The argument I made before the election was that if Obama didn't prosecute arbitrary detention and torture as crimes, they would soon acquire the respectable patina of custom.
That's a far cry from vindication IHMO, but it is ins utional validity. The Bush precedents vis-a-vis rule of law and extra-cons utional power are legally validated by his successor's acquiescence to them. For the time being.
That's the really sad thing. Yoni celebrates it as vindication, but I see it as just another sign of the death of the old American republic. We used to give the bad guy a fair shake.
Now, like cowards, we say we can't afford to anymore.