When George W. Bush was about to leave office, a number of conservative groups asked Bush to pull a Jerry Ford and preemptively pardon anyone involved in the U.S. torture program. Bush declined. Now ACLU executive director Anthony D. Romero, whose group actively opposed the idea when Bush was president, writes an op-ed in the New York Times asking Barack Obama to pardon Bush and others, arguing that it may be the only way to ensure that torture remains illegal.
Mark Fallon, a longtime interrogator for the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service and within the Department of Homeland Security, writes for Politico that Dick Cheney lied about torture: It doesn’t work.
Former spies launch site to counter Senate Intelligence Committee torture report: ciasavedlives.com. Via Foreign Policy.
Recovery at last? Krugman says this might actually be the real thing. Via the New York Times.
In an interview with BET, Barack Obama calls racism “deeply rooted.” Who could disagree? Well, I’ll bet you can guess who. Via New York.
Why Rolling Stone’s rape story presents such a problem: It adds to the myth that women fabricate stories of sexual assault. Via ThinkProgress.
Emily Yoffe writes in Slate that rape is a serious problem on college campuses, but that an overcorrection can lead to an infringement of men’s civil rights.
The GOP is fighting the last war by speeding up the 2016 presidential primaries. The plan just might backfire. Via the National Journal.
Borowitz: Fox reports that Obama seeking advice on establishing monarchy. Via the New Yorker.