http://slate.msn.com/id/2111990/The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Washington Post all lead with the confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales, who said "torture and abuse will not be tolerated by this administration," but also repeatedly declined to disavow the White House policies and memos that built the framework for torture. USA Today's lead teases the hearings and leads with word that many states have plenty of flu vaccine, owing to a combination of an as yet mild flu season and people who've been skipping shots on the assumption others need it more.
Asked what his position had been during the original discussions involving the recently repudiated 2002 "torture" memo--which he apparently helped draft and stated that torture only consisted of something that induces organ failure or worse--Gonzales said, "I don't recall." adding that generally speaking "I don't have a disagreement with the conclusions then reached."
That memo also stated that the president has the power to toss aside anti-torture laws. Asked repeatedly whether he still thinks the president can order torture, Gonzales bobbed and weaved, insisting it's not an issue since the president would never do such a thing. Finally, he said, "I guess I would have to say that hypothetically that authority may exist." (Slate's Chris Suellentrop covered the hearing and writes, "It's a strange argument from a conservative: We're the government. Trust us.")
Senator Lindsay Graham was the one Republican to lay into Gonzales, saying the administration had been "playing cute with the law" and as a result had "dramatically undermined" the war against Islamic extremism.......
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