Wampum

In the '04 cycle Wes Clark could have come to Maine and talked to the men and women in the Guard who'd garrisoned Abu Gharib. He wouldn't have won the '04 primary, but the '08 primary would be different if there had been a retired four star general and former Supreme Allied Commander Europe who did more than just hang around DC and wait for a break, because, if nothing else, torture is an ineffective interrogation technique.

In the '06 off-cycle John Baldacci could have used his powers under Art. 1, Sec. 8, cl. 16 of the US Constitution and talked to the men and women in the Guard who'd garrisoned Abu Gharib. He still would have won the '06 general election, but the '08 primary would be different if there had been a governor who conducted an independent investigation of the greatest war crime committed by troops under US command since Major Colin Powell's "whitewashing" or the atrocities of My Lai, because, if nothing else, torture is contrary to the discipline prescribed by Congress.

But nothing happened, and John McCain gets to milk the Hanoi Hilton story for another cycle, uncomplicated by Abu Gharib.

Personally I'm looking forward to Errol Morris' film. I want to see how effective he is using art to reflect life, and like the episodes of West Wing we watch with a mix of affection and longing, I want to imagine that something, rather than nothing, actually happened.