Keith Olbermann’s scathing special comment on water-boarding

November 6, 2007 -- Keith Olbermann’s special comment last night dealt with the story behind Daniel Levin, who, as acting head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel, dissented from the White House’s policies on interrogation in 2004 when he agreed to undergo water-boarding to determine if it was a form of torture.  After being subjected to the technique at a military base, Levin concluded that water-boarding was torture and that it could only be legal if performed under the strictest supervision.

In a memorandum released in 2004, Levin declared that torture was “abhorrent,” but at the insistence of White House counsel included a footnote to the memo stating that the administration’s previous opinions on the matter were not illegal.  Levin was preparing a second memo that would have placed tighter restrictions on the use of interrogation techniques such as water-boarding when he was forced out of the Justice Department when Alberto Gonzales became Attorney General.  As Olbermann comments, “the Presidency of George W. Bush has now devolved into a criminal conspiracy to cover the ass of George W. Bush.”  Watch it: