Not re-litigating the past or re-turning there

I think the Times editorial makes an important point.

It has always been true that a real accounting of the Bush administration’s abuses is vital if Mr. Obama truly wants to repair them and try to prevent them from recurring. It is more important than ever now, when the Republican right is trying hard to turn the clock back to those dark times by painting Democrats as “soft on terror” during an election year.

The administration has tried to avoid a political scrum (and keep the Executive's prerogatives, of course) by refusing to investigate the previous administration's criminal activities. Dick Cheney's appearance on the Idiot Shows each week makes a mockery of efforts, as Rahm Emmanuel has put it, to "not re-litigate the past." On the contrary, we are in danger of moving back to that dreadful past. By not pursuing criminal charges against an administration that authorized the use of torture, the Obama administration is validating that authorization. Similar to the bind in which they've put themselves in not shutting down military commissions for suspected terrorists, by not demanding a reckoning for torture, they are indicating that it's a valid tool. The Obama administration may not believe they're doing that, but they're setting themselves up for the rabid right to claim they're not using "all the tools at their disposal to keep America safe," and they are keeping the door open for future administrations to use those tools. They may find torture immoral, but they're legitimizing torture by not saying it is illegal -- by not going after those that perform it and authorize its performance.

They are, in effect, validating Dick Cheney's world view when they should be prosecuting him for acting on that world view.