This is actually the first, good summary of the whole story that I have seen. The entire stunt makes you feel is if you dozed off for a year or two and woke up on a changed world.

If you are to believe those outraged at Pelosi, the Bush Admin did NOT commit torture. This late changes to be that they commited something like torture, but not actual torture, and this saved thousands of lives so it was a really good idea. They then claim that Pelosi was told about the actual torture, that they didn't commit, and this represents a huge scandal and implicates her in the crimes, that they didn't commit.

She is for an investigation and they are not. So they have what they would like to claim is a major scandal, despite it not making sense, yet they don't really want to look into it any further than discussing it on-camera.

Excellent summary, Steve.

This is the typical magician's diversion; distract your attention with smoke and mirrors while they're pulling off the fast one... or trying to get you to stop focusing on the underhanded move.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

"She's for a truth commission" If only her darn friends weren't holding her back, she'd totally kick some republican ass!

Shorter GOP:
You did nothing to stop us when you could do nothing to stop us, so everything we did is your fault.

If it turns out Pelosi has been lying about this, she should resign - right after Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld turn themselves over to The Hague.

I accidently watched Charles Gibson on ABC, after reading Empty Wheel and others on the Soufan testimony earlier in the day, and it was about the most Orwellian thing I have ever experienced.

How can anyone other than loyal part operative turn Mr. Soufan's compelling narrative and twist it into a few Republican talking points?

Such deceptive propaganda is not accidental, and I do not think Gibson is that clever. There must be a direct feed into the ABC so-called news room.

I don't give a flying f**K if Pelosi handed somebody a bucket of water. Bush, Cheney, Rummy and the rest should be arrested and tried for war crimes. If Nancy has to go along with them, too bad, so sad. The Rule of Law holds this country together. We can't let partisan politics and Republican crazy making undermine the fabric of our nation any longer.

"News" today is all about creating controversy where there was none before; as such, they become a useful tool for unscrupulous operatives, be they political, corporate or whatever.

Murrow must be spinning in his grave.

Very good. Work like this brings us closer to the war crimes story and the media apparatus defending the crimes.

"the press corps would latch on to this rather ridiculous diversion is telling."

There are 24/7 hours to fill and eyeballs to attract. Never forget that The News" is a for profit enterprise.

Controversy trumps Fact, Pictures trump Words.

If the GOP's position is "if Pelosi is OK with it, it's OK," that's fine with me--as long as they apply it across the board, to issues such as taxes, abortion, gay marriage, cap and trade, supreme court appointments, etc. Something tells me that they won't do this.

When will Wolf Blitzer call Newt Gingrich a stupid, lying weirdo?

The media aren't falling for anything, the media wants this whole thing to blow over. Remember: the media is comprised of two elements, an element that was happy to see this go on and took a willing part in ensuring it would go on without opposition, and a part that just plain failed to do its job or even recognize that it has a job to do.

The media is as culpable as the leader of a toothless minority party, if not more so, because the media was able to exert pressure by shining a light on the behavior of the Bush administration, and chose not to do so.

And, personally, I don't think Pelosi ever did the minimum, so I'm not going to cry any tears if she goes. We've had a toothless, right-wing, media and a gutless bunch of legislators for too long now. Many are crying over bankrupt newspapers and legislators being taken down as hypocritical. I'm not. Bring it on.

This is the typical magician's diversion - Mustang Bobby

This is the work of an incompetent magician. The idea with diversion is to make people look away from where the real action is. In this case Pelosi is standing right in front of it. So every time her name comes up, we're talking about torture, Bush administration lies, and CIA manipulation of facts to justify the Iraq invasion. I suspect most people have reached the point where they ask, why is she the issue again?

She's not trying to sweep all of this under the rug; she's trying to do the opposite, even in the face of Republican intimidation tactics.

I know this is her public position, but is she pushing for a truth commission or special prosectutor behind the scenes? Pelosi has an enormous amount of power to get something like this done if she wanted to, yet we seem to be drifting further and further away from any real investigation.

And count me among those who would be upset if Pelosi were ousted. At least in the Senate, the replacement couldn't help but be better than Reid no matter who it is. But we know who Pelosi's replacement would be: Steny Hoyer. Does anyone think an amoral K-Street favorite like Hoyer would be better for liberals than Pelosi?

As A.L. noted the other day, "The level of hypocrisy and incoherence it takes for Republicans to point to Pelosi as being some sort of key figure in this scandal is astounding. And the fact that the press corps would latch on to this rather ridiculous diversion is telling."

You guys still don't get it, do you? The Dems were all aboard the waterboarding train. They don't want to see this hit the press any more than the Republicans do.

Right now, you're watching the Republicans shoot across the Dems bow: you'd better let this whole thing blow over or you're going down, too.

Prediction: Obama will simply move forward.

Was she even Minority Leader that whole time? Gephardt didn't step down until after the 2002 elections, and I think he would've at least gotten sworn into his 2003-2005 term before officially resigning.

Rumsfeld delivered a daily intelligence briefing to Bush carefully packaged as religious insanity,

http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_9217

with a cover of pretty photos of the Iraqi war in progress interlarded with quotes from the Bible.

Let us give the repubs what they want, a truth commission that will expose all of the dirty dealings republican or democrat, I know which side will be demolished!

