Monday, May 10, 2004
PADILLA WATCH Daily Kos reprints a Washington Post letter to the editor noting that there were hidden stakes involved when the Pentagon requested that CBS delay its original Abu Ghraib story.
Today, that's a lot harder thing to say with a straight face.
And those stakes were higher than just stalling the report's broadcast until the next news cycle.
Specifically, the delay had the effect of pushing the explosion of the abuse controversy until after the Hamdi v. Rumsfeld and Padilla v. Rumsfeld oral arguments.
Eight hours after.
Why does that matter?
Consider Deputy Solicitor General Paul Clement's contention, in response to a question about checks on executive power, that:
"You have to recognize that . . . where the government is on a war footing, you have to trust the executive ..."
Today, that's a lot harder thing to say with a straight face.
