http://blogs.ajc.com/jay-bookman-blog/2009/02/12/almost-two-thirds-of-americans-back-torture-inquiry/

The Bush administration set a precedent for the use of torture that MUST be repealed.

Second, the Bush administration’s use of torture was no secret. The media knew it; members of Congress, including top Democrats, knew it; the courts knew it, and so did the American public. But nobody intervened to stop it. To the contrary, U.S. voters re-elected President Bush in 2004 and allowed the practice to continue, in effect making the entire country co-conspirators.

Even the prospect of non-criminal investigations makes some in Washington nervous. “If every administration started to re-examine what every prior administration did, there would be no end to it,” Sen. Arlen Specter said. “This is not Latin America.”

Ordinarily, I would agree wholeheartedly with Specter. But government-sanctioned and government-operated torture is hardly an ordinary issue. Ignoring what happened is not the act of a moral or contrite people. An independent commission with subpoena power — backed by the threat of perjury for those who lie — is a good idea.