Planet Cheney

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Chris Hayes, the Washington editor of The Nation, discusses Dick Cheney's continuing defense of torture policies with Rachel Maddow. Hayes explains his vision, explained in this week's cover story at The Nation, for a wide-ranging investigation of torture policies similar to the Church Committee of the 1970s. Hayes notes that Cheney worked under President Ford at the time of the Church Committee, and he says that for an executive power absolutist like Cheney, the investigation of the executive branch served as a "key trauma." When he returned to the executive branch, Hayes says, Cheney was determined to reconsolidate power. Hayes also points out that the Obama administration's attempt to define torture news as a distraction is "not working morally, constitutionally, or practically." --Sarah Jaffe