Hightower Lowdown

Bill Clinton got roundly ridiculed and then impeached by Congress for a sexual encounter that he tried to dismiss by quibbling over what the meaning of "is" is.

Yet, we now have a president who is engaged in a far more damning constitutional encounter that he is trying to dismiss by quibbling over what the meaning of "torture" is. Why isn't he facing an impeachment inquiry?

From Abu Ghraib to Guantanamo to extraordinary renditions, Bush and Gang have violated our own laws and international treaties that flatly prohibit torture of war prisoners. Yet Bush & Company keep trying to excuse their abhorrentbehavior by writing secret memos to themselves redefining torture as...well...not torture. Of course, Bush refused to show us the memos, and his staff has even attacked the media for revealing that they exist!