I would enjoy a very public trial of everyone involved in the White House torture policies, but it would likely