It’s a debate and it’s an hour long. Got it from the folks at WarIsACrime and there is a short, first person report on it at their site as well, in case you want the “cliff note”s on it. From the Youtube description of the debate:
A luncheon debate at the October 22, 2011, conference on “National Security and Civil Liberties,” sponsored by SMU’s John Goodwin Tower Center for Political Studies and the Cary M. Maguire Center for Ethics & Public Responsibility. The debate was moderated by Seyom Brown, the John Goodwin Tower Distinguished Chair for International Politics & National Security; participants were John Yoo, Professor of Law, UC Berkeley School of Law, and Joe “Chip” Pitts, Lecturer, Stanford Law. The day-long conference stimulated dialogue, scholarship, andreflection in the academy and wider community about the need to effectively and ethically pursue U.S. national security imperatives without undermining the country’s historic commitment to civil liberties.
From Leslie Harris’ report on the debate, how it went down and the rules:
The topic was the CIA’s “enhanced interrogation techniques” and detainee treatment, when John Yoo, former Department of Justice official and author of the “Torture Memos” debated Chip Pitts, Stanford University law professor and former Chairman of Amnesty International, at the Meadows Museum at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
It was not widely publicized ~ at least, we didn’t get the complete info until less than 24 hours beforehand. It was free, but required registration. When we called to register, we were told it was full. So, we planned to just go protest outside…but then at the last minute decided to see if we could get in anyway, without registration. There were some no-shows, so, to our surprise, they let us in after all…and we sat at the table right next to Yoo in a very fancy room lined with gilt-framed oil paintings and had a very lovely lunch. We decided not to disrupt because we didn’t want to distract from Chip, and we knew Chip would blow Yoo away. (He did.) It was filmed, so I’m hoping it will be made public soon, because it was terrific ~ Chip is always terrific.
To judge who won the debate, different exit doors were assigned to each debater. The audience was asked to leave through the door assigned to the person they thought won the debate. After it was over and we’d been counted exiting Chip’s door, we felt like we couldn’t leave without confronting the war criminal…so Carol & I went back in and got in the line of people “meeting and greeting” Yoo.
I so hate John Yoo, and I try very hard not to hate. I do despise, oh yes..I do..but I really try not to hate. Yoo was quick to add that Obama has supported many of Bush43′s policies on all this fuckery and sadly..he isn’t lying on that count.
But I do hate John Yoo, with every fiber of my being. So, the big question… who won? How many went out Yoo’s door vs Chip’s door?
Word is, the final “score” of the debate was: Pitts 55, Yoo 18.
Yes! I love it..I overwhelming love it. Video of the entire debate below the fold....
