Should Cheney Be Prosecuted?

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I'm not sure that Cheney's public advocacy of torture is making prosecution of him any less likely.

Here, we see the case for prosecuting him being made on Hardball. And we are reminded that Watergate began with an investigation into a burglary that eventually led all the way to the Oval office. Matthews is keen to point out that Nixon ordered the burglary, implying that Bush and Cheney are guilty of no similar crime, but is reminded that both Bush and Cheney are on record as having ordered waterboarding, which is a crime of a much greater magnitude than a break-in.

What amazes me is that, already, we have people on national television discussing whether or not Cheney should be prosecuted. Just a few short months ago that would have been regarded as utter left wing lunacy, but Cheney - by publicly championing torture in the way in which he has - has actually made the subject open to debate in a way which it never was before.

There's no way of knowing where this will end, but it's clear that Cheney's public pronouncements are allowing things to be openly discussed on national television which were previously restricted to the blogosphere.

Tags: Hardball, Chris Matthews, Cheney, torture, war crimes, waterboarding