'Torture Memo' UC Professor Speaks At Marin Tea Party Rally
MILL VALLEY (KCBS) - Several hundred enthusiastic Tea Party supporters gathered at the Mill Valley Community Center on Sunday, expressing optimism about their movement's chances in November's election.
One attendee was John Yoo, the controversial UC Berkeley law professor who gained notoriety for drafting the Bush Administration's legal argument for using so-called "enhanced interrogation" techniques on terror suspects. Yoo described himself as energized by the enthusiasm of Tea Party members.
"Watching it, you know, on the ground in the first person is amazing to see how spontaneous it is," offered Yoo. "It's so powerful in a sense because it's so decentralized. There's nobody in charge, there's no party hierarchy."
KCBS Tim Ryan Reporting:
"It really is a lot of private citizens who are unhappy with the direction of the country and they've all come together on days like this, which I think is very impressive and I'm just very interested in, to observe it."
Yoo left no doubt about who he would like to see win at the ballot box.
"Personally I, you know, hope Whitman wins, that Carly Fiorina wins, and Steve Cooley wins," he said of the California gubernatorial race, U.S. Senate seat, and Attorney General's race. "You know I don't have enough money to start giving out money to candidates or anything so, I have just pride in who I vote for, other than that I don't have a big dog in the fight."
Yoo also praised President Bush's anti-terrorism efforts in the early days after the September 11 attacks. He said those efforts kept the country safe for years thereafter.
He defended his advise to the Bush Administration, while serving as legal counsel to the former president.
"First I'd say the reason there hasn't been an attack, one of the important reasons, is the government became tougher on terrorism," Yoo offered. "We successfully stopped pending attacks, we did an amazing job breaking up a lot of the al-Qaida networks."
He acknowledged the heavy security that followed him, which he declared was for good reason.
"Oh yeah, I mean that's I'm afraid I think that's the price of having strong views and putting them out there. I mean, you know, if you're an academic or a writer or thinker you're not in it as a popularity contest. You know, you're not doing your job if everyone agrees with you."
There was a heavy police presence, in general, at Sunday's rally. However, there were no anti-Tea Party protests spotted.
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