There is a very troubling trend that I have noted over the years.

The topic is about our government officials who have supported immunity for the telecom companies who wiretapped Americans without proper court warrants after 9/11. Some of those people include President Obama’s CIA nominee John Brennan. He and others think those companies should be left alone and not prosecuted for their unlawful actions.

For example, during the debate over telecom immunity, Brennan once said: “I believe strongly that they should be granted that immunity, because they were told to do so by the appropriate authorities that were operating in a legal context. I think that’s important.”

In this case, the line of reasoning (they were told by appropriate authorities) which was later implemented into law, offers a shield to corporate communication companies from lawsuits from customers who may have been unlawfully spied on.

This reasoning by people like Brennan has also been applied to the torture debate. They believe and have stated that the secret memos written by John Yoo and approved by officials gave them the green light to conduct torture (the so-called “enhanced interrogation” techniques, which are torture and have included water boarding).

My point is simple: since when do opinions, secret memos and such supersede written law? Torture is torture, and it has been illegal and unlawful and a war crime for decades.

This is a very dangerous trend that our elected officials and those seeking government positions seem to take for granted and too easily — blame a policy statement or memo for their illegal and unlawful acts.

I hope you have noticed this trend. I have, and it is very dangerous and worrisome. We say we are a nation built on law and justice — these two examples prove otherwise.

Danny M. Francis

Watertown

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