And, Also...

We have a saying in the aimai household--and, also. If someone says "should we have chocolate, or strawberry?" we say "and, also..." This is a very good rule to follow on all things. If one thing is good, two must be better. This dictum came to mind during a discussion over at Brad deLong's blog over whether, and how, John Yoo should be punished for the crime of holding down the constitution and raping it. And it occured to me, as well, while reading the esteemed Glenn Greenwald on why we shouldn't allow ourselves to fixate on John Yoo and ignore the higher ups.

And, also. Is my response. Over at Brad's blog there's an ongoing discussion of whether Berkeley Professors should try to get John Yoo's tenure revoked, his lisence to practice law suspended, convene a symposium on just what the *&^% he did wrong in writing Bush et al a lisence to torture, or start a mass social movement of shunning which would include such guerilla tactics as pointing him out in crowds, leaving red post it notes labeled "torturer" and "war criminal" or photos from abu ghraib on his desk, chair, door, car, in coffee shops he likes to drink in, in bookstores where he shops.

Some posters seem to feel that its got to be one or the other. Either we go after Yoo or we go after "the decider," or either we try to get his tenure revoked or we try to make his life an example of what happens when a person willingly engages in war criminal behavior. To me this is exactly the moment that we should go for "and, also." Different social actors, with their different statuses and social strategies, should avail themselves of whatever tactics seem good (and legal) to them to bring John Yoo to book for his crimes and to trace those crimes up from him to Bush and Cheney.

If you are going to order dessert--order one more than people at the table. And if you are going to dream, dream big.

aimai