Amy Goodman: Yoo’s Views Make Philly News

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20090520_yoos_views_make_philly_news/

Yoo’s Views Make Philly News

By Amy Goodman


The Philadelphia Inquirer, one of that city’s two major daily newspapers, is in the news itself these days after hiring controversial former Bush administration lawyer John Yoo as a monthly columnist.

Letters and e-mails critical of the Inquirer are pouring in. “How in the world could John Yoo’s legal analysis of anything be informative?” wrote Lisa Ernst of Philadelphia. “What next? An investment advice column by Bernie Madoff?” Will Bunch of the rival Philadelphia Daily News wrote, “It’s not about muzzling John Yoo from expressing his far-out-of-the-mainstream opinion in the many venues that are available to him, but whether a major American newspaper should give Yoo, his actions, and the notion of torture advocacy its implied endorsement by handing him a megaphone.”

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John Sifton is a human-rights investigator who recently wrote a piece titled “The Bush Administration Homicides.” He concludes that “an estimated 100 detainees have died during interrogations, some who were clearly tortured to death.” He told me: “These aggressive techniques were not just limited to the high-value detainee program in the CIA. They spread to the military with disastrous results. They led to the deaths of human beings ... when there’s a dead body involved, you can’t just have a debate about policy differences and looking forward or looking backward.”

Bunch told me: “Philadelphia is a city of 4 million people. John Yoo grew up here, but he doesn’t even live here now. And to think this is a voice that’s reflective of the community, frankly, {is} an insult to true conservatives that the best voice they can get on the editorial page is somebody who’s famous for being a torture advocate.”

I was in Philadelphia this past weekend and got to hear Grammy Award-winning soul singer John Legend give the commencement address at the University of Pennsylvania, his alma mater. He said in his speech: “As a nation and as a world, we need more truth. Let me repeat that. We need more truth. ... Too often, in business and in government, people are rewarded for having the answer that the person they report to wants them to have: ‘Yes, sir. We can provide mortgages to people who have no down payment and can’t afford the monthly payments.’ ... ‘Yes, ma’am. I can write a legal brief to justify torture.’ ” The students listened with rapt attention.

There are many Philadelphians who can write and inspire debate that leads people to action. John Yoo has done enough harm.