Philadelphia Inquirer Hires Torture Memo Author John Yoo To Write Column

Frank Thomas Armstrong writes in from Portland, Oregon: “Perhaps Hannibal Lecter could dish out some recipes for the Food Section. Vlad the Impaler could provide ideas for staking out that special backyard garden. And John Wayne Gacy could answer questions ranging from child psychology and clown costuming to how to build a truly scary basement for Halloween!”

And Adam Greenfield writes this from Helsinki, Finland: “John Yoo seems increasingly likely to escape responsibility for his criminal actions. At least, then, let him be shunned by all honest citizens, and live in ignominy and shame for the rest of his days.”

But the Philadelphia Inquirer is defending its position. In the paper yesterday, editorial page editor Harold Jackson wrote a piece titled, “Why we hired John Yoo.”

Will Bunch, senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News and author of the blog Attytood. He was the first the write about this issue last week. His latest book is “Tear Down This Myth: How the Reagan Legacy Distorted Our Politics and Haunts Our Future.”

Related Democracy Now! Stories

• The Green Light: Attorney Philippe Sands Follows the Bush Administration Torture Trail (4/3/2008)
• “Torture Team”: British Attorney Philippe Sands on the White House Role in Sanctioning Torture (5/8/2008)