I am frankly amazed that wingnuts out there think that by implying that Pelosi knew about torture, therefore, we can't prosecute former Bush Administration officials; the evil Moe Lane of Redstate has hardly gone a day without implying such. How ridiculous (and as a sidebar, how much it makes apparent that THEY KNOW laws were broken and are trying to find any way to prevent prosecutions). I assume I am not alone in hoping that torturers, or those who signed off on it, of either party, WILL be prosecuted.
While the House & Senate Democrats may be fairly spineless and willing to tolerate a certain amount of lawbreaking among their own ranks to preserve a majority, I see no such hypocrisy by the netroots - certainly calls for investigations, prosecutions, and even electoral defeat have abounded regarding William Jefferson, Tim Mahoney, and more recently John Murtha. It appears that some congressional Democrats are following our lead and demanding accountability regardless of where that road leads. ;Today, the front page noted that Steny Hoyer is calling the GOP bluff and inviting investigations, even if they may eventually mean Pelosi gets dragged in.
Asked at the news conference whether Democrats were inviting political problems by holding hearings, Hoyer said: "I think the facts need to get out. I think the Republicans are simply trying to distract the American public with who knew what when. My response to that is, look, the issue is not what was said or what was known; the question and focus ought to be on what was done."
He then added: "What was said and when it was said, who said it ... is probably what ought to be on the record as well."
I am not on Hoyer's side terribly often, but here, he is exactly correct. Yes, as Pelosi's main rival for the Speakership a few years back, this could be a craven power play, but it is still the best strategy.
If it turns out that Pelosi knew about torture or put her name to a document approving it, and that she was informed about it in full - that will obviously come out in an investigation, and if so, I will spend zero seconds defending her, even if it means losing a few seats in 2010, or if it means Hoyer gets the gavel.
Personally, based on the evidence so far, I think it is more likely that either Pelosi wasn't notified of the full extent of the interrogations, or that it were classified and that she could NOT tell anyone. Unfortunately, Pelosi should have started discussing the "classified" aspect of this, as soon as Obama began releasing the memo's, so it is now pretty difficult to claim that all along, the only thing holding her back was the 'classified' status. Not to mention the fact that there are different levels of justice depending on exactly who was involved and how they were involved, and what they did.
But if she knew, signed off on it, or assisted in planning anything, than for sure, lock her up, just like the Bush Admin thugs.