I also do not happen to think it is simple, in the real world, to sort out what is for "the greater good."   I am always suspicious of "either/or" thinking..

Now, my own values are that torture is never "for the greater good." The United States has had an official policy for the past several years that allowed torture. That has to stop immediately, and apparently it has. Should halting the practice of torture be up at the top of list? In my view, yes. Once that practice has been stopped, however, I am not convinced that a huge fight over to what extent past transgressions should be punished should remain at the very top of the list given the number of pressing and difficult issues we face as a country, and as a world.

Others may choose to interpret the above paragraph as saying no prosecutions should occur, or that the whole issue should then be swept under the rug and forgotten about until the next time. It is likely that some will choose to interpret what I wrote in that manner. However, that would be others' interpretations, and not at all what I wrote or implied.

The thing is, we all interpret. We all read into the statements of others much that is not actually said, or even implied. We make assumptions. We react emotionally. We distort. We filter. And we fail to examine this tendency within ourselves.

In my opinion -and it is only an opinion - informed, influenced and distorted by my own values, priorities, experiences and personal needs and concerns for myself and my family, is that what should come next, once the torture is stopped, should not be front and center, or the number one priority of national debate or partisan politics.   I don't think it is for the "greater good."   Tending to the immediate needs of people out of work, health care and environmental issues are all much, much, more important issues to me, and more in the interest of the greater good, than is fighting about who/whether/etc. should be punished for creating or implementing an official policy that said torture is OK, given that said policy has been terminated.