Bybee (now) Regrets

[babylonsister]

Amid Outcry on Memo, Signer's Private Regret
Friends Say Judge Wasn't Proud of Outcome

By Karl Vick
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, April 25, 2009


LAS VEGAS -- On a Saturday night in May last year, Jay S. Bybee hosted dinner for 35 at a Las Vegas restaurant. The young people seated around him had served as his law clerks in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, the post Bybee had assumed after two turbulent years at the Justice Department, where as head of the Office of Legal Counsel he signed the legal justifications for harsh interrogations that have become known as the "torture memos."

Five years along in his new life as a federal judge, Bybee gathered the lawyers and their dates for a reunion, telling them he was proud of the legal work they had together produced.

And then, according to two of his guests, Bybee added that he wished he could say the same about his previous position.

It was, in the private room of a public restaurant, the kind of joyless judgment that some friends and associates say the jurist arrived at well before the public release of four additional memos last week and the resulting uproar that has engulfed Washington. One of the documents, dated Aug. 1, 2002, offered a helpfully narrow definition of torture to the CIA and soon became known as the "Bybee memo," because it bore his signature.

"I've heard him express regret at the contents of the memo," said a fellow legal scholar and longtime friend, who spoke on the condition of anonymity while offering remarks that might appear as "piling on." "I've heard him express regret that the memo was misused. I've heard him express regret at the lack of context -- of the enormous pressure and the enormous time pressure that he was under. And anyone would have regrets simply because of the notoriety."

That notoriety worsened this week as the documents -- detailing the acceptable application of waterboarding, "walling," sleep deprivation and other procedures the Bush administration called "enhanced interrogation methods" -- prompted calls from human rights advocates and other critics for criminal investigations of the government lawyers who generated them.

more...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/24/AR2009042403888.html

[tekisui]

1. Let him regret it in jail.

[frogcycle]

2. I'll accept that he actually regrets it when

he does the right thing, as they do in Japan.

That he accepted the appointment proves he does not know what it is to "regret" an action that resulted in untold misery to innocent people and the devastating effect on our national conscience.


The last pp of the link:

"Bybee left the issue behind in 2003, returning to the gated suburban Las Vegas subdivision where he lives with his wife and children. He has said nothing publicly about the documents, a silence associates attributed to the restrictions on a sitting appellate judge, the possible advice of counsel and his own manner."


You don't get a "pass" for malfeasance by "regretting" it and "leaving it behind."

[malaise]

3. The only re that matters

is resignation. Fuck off Bybee!! You regret but people were killed and tortured.

[WeDidIt]

4. I'm sure war criminals throughout history have regretted their actions

It never absolves them from their war crimes, though.

[KharmaTrain]

5. The Next Astroturf War Has Begun...

Since the "it wasn't torture" didn't work, then "the torture kept us safe" fell flat and now the "you're politicizing our breaking laws" stunt is really backfiring, time to cue up the violins...

:nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity: :nopity:

Yep...we're now supposed to feel sorry for dear old Jay. He knew what he was doing wasn't right and now regrets it, but fact remains he still did it and did so willingly. He wrote those memos with his eyes wide open and knowing he was serving masters...principals mean nothing. He was doing the job he was hired and being paid to do and would be rewarded for...the Constitution could be tampered with or outright violated...the end justifies the means.

So now we shouldn't prosecute or impeach this war criminal because he has regrets? The same game is played by other criminals hoping to cop to a lesser plea or play to the sympathies of the jury.

I can hear the meme now..."Bybee is such a nice guy...he HAD to write thsee memos..." Stay tuned...

[pdxmom]

6. What did he think those memos would be used for? The Office of

Legal Counsel doesn't just engage in academic exercises just for fun. He knew that the administration was looking for a legal justification for torture and he provided it, no matter how he wants to twist it all around now. His only regret now is that everything is finally come out. What kind of "context" can there be to twisting the law to approve torture?

[Bluenorthwest]

7. He regrets the truth coming out and nothing more

If he had any measure of regret, he would resign. Anything less is just P.R. spin.

[peace frog]

10. Exactly

and you know damn well he won't resign, so this so-called "regret" is CYA.
Hey Bybee: we're not buying the manure you're selling, pal.

[hlthe2b]

8. Ahh, the PR response designed to garner him sympathy....

and preempt impeachment. BS

[baldguy]

9. Hollow regerts are worth nothing.

Resign.