Condi Rice Channels Nixon

The Young Turks' Cenk Uygur, who obtained the video, said Condi Rice "absolutely pulls a Nixon" in her answer. The ol' "if the President did it, it must be legal" twisted logic. Watch it (Rice's answers come at 0:57):

RICE: "I just said, the United States was told, we were told, nothing that violates our obligations under the Convention Against Torture. And so by definition, if it was authorized by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture."

Condi weakly tries to give herself cover, refusing to take responsibility, saying only that she "conveyed the authorization of the administration." What's next, "I was just following orders"?

If King George asked for a ruling from his own neo-con legal team of cronies, amassed by Cheney over the past 30 years, that is not justification or legal. That is getting your buddy to back you up.



Source: ThinkProgress