Asshole of the Week

Harold Jackson and Brian Tierney. You win.

These are the folks that brought us John Yoo, the author of the Bush administration "Torture Memos" as a regular Inquirer columnist. Tierney said to The New York Times that the speech "most important to defend is the speech you hate." Not quite. There is a difference between defending the actual speech, and defending someone's right to make that speech. Sure, Yoo can say whatever he wants. That doesn't mean we've got to print it. So, Harold Jackson, editorial page director, and publisher Brian Tierney, you are assholes.

John Yoo's original memo (with certain redactions) is available online, and in it are listed the myriad ways in which America recently betrayed her ideals through a bunch of Jack Bauer shit: simulated starvation, slapping, pushing into walls, forced nudity, sleep deprivation, waterboarding, wall-standing, and the list goes on. Read it and try not to feel sick. Remember that no matter what weird movies Tarantino makes, we didn't torture Nazi prisoners of war. Remember the anger over the Hanoi Hilton. Remember we're supposed to be better than this.

This is why John Yoo does not deserve our Philadelphia newspaper as a regular outlet. This Phillyist stands with Philebrity and Will Bunch and everyone else who's angry. Jackson says he doesn't want the Inquirer branded as "a knee-jerk, liberal publication," and they were trying to "add conservative voices to the mix," and that is fine. They didn't have to bring on the man responsible for the Abu Ghraib debacle. Rick "Frothy Mix" Santorum is a regular feature, and this Phillyist probably doesn't agree with anything he says other than "and" or "the," but he is a conservative voice who is not directly responsible for torture.

Image credit: Flickr user craigemorsel