It's become a pattern among Washington Post columnists to ask the government not to prosecute those who authorized torture against prisoners during the Bush administration. 

"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there." So goes an aphorism that needs to be applied to the current debate over whether those who authorized and used torture should be prosecuted. In the very different country called Sept. 11, 2001, the answer would be a resounding no

Why do some call Gillinbrand a centrist? 

The Nation has called her a centrist, maybe using their own ideology as the standard. I saw the label in major publications as well.

But being pro-gun and anti-illegal-immigration does not negate the fact that she voted in 2007 to redeploy Iraq troops within 90 days. How centrist is that? There are more than two issues in the world. When the totality of Gillinbrand's statements and votes (not just guns and immigration) were analyzed by the independent political website ontheissues.org, the site came up with the following graph illustrating her ideology:

 

She's pro-embryonic stem cell research, too.

Look at the big picture. See the entire analysis: http://www.ontheissues.org/NY/Kirsten_Gillibrand.htm

If you wish to label her a centrist <i>in comparison with other Democratic NY politicians</i>, then say so, after of course proving with data that the average Democratic NY politician is a liberal in comparision to Gillebrand, when all things are considered.

If any of you is aware of any website dedicated to labeling politicians' according to their history, please point to their assessment of Gillibrand. Let's see who among those who have done their homework see her as centrist.

(crossposted from my Daily Kos account)