King Of Pain

by tristero

Paul Krugman at the top of his form:

So why is the Bush administration so determined to torture people?

To show that it can.

The central drive of the Bush administration — more fundamental than any particular policy — has been the effort to eliminate all limits on the president’s power. Torture, I believe, appeals to the president and the vice president precisely because it’s a violation of both law and tradition. By making an illegal and immoral practice a key element of U.S. policy, they’re asserting their right to do whatever they claim is necessary.

[snip]

Only now, five years after 9/11, has Mr. Bush finally found some things he wants us to sacrifice. And those things turn out to be our principles and our self-respect.

Read the whole thing.

[From the Department of Patting Oneself On One’s Back: I can’t resist linking to this post from a few days back:

Bush was not bluffing, he was actually going to invade a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 because…well, because he could. It is still the only reason that makes sense. Because he could.

BTW, the first time I wrote that that was the reason Bush was invading Iraq was back on February 28, 2003.

Note: I’m not suggesting Krugman steals from bloggers like yours truly – he’s a brilliant man and this isn’t the hardest conclusion to come to, after all. No, I’m simply boasting shamelessly that I said it first. Boasting shamelessly about priority – and proving it with a link – is one of the great pleasures of blogging, made even more so because said priority is, as it is in this case, utterly trivial and meaningless.]