leverage?

I want Yoo shamed and gone...
but neither is worth hurting Cal students
(in my book)

Posted at April 11, 2008 5:47 PM in response to Berkeley Law Dean: Yoo Was Not The Decider

"I want all them tried"

Yeah, good luck with that.

These people are masters of abusing power
within the system.

The question now is does history (appropriately)
tar the Bush 43 Admin (aka Nixon) for their
despicable behavior, or do we focus on Yoo
and let the media rehabilitate the Bushie top
tier a la Bush 41? (how soon we forgot Iran-Contra).

Posted at April 11, 2008 5:34 PM in response to Berkeley Law Dean: Yoo Was Not The Decider

Great plan: financially cripple one of the few gov
institutions that actually really helps those not born
with a silver spoon in their mouth...because a law
professor has stupid opinions...

Posted at April 11, 2008 5:03 PM in response to Berkeley Law Dean: Yoo Was Not The Decider

Just because people can speak calmly
about whether or not people writing
(crappy) legal opinions--but breaking no laws--
should get fired from our finest universities,
doesn't mean that we aren't outraged...

but the bulk of the responsibility really lies with
those who solicited those legal opinions, and
then used them to take our country to a low,
morally indefensible place.

Yoo DID play a role here, and I disagree with virtually
all of Yoo's legal opinions, but focusing on him lacks perspective. Cheney would have gotten those rulings
(from someone) no matter what.

Anyone who thinks Yoo's culpability rivals Rumsfeld's,
etc., has taken their eye off the ball.

Posted at April 11, 2008 4:59 PM in response to Berkeley Law Dean: Yoo Was Not The Decider

p.s.

OutOfCountry, thank you for providing
some rational info and assessment...

Posted at April 11, 2008 4:43 PM in response to Berkeley Law Dean: Yoo Was Not The Decider

Yoo So Crazy!

I'm a proud Cal alum who is disgusted by Yoo's
part in all of this. I hope (and believe) that Cal &
Boalt are also embarrassed by this man.

I think it's safe to say that it would be an easy
call to not hire a John Yoo if he showed up on your
doorstep in 2008 with his current resume.

But, of course, that is not the case here.

There's a difference between not hiring someone and
firing an academic. I don't agree with the more rabid
folks here (the ones who have trouble spelling "Berkeley")
who think institutions of higher learning routinely
fire people for awful or uncomfortable viewpoints.
Academic freedom is most necessary in cases like these.

As I said above, I'm disgusted by Yoo (and would like
to see today's Cal students make more noise about the
problem) but I don't see how his unsavory actions
are cause for dismissal in a free, open academic environment.

OutOfCountry

Posted at April 11, 2008 4:41 PM in response to Berkeley Law Dean: Yoo Was Not The Decider

As a Cal alum who is now many miles
away, I've been curious about how
current students were handling this.
I protested for divestment during the
anti-Apartheid '80s...how is this any
less important? I cringe when I read the
phrase "tepid protest..."
Say it ain't so, Cal.

Posted at April 4, 2008 7:15 PM in response to How Many Berkeley Alumni and Donors Support Torture?

Yoo So Crazy!

ADad--I totally love the sentiment, but
I'm a little more "old school" in my quotes:

"It is the duty of every patriot to protect his
country from its government" - Thomas Paine

Yes, for those of you chastising us for giving
props to Ashcroft, keep in perspective that it
is a RELATIVE grade: compared to the unethical
and incompetent standards of the last 7 years,
Ashcroft IS a freakin' shining city on a hill.
But it's a very embarrassing standard.

Posted at April 4, 2008 6:48 PM in response to Post: Ashcroft Didn't Sign Off on Yoo Pentagon Torture Memo