New York City Game

Attorney General-designate Eric Holder laid out a somewhat expansive, if not ambiguous, definition of torture in his Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, saying that waterboarding and some other methods approved under the Bush administration do constitute torture.

The decisions regarding torture will have consequences that defy easy solutions. With many of the tactics used to gain information in Guantanamo deemed as torturous, such evidence must be thrown out in court, only complicating the matter of what to do with and how to try those detainees still in holding.

Still, many upon release have gone on to fight against America throughout the world, whether they were a threat to America before or as a result of their time in Guantanamo. "I've struggled with that," said Holder. "We're going to have to come up with an American solution."

Holder also voiced a strong desire to bring the Justice Department back to a standing where it represents "not one president, not one political party, but the people."

In the morning session of Holder's first hearing, democratic senator from Wisconsin Herb Kohl, in making sure that Holder understood the Attorney General must act independently of the president, asked:

"(Obama) is reported to have considerable skills as a basketball player, and you have indicated to me. . .that you also are a person of considerable skill. In the event, Mr. Holder, that he invites you to the gym for a little one-on-one, will you promise us and the American people that you will do everything in your power to defeat him as badly as you can?"

To which the Honorable Mr. Holder replied:

"Senator Kohl -- he's ten years younger than me; he plays a lot more frequently than I do. Having said that, I got a New York City game. I come from the city that produced Connie Hawkins, Kareem Abdul Jabar, Nate "Tiny" Archibald; I learned how to play ball at PS127 in Queens. If you give me a little time and a little space to get back in shape, I think I could hang with him. I don't think I'll ever be in a position to beat him, nor do I think that would be a wise thing to do.