Opinion: In today’s pages: ‘Britney’s law,’ state secrets, rigged elections
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Patt Morrison shares some tragic stories of readers whose loved ones suffer from mental illness, and Rosa Brooks bashes the Bush administration on its waterboarding policy. Amy Klein describes the perfect valentine, and Ben Wizner, lawyer for Khaled El-Masri, attacks the White House’s abuse of the state secrets privilege:
El-Masri, a German citizen, was forcibly abducted while on holiday in Macedonia, detained incommunicado, handed over to the CIA, then beaten, drugged and transported to a secret prison in Afghanistan for harsh interrogation. Five months after his abduction -- long after the CIA realized its mistake -- El-Masri was deposited at night on a hill in Albania.... when we brought suit against former CIA Director George Tenet and others seeking compensation for the brutal treatment of El-Masri, the administration insisted the case be dismissed because any litigation of the claims would reveal state secrets. The government’s argument prevailed, and the Supreme Court declined to intervene.
The editorial board hides a grin at the greenest legal dispute in California, and calls out both the U.S. and Pakistani administrations for settling for a sham election. The board also warns superdelegates not to let all the attention from Barack, Hillary and company to get to their heads:
College student Jason Rae has become a Wisconsin celebrity. News reports have him fielding a call from ex-President Clinton and breakfasting with Chelsea. He also has chatted with Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts, an Obama backer. Not bad for a 21-year-old who has never voted in a presidential election.
Readers lambast healthcare insurers’ letter asking doctors to reveal patients’ medical information. ‘These are the people our politicians want to turn our healthcare over to?’ asks Steve Huffsteter. Olivia Bain writes:
Insurers ought to be scorned for their behavior. No one ought to be surprised that they had the audacity to ask doctors to breach patient confidentiality, but all should be disgusted. Alternatively, physicians who received such letters and refused ought to be lauded for their adherence to the Hippocratic oath and their commitment to the well-being and privacy of their patients. It is this sort of behavior on the part of insurance providers that drives home the need for some sort of government intervention in healthcare.