Todd concludes his generally self-justifying statements with an intensely defensive claim about the media’s role in potential torture investigations:
Well, look, I think the problem, though, sits not with the media in this respect. And this is what frustrates me a little bit, is that the problem, the people we should be upset with are the folks on the Hill, folks in the White House, folks at the Justice Department. Those are the ones who have the power of the subpoena, and the power to do these things, not the media. And I know we get beaten up about it. But the power does lie in Congress. And the power does lie in the Justice Department.
Ah, so I shouldn’t blame poor Chuck Todd because he can’t order the commencement of legal procedures. Evidently, the “fourth estate” no longer possesses the ability to speak truth to power. Only power can deal with power in this nation. That’s an astonishingly self-effacing view for a reporter. Chuck Todd, stenographer. And to say such a thing while your network is busy canonizing Walter Cronkite. I am having trouble imagining a more direct insult to his legacy.
And also note that lacking the puissance to confront such problems is one thing, using what measly strength you think you have to provide a defense for those public officials, which was the act that motivated Greenwald's initial criticism, is another.
But there’s more. According to Todd, the issue is, gasp, complicated:
But you're assuming a black and white. I mean, the whole point of those OLC memos was showing that they were getting a set of, that the interrogators were potentially getting legal advice to, and in fact what the Bush administration was trying to do, was trying to find a legal way. They were trying to find a legal way, they were trying whatever, which is, of course, my - as a non-lawyer - my frustration with the law sometimes - is that the law isn't clear cut.
If only there were a venue for settling legal disputes in this country. Call your Congressmen now and demand that they create a forum whereby parties in conflict over the interpretation of a legal code could have a person or group of people analyze the arguments and render a decision.
Todd’s fundamental problem with assigning a Justice Department lawyers to investigate the entire torture culture appears to be the fact that it would become “political:”
I agree, in a perfect world - Glenn, in a perfect world, yes. And if you could also guarantee me, that this wouldn't become a show trial, and wouldn't be put, and created so that we had nightly debates about it, that is the ideal way to handle this.
Colbert did a nice bit on this little gem.
So in summation, Chuck Todd thinks that (1) the media has no power, so leave them alone, (2) the issue is tricky, so ignore it, and (3) when a case is debated on television it becomes a “show trial.”
Where to begin? I can start by offering congratulations to Todd for consistency. He thinks the media lacks the power to hold politicians responsible for bad behavior, and he also believes it cannot stop itself from turning an investigation into a circus (see the above Colbert link). A truly neutered animal, this press of ours.
I may be naïve, but I would assert that if networks focused on the substance of the case, leaving the politics as an afterthought, you would be less likely turn the otherwise gravely serious investigation into Absurdist Theater. But it would take a media with some power to pull that off. Kim Jong-Il evidently puts little boxes with screens and speakers fueled by electricity in the homes of all of his citizens so he can communicate his views. That’s real power.
But Todd goes even farther. Not only is the press helpless, but any issue without a clear resolution should be avoided. I was honestly speechless when I first heard that claim. There’s nothing to say about that save to let it stand as a monument to incredibly stupidity (I don’t think Todd generally approaches life that way, but when confronted by a superior adversary, such laughable rationalizations are the predictable result of a desperate defense).
Todd happens to be one of the better reporters on the scene, which speaks volumes about the state of the Washington press corps. To reiterate why this issue is not a “political football” or “cable catnip,” as Greenwald mentions several times, around 100 detainees died in US custody, 34 of which are suspected or confirmed homicides.
All snark aside, our nation has rightly concluded that the way to solve these complicated issues is through an adherence to legal process. The Supreme Court does give advisory opinions, Bush could not have run the Yoo memos past a Justice, so the only way to deal with these problems is to adjudicate when it has become an actual case or controversy. If we decide that any issue that is both complicated and political cannot see a courtroom, we have destroyed that sacred legal process. Todd has it exactly wrong, it is the unclear, vague cases that must appear in a court.
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