I was disappointed that my Governor and DNC Head Tim Kaine didn't fight hard enough for Pelosi when David G. brought up the Pelosi diversion. He noted how great it was that we don't torture anymore (?) instead of coming right to the point: what Pelosi heard isn't the relevant issue.

Furthermore, most dumb wonks continue to frame issues in terms of whether just maybe T is inherently justified under "ideal" circumstances of a ticking time bomb etc., and passing over all the evidence it was used for "non-ideal" purposes anyway like trying to force a link between Saddam and bin Laden, etc.

Democrats have a "horrible record of failing to protect Americans"? Nancy Pelosi is "more that caught up in this"?

Who the Fuck are these people? Snake oil peddling sons-a-bitches everyone of them.

.
What's all the rhubarb? Doesn't this Congresschick get it??? Torture is kewl!!! It even has its' own music! Rock on! In your FACE, Constitution!
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Has anyone heard what the Republicans on that committee with Pelosi and Graham say about what they were told? I haven't seen any coverage of them.

Their "Mexican standoff" strategy will only work if Americans forget their history. Through their bluster, the Republicans fail to realize that if they continue their rhetoric the next logical step is to call for full investigation, so we are waiting.

If Boehner and co. fail to drop the other shoe - that of Pelosi indeed being neck deep in torture notification - they run the risk of competing with only one shoe on, and we'll all see the awkwardness of their efforts.

No, the Republicans need to call for full-scale Congressional hearings, if for nothing else than to determine the extent the Bush Administration used torture as a national policy so we can see just what Nancy knew, and when she knew it since as Minority Leader she could go back to her humble abode and have absolutely no consequence on the torture that was being employed under our nation's executive leaders.

When denial is so intense among UnAmerican Torture Apologists (UTA), any cockamamie, idiotic connection can be proffered by the faithful! -Kevo

My hatred for Republicans is solidified. Damn them all to the hell. Or Texas.

"And the fact that the press corps would latch on to this rather ridiculous diversion is telling."

And has been telling for a decade. We've been listening to and reading this stuff for too long. We've spent a lot of energy expressing surprise at the press corps' chutzpah. Is anyone here still surprised that newspapers are dying? How about putting out a contract on rightwing radio and TV as well?

PS: With regard to Pelosi, a careful read of Carl Hulse's article in the Times suggests Pelosi rules, though Hulse may not have meant to suggest that.

I don't know if the Republicans realize, that if Pelosi did hear about torture and didn't squeal, that undermines their claim that Democrats put their own opinions above "national security." But we know, they don't care about logical consistency but rather, how the "buzz" feels to targeted LIVs.

But in general, this entire "controversy" is a ridiculous GOP stunt, which the media is falling for. *************************************************

Falling for??!! Falling for?!! NO, "party to", or "an integral piece of", - Yes. The (f)right wing networks are doing their best to bring down Pelosi and the War Crimes investigations in one fell swoop. But as the investigation continues, ANYONE who is guilty of planning and ordering torture needs to be tried and punished. Crime is crime. Pelosi wants the investigation, REpigs don't. What's that tell you?

Crime is crime. Pelosi wants the investigation, REpigs don't. What's that tell you?

It tells me that Pelosi isn't afraid of the truth and Repubs are. They want it to be all about her, but then when she calls for a truth commission, all of a sudden the cowards change their tune.

So is the former chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee a liar too? Because Bob Graham has a daily log that proves the CIA's claims about when briefings took place are wrong.
Gee, I wonder why the pro-Republican corporate media isn't mentioning this? Oh that's right, because they're pro-Republican shills who don't care about the truth, just screaming about a Republican generated "controversy" so as to distract from the Bush/Cheney crimes.
Pelosi supports a truth commission. Oops, there goes the Repub attempt at diversion. They're not afraid of the truth are they?

Old Russian saying...You can tell same lie 1000 time(Ms. Pelosi) but not change truth!

Difference between USSR Communist media and USA "mainstream media"

In Russia government make media say what they want - even if lie.
In USA "mainstream media" try make government what they want - even if lie..
.....eventually they become same thing?!

I Igor produce Obama Birth Certificate at www.igormaro.org

It was OBL's greatest triumph...to force Americans to face their own hypocrisy.

On a whole the republican party and conservatives in particular 'are' the party of Hypocrisy.

It was never "Look at what the terrorists did to us"...it was always "Look at what the terrorists made us do to ourselves", thanks to the Bush-republican-conservative ideology and response.

It continues: How can we say we are a nation who abides by the rule of law and then refuse to prosecute our leaders for breaking them?

Using Pelosi to distract from and avoid prosecutions will not work because she has a lot more credibility than those who lied us into a war and tortured for political reasons.

Short take (of an excellent Benen deconstruction): it's the media, stupid. Better: it's the stupid media. Stupid. The one's holding the steaming turd here are, once again, America's babbling legion of feckless, narcissistic attention whores. What a country.

That's why any prosecution is mere political hay making by the Democrats.

I love how the media has decided the problem isn't that Americans tortured people in violation of American law -- it's whether or not a Democrat was told about it.

IMHO, who gives a shit whether the person has a "D" or an "R" after their name? If they broke the law, they broke the law. Period. (space space)

And that's the view of most liberal I know ... which is why they're liberal and not conservative -- they put things like laws ahead of party. :-)