Obama Flip-Flops — In the Right Direction!

To prosecute, or not to prosecute?

That is the question facing the Obama administration. And, for a while at least, it didn’t seem to know the answer.

First, it was a clear “No.” After releasing the memos detailing the methods of torture approved by, and practiced by, the Bush administration, both Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel insisted that neither the authors of the memos nor those who carried out the torture would be prosecuted.

For President Obama, they said, it was more important to move forward than to look back. There would be, said Emanuel, “no retribution.”

The announced reluctance to prosecute raised a storm of criticism around the country, and in the Congress. So now the answer is, instead, a murky “Maybe.” In a big change of direction, President Obama surprised reporters by telling them he would leave it up to Attorney General Eric Holder whether or not to prosecute authors of the torture memos.

Was this a big flip-flop for Obama? Yes! But it was a flip-flop in the right direction.

Now it’s up to Holder to do the right thing. The Bush torture memos lay out a rationale for carrying out methods of interrogation that were clearly illegal at the time. Those who carried out the orders might be spared. But those in the Justice Department — and in the Bush White House — who gave the orders must be held fully accountable.

Visit Mr. Press’s website at billpressshow.com.