The Obama administration apparently is giving a green light for liberal zealots in Congress and in the Justice Department to go after former Bush-administration lawyers.

We are supposed to damn these out-of-office lawyers because, in a time of national crisis, they gave advice that was construed as permitting torture. In three exceptional cases, interrogators waterboarded terrorist detainees �� at least one of them responsible for the murder of 3,000 Americans. I emphasize the adverb ��apparently,�� because �� as has been the case from campaign-finance reform to the imposition of the highest ethical standards in history for Cabinet nominations �� with the Obama administration, any ethical proclamation is usually at odds with the unethical reality.

The administration should tread carefully, since it is about to embark on something nefarious that could tear apart the country.

POSTFACTO JUSTICE?
First, remember that the Constitution already permits ongoing audit of the executive branch. Watergate prompted Nixon��s resignation in face of impending impeachment. Iran-Contra almost destroyed the Reagan administration. President Clinton��s sexual antics with a female subordinate, and lying about it subsequently (speaking no truth to those without power), prompted his impeachment. Nancy Pelosi, who was briefed on the options of waterboarding in the dark days following 9/11, had ample opportunity to hold congressional hearings on Bush��s overemphasis on homeland security. Her outrage now rings false, an unseemly ploy to hide her complicity in what she once thought was responsible governance.

	  	Factor: A Better Way Murdock: