We need more interviews like this. The press needs to come up with better than the old blame Bush theme they are pushing and realize that there are people and groups that want to kill Americans, regardless of who is president. This Christmas is the exhibit A. I am thankful for a faulty detonator, but I cannot put my faith that the next one will be faulty.

And yes I want to see the entire interview, just for the laugh factor alone, but I think the NYT wants to keep Deborah Solomon around, so it will not be published.

Ms. Solomon appears to have gone to a gun fight with a dull knife.

That was like watching Tiny Tim in the ring with George Foreman ...

I love the "framing" of the questions ... alot of "How often do you beat your wife" type of phrasing ... and of course Yoo's WWF slapdown of each one ...

and quite a sense of humor to boot ...

So you're saying you were just one notch above an intern, you and Monica Lewinsky?
-She was much closer to the president than I ever was.

Well, I just filled my laughter quota for the day.

A quick wit! That was great.

I don't think Solomon was out to "get" Yoo here, despite the hostile tenor of a couple of her questions. According to Wikipedia, she's pretty much a cultural critic. My guess is that the interview is meant to be a short "filler" type of piece.

Great interview For Yoo. He would be a super WH Press Secretary.. Not that He would want to look at Helen that much but would make it fun to watch.

Excellent!! I would love to see the entire interview!!

James H ...

so was she neutral towards Yoo ? You admit the tenor of the questions were hostile so I guess neutral couldn't describe her attitude ...

was this a puff piece with softball questions ?
hostile tenor again ...

so we should just call it a hostile interview if that makes you feel better ... I'm happy to call it that ...

I think she tried to step out of her "cultural critic" shoes and be a serious interviewer asking the "tough questions". I also think that when he gave a couple flippant answers it ticked her off a bit and that's where the Lewinski remark came in. But he ate that one up too.

Bambi and Godzilla? Maybe not. But it could have been. He could have cleaned her clock. She should be grateful he didn't take the interview more seriously.

Jeff --

All I'm saying is that if the mission was to "get" Yoo, the NYT would dispatch a hard-news reporter rather than a cultural critic to do the job.

In any case, the way it's edited, complete with Yoo's jokes, turns it into a puff piece.

James H is correct: pure "filler" material.
Nevertheless, Yoo seemed quite nervous (his "choosing" the President's interests over the Peoples' as represented by Congress) and embarrassed. Yoo's joking at the expense of Cheney's gunmanship was an oblique attempt at mercy by way of comic relief..

All this, and apparently via e-mail. At least it read as if by e-mail.

P.S. I double-checked Jay Tea's "the hunter became the hunted" link just to make triple-sure we read the same material. I'd say "the hunter caused the hunted to evacuate its bladder but the hunted got away just the same while giving big sad eyes and a wan smile".

I would say that the "hunted" realized that the "hunter" was shooting blanks so he mugged for the camera.

I am old, hence the reference in my screen name. But I'm not so old as to have witnessed John L. Sullivan's boxing tour of America, referred to by some as the "Bum of the Week Tour."

From this interview, and what Yoo did to the interviewer, I think I have a better grasp of just how pathetic and helpless some of those "bums" were when facing John L.

Deborahs real thoughts in {brackets}

{Ok, let me organize my notes from Rahm and Axlerod. Now lets butter this turkey up alittle}

actual question:
Your new book, "Crisis and Command," is an eloquent, fact-laden history of audacious power grabs by American presidents going back to George Washington. Which president would you say most violated laws enacted by Congress?

{LINCOLN !?!?!?! this idiot thinks Lincoln was the worst ???? Heh ... Obama is the black Lincoln. OK, No more Ms. Nice Gal}

actual question:
Are you implicitly comparing the Civil War with the war in Iraq, in order to justify President Bush's expansion of executive power?

{Ok, don't answer the loaded question ... Do you regret writing the torture memo's ??? hmmmm ... ah , the "so called" torture memos ... gottcha, wiggle out of this !!! ...}

Do you regret writing the so-called torture memos, which claimed that President Bush was legally entitled to ignore laws prohibiting torture?

{ah ha ... So you admit that your "client" was George Bush (Nazi) ? Ok, cool it Deb, give him some rope to hang himself with}

actual question:
When you say you had "a client," do you mean President Bush?

{nice dodge with that whole US Government thing ... Don't you work for me ? wait, Don't you work for "the people" ... thats better}

actual question:
But isn't a lawyer in the Department of Justice there to serve the people of this country?

{Don't agree with me you dolt, you are too stupid to agree with me on anything ... lets get back to your "client"}

actual question:
Were you close to George Bush?

{Never met him ?!?!?! right ... I'm sure you are lying there ... lets see ... I got it, Christmas Party !!!, I'll catch him in a lie, everybody meets their boss at a Christmas party}

Weren't you invited to the White House Christmas party during your two years at the Department of Justice?

{WTF ?!?!?! is this guy for real ??? 2 years in DC and not one White House party ??? are you even human ????}

So you're saying you were just one notch above an intern, you and Monica Lewinsky?

{NO YOU DID'NT !!!! Did you just diss the Clinton ??? Ok, calm down lets get him on those torture memos ...}

actual question:
What led you to take a job as a professor of constitutional law at Berkeley, of all places, where you've taught since 1993?

{Blah, Blah, Blah ... left wing campus myth ... lets close the trap on you now my pretty ...}

actual question:
I see various groups are protesting a decision by a California government lawyer to teach a course with you that starts on Jan. 12, claiming he is legitimizing your unethical behavior.

{Communists ?!?! COMMUNISTS !!!! great ... another McCarthy ... Got to defend my pals at Berkeley}

actual question:
Are you saying the citizens of Berkeley are Communists, reminiscent of those on the dark side of the Iron Curtain?

{Ok, this guy is really out there ... When did you become a Nazi ? no, be subtle ...I wonder when he went nuts ? wait ... conservative=nuts, same thing ...}

actual question:
When, exactly, did you become a conservative?

{Must have had a bad childhood, wait, it says both parents are Doctors ??? ah, come on, no way they produced a conservative, and a minority one to boot ... there must be something there ...}

actual question:
You were born in South Korea and grew up in and around Philadelphia, the son of two doctors. What sort of doctors?

{Ah ha ... you are nuts ... or they made you nuts ... lets probe this ...}

actual question:
What effect did that have on you?

{I hope none ??? yea, right ... wingNUT for sure }

actual question:
Are they psychoanalysts?

{Didn't they try to cure you of your Conservatism ? nope, he'll just dodge that ... wait, I'LL analyze YOU ...}

actual question:
A psychiatrist might say you are in denial.

Nevertheless, Yoo seemed quite nervous (his "choosing" the President's interests over the Peoples' as represented by Congress) and embarrassed.

I guess it's time for a little American Government 101. You see, we have a divided government, with three different branches that, in addition to working with the other branches, also act as checks on them. The DOJ is part of the executive branch. Therefore, employees of DOJ act on behalf of the executive branch of government.

The executive branch is headed by the POTUS. Much like the congress, the POTUS also stands for election, and so he can be said to represent the people.

Be sure to let me know if you need any of this broken down further. You seemed nervous and embarrassed in your post, or at the very least, you should be.

When I do this sort of thing to my liberal friends they get really upset. Come to think of it maybe that's why I have so few liberal friends....Hmmmm

Anon Y Mous,

John Yoo swore to uphold the US Constitution. The Constitution is vested in the People. The Peoples' Voice is represented in the US Congress who make Law. John Yoo took taxpayer funds yet made his client one George Bush. It's Government 101. YOUR version of Govt 101 seems to be attached to your tastebuds, at best.

James H...."My guess is that the interview is meant to be a short "filler" type of piece."

Sure it was, and she filled it, with an enormous bucket of shit.

P.S. bryanD... give it up, you got played by one of the best. Your knowledge of Gov. is on par with Oprah's knowledge of Quantum Physics.

"Solomon was on a rather search and destroy mission."

Interesting choice of words. "Rather" should be capitalized.

Yoo clearly possesses that indispensable quality, the ability to laugh at one's self. Solomon clearly does not as her ideologically blinkered line of questioning shows.

She ends up coming off as a frustrated ideologue looking for the opportunity to trap Mr Yoo and make him pay for his political crimes of having thought differently from her.

As soon as I posted the article, Jeff, I saw that extraneous word and wondered what the hell I was trying to say. I think it was supposed to be "rather transparent," but I really don't recall my precise state of mind.

Figures you'd pick up on it...

J.

The lady came unarmed to a battle of wits.

The Constitution is vested in the People. The Peoples' Voice is represented in the US Congress who make Law.

Here are a couple of statements that make absolutely no sense. The Constitution is not "vested" in anyone. And, the "People's Voice" is no less represented in the President than it is in the Congress. In fact, since the President is elected by all of "the People," the President is much more the "People's Voice" than the Congress.

But, to the point, Yoo worked the for Office of Legal Counsel in the DOJ. That office has the specific duty to advise the President. Therefore, the President, in fact, was Yoo's client by definition. In other words, Yoo is precisely correct in what he says, and BryanD is confused.

STOP THE PRESSES!

bryanD is confused!

Stop the Presses! Who the F*ck is bryanD?

When it comes to Comedians though, no one can top the Cos. And his best stuff has no swear words.

Holger on December 31, 2009 at 12:11 AM

Someone whose mama can't spell "Brian" correctly. :P

Yoo was quite nervous? bd, you are a biased fool. Yoo ate her up.

Cut BD a break. Yoo sounds too much like Joooo. Like a drunk Mel Gibson, he can't think straight with that red cloth waved in front of him.