"For an
academic to hold extreme views of executive power, of course, is arguably a
matter of academic freedom, and even a form of creative theorizing that one
might admire. (Although some of Yoo's Berkeley colleagues, such as economist
Brad DeLong, among others, have described his
theories as reaching so far beyond the bounds of creative
academic theorizing as to be simply dishonest and undeserving of that
protection.)
But Yoo's memos at OLC were not part of an academic
exercise; they were making policy. Setting aside for a moment the potential
culpability of Yoo himself, the more important point here is that, as the
inspectors general report makes clear, the White House specifically sought him
out and excluded his superiors, ignoring the usual chain of command in the
Justice Department, apparently because they knew that John Yoo would give them
the legal opinions that they wanted to hear. -Â DAPHNE
EVIATAR
One Need Look No Further Than John Yoo for Evidence of Executive Lawbreaking
The Washington Independent 7/13/09
