More on Panetta and Blair

Scott Horton, on why the fact that the Panetta/Blair picks irritate Senators Rockefeller and Feinstein only means that they are the right picks.

Feinstein and Torture

From Spencer Ackerman, more on Dianne Feinstein and how she may not be stepping away from her opposition to torture but how something funny might still be going on.

Feinstein/Wyden Skittish on Torture

Even in the face of massive electoral success, one thing you can always count on is Democratic spinelessness. Glenn Greenwald has the depressing, infuriating and all too common details. As updates to the post that includes responses from Feinstein and Wyden's offices make clear, they appear to believe that the election of Obama is reason to back away from their call that CIA be require to adhere to the standards for interrogation set forth in the Army Field Manual. As Greenwald asks, why is this "flexibility" necessary when Obama himself repeatedly repudiated torture on the campaign trail? I have no clue.

Let's be frank here: does the CIA have something on various Democratic members of Congress that we need to know about? Honestly, the thought that they're being blackmailed would be more reassuring than this demonstration of political cowardice.