The Obama administration's Gitmo whitewash is only the latest in a string of betrayals on civil liberties/political transparency/war on terror issues that, as Glenn Greenwald notes are "piling up so quickly, it's becoming difficult to keep track" (see also: this, this, this and this). Seriously, it's about time for Marty Lederman to either step up or resign in protest.
One consolation in all this has been that, as Greenwald has repeatedly spotlighted (scroll to first break), most Americans have been adamant that they want investigations into whether the Bush administration broke the law in prosecuting the war on terror.
That's why I was sorry to note some depressing news buried toward the bottom of today's New York Times poll [pdf]. The analysis in the newspaper itself focused on economic issues, but the complete results feature these two questions:
Do you want Congress to hold hearings to investigate whether the Bush Administration's treatment of detainees, the use of wiretaps and other Justice Department practices broke the law, or don't you think that is necessary? Want hearings (37), Don't think necessary (58), DK/NA (5)
Some Democratic members of Congress are in favor of holding hearings to investigate the Bush Administration. Do you think the Democrats want to investigate the Bush Administration mostly because they think the law was broken or mostly for political reasons? Law was broken (27), Political reasons (68), DK/NA (6).
Since this runs contrary to several other recent polls, it's possible, if only remotely, that the issue here is whether Congress should be in charge of the investigations. The Times did not ask about criminal or independent investigation, which is what people have said they've supported in the past. Or maybe it's just an anomaly.
Given Obama's horrendous affirmations of Bush's policies, I'm not even sure how I'd respond today to the poll's central question of whether I approve or disapprove of Obama's performance. Certainly in many respects he's been pretty good -- and much better than Bush, though that's a low bar. But the restoration of Constitutional law was my top issue during the election, so I can't just overlook it. Perhaps if Obama were doing unquestionably great on the economy that would tip me into an overall favorable position, but he's actually been more like, "we'll have to wait and see, but it looks like a bit of a mess." Actually I'd struggle with this poll since it breaks everything down into domestic and foreign policy, while the issues I'm discussing are most accurately considered both -- even though they're not the ones typically thought of in discussions of either.
But the most tricky question in the poll? It's this one, on page 18:
Did you vote in the 2008 presidential election, did something prevent you from voting, or did you choose not to vote? IF VOTED, ASK: Did you vote for John Kerry, George W. Bush, or Ralph Nader?
No... but maybe I should have.
