Republicans warn A.G. Holder on torture. Clinton redux?

By GottaLaff

I hear familiar strains of the Clinton Impeachment Waltz. A-a-and ONE two three, ONE two three...

At a hearing today with Attorney General Eric Holder, Republican members of the Senate Judiciary Committee suggested that any potential criminal investigation into the CIA's harsh interrogation methods might not easily be contained.

Both Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Richard Shelby of Alabama pressed Holder on the CIA's "rendition" program that moved terrorism suspects from one country to another.

Didn't that happen during the Clinton administration?
Yes, Holder said.

"How many did you approve?" they asked.
Holder said he'd check the record.

The clear suggestion was, if any criminal investigation is opened, Republicans would push to get it expanded beyond events during the Bush administration. Alexander, for example, asked several times whether members of Congress, who were told about the interrogation methods, should also be investigated.

Where's Ken Starr when you need him? Will there be more big, fat volumes of documents filled with graphic sexy details for all those repressed Rushpublic voyeurs? And most importantly, did any of Clinton's lawyers smoke cigars?

Meantime, Holder is still skeptical about investigating the Bush lawyers.

"We're not trying to do anything that would be perceived as partisan,” he said. “We want to move forward to the extent we can."

Um, Attorney General Holder? You already are perceived as partisan. You are part of the ObamAdministration. You are a Democrat. Your last name isn't Shelby or Alexander. Or Limbaugh.

And yes, things happened during the Clinton administration. But were they criminal? Did he start a fraudulent war? Did he use scare tactics to force the country into submission and shred the U.S. Constitution when it got in his way? Let's first stay focused on BushCo, see where that leads, and take it from there. No shiny keys, at least until that enormous taks is undertaken, okay?