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In a brilliant interview with John Yoo, Jon Stewart tackles the subject of what constitutes torture. Throughout the interview, Jon seems to struggle with Yoo's statements regarding torture, that is, that before now, the U.S.A. had never been faced with the question of what constitutes torture, and what is still just interrogation techniques. John Yoo was tasked by the United States government to figure this out. What we can gather from all this is that, like white collar crime is defined by those who perpetrate it, so are war crimes such as torture defined by those who would use it. It is easier to get away with a crime when you can define what crime is.

Additional to that, John Yoo tells about his faith in the current system of presidency, especially during wartimes when the president assumes his role as Commander-in-Chief, and is able to make the tough decisions required during such times. He's very specific in saying how this should only apply in wartime, and during peace time the president's role must be smaller. He argues that while this system can spawn bad presidents like W, it an also spawn presidents that tackle wartime problems effectively, such as Washington, Lincoln, and FDR.

Does the fact that your jailer put out the fire that broke out 3 cells down make up for the fact that he has jailed you? Well, that's a terribly simplistic argument to make, though it definitely should be kept in mind. What are you willing to put up with in order to get something good out of a deal? Who pretends to speak and act on your behalf? Do you agree with all that person does? Is torture ok because they say it is ok? Is it not torture just because it skims the line of what some treaty says it is? Who came up with this ban on torture? Could they possibly foresee newer methods of torture?

All questions aside, I did enjoy the interview, as much as I've interviewed the other major interviews Jon has conducted on this subject. The Daily Show might have a large degree of bias, and often skirt around some issues because they're "just a comedy show", but they certainly do a lot more than everyone else in the mainstream media.