Jay Bybee....

[MikeWaters]

presidential scholar, magna cum laude from BYU.

I wonder how he feels that no matter what he does from now on, he will always be remembered as the author of the "Bybee Memo" or as it is commonly called "The Torture Memo."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Bybee

I'm just trying to put myself in his shoes. What it must be like to know that you are famous (or infamous as it were), and you will never be remembered for anything else.

I wonder if he's proud. Or feels misunderstood. Or slandered. Maybe feels his bosses threw him under the bus. Regrets the leak. Regrets letting Yoo write most of it. Regrets signing off on it. Regrets not having the courage to not deliver the goods his bosses wanted. Most likely rationalized, I did my duty, I produced a technical document, I did nothing wrong, I have nothing to be ashamed of. No feeling. And if he is lucky one day, no memory either.

[Archaea]

You would have to be a lawyer to understand. It comes with the territory.

How does a lawyer represent a notorious criminal having committed a heinous crime? With a clear conscience.

Bybee does the same.

I don't agree with your disconnect with the Bybee memo, but maybe we lawyers are a bit like the British, in A Bridge over the River Kwai.

[UtahDan]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

presidential scholar, magna cum laude from BYU.

I wonder how he feels that no matter what he does from now on, he will always be remembered as the author of the "Bybee Memo" or as it is commonly called "The Torture Memo."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Bybee

I'm just trying to put myself in his shoes. What it must be like to know that you are famous (or infamous as it were), and you will never be remembered for anything else.

I wonder if he's proud. Or feels misunderstood. Or slandered. Maybe feels his bosses threw him under the bus. Regrets the leak. Regrets letting Yoo write most of it. Regrets signing off on it. Regrets not having the courage to not deliver the goods his bosses wanted. Most likely rationalized, I did my duty, I produced a technical document, I did nothing wrong, I have nothing to be ashamed of. No feeling. And if he is lucky one day, no memory either.

I agree with what Archaea said. Also, this is a bit like asking how Oliver North felt about being a decorated officer and only being remembered for Iran Contra right after the hearings. Years later he much more than that because political winds shift.

Bybee is only "infamous" to some and may become less so with time. Or not. Hard to say as we sit here how he will be remembered as that is a moving target.