Is Barack Obama getting talking points from Andrew Sullivan?

It’s a scary thought, I know, but not outside the realm of possiblity. First, let’s take a look at what President Obama said last night about whole issue of “torture”:

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. You’ve said in the past that waterboarding in your opinion is torture. And torture is a violation of international law and the Geneva Conventions. Do you believe that the previous administration sanctioned torture?

MR. OBAMA: What I’ve said — and I will repeat — is that waterboarding violates our ideals and our values. I do believe that it is torture. I don’t think that’s just my opinion; that’s the opinion of many who’ve examined the topic. And that’s why I put an end to these practices.

I am absolutely convinced that it was the right thing to do — not because there might not have been information that was yielded by these various detainees who were subjected to this treatment, but because we could have gotten this information in other ways — in ways that were consistent with our values, in ways that were consistent with who we are.

I was struck by an article that I was reading the other day talking about the fact that the British, during World War II, when London was being bombed to smithereens, had 200 or so detainees. And Churchill said, “we don’t torture,” when the — the entire British — all of the British people were being subjected to unimaginable risk and threat. And — and — and the reason was that Churchill understood, you start taking shortcuts, and over time, that corrodes what’s — what’s best in a people.

It corrodes the character of a country.

Back on April 1st, Andrew Sullivan wrote a post titled … “Cheney vs. Churchill.” He re-posted the article today.

Coincidence? Not when you consider the fact that Andrew Sullivan was one of the liberal “journalists” Obama met with for a pow wow prior to taking the oath of office. Not when you consider the revelation earlier this week from Howie Kurtz regarding movers and shakers in Washington, DC – like Obama’s COS Rahm Emanuel – meeting up with mostly liberal journalists at “elite dinners” at an office with a view of the Potomac. Among those liberal writers typically in attendance? None other than Andrew Sullivan.

Yes, ladies and gents. It’s entirely possible that the President of the United States uses blog posts spun by a man obsessed with Gov. Palin’s uterus as references during his press conferences.

Just thought you’d like to know.

Via Sam Stein, the bush-hating HuffPo writer Obama called on at his first press conference.