and dealing with those suspected of being or assisting terrorists, here and abroad, was completely immune from Congressional and Judicial oversight.