A Shining Interrogation Center on a Hill

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Dear Dr. Edley,

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I’m very impressed by your decision to hire former Justice Department official John Yoo to serve on your faculty. It was a very shrewd marketing move on your part. It allows Berkeley to finally get past its sordid history as the battleground for the expansion of our civil libertiesand become the foremost advocate for that “shining interrogation center upon a hill” so many of us wish our nation to become.

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The recent release of Dr. Yoo’s memos authorizing the use of tortureprovides you with an opportunity to take the next step, the creation of the Berkeley Institute for the use of Torture in the Pursuit of Democratic Ideals. I envision the institute as being a place where the greatest thinkers the pain induction industry has to offer can gather to discuss the possibilities torture and terror offer as instruments for spreading democracy.

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I also think it’s important to determine how we can continue to generate the political will to defend our use of torture. I have a few ideas about this, and I hope you will consider my application to be the Institute’s first Mengele Professor of Sado-Political Studies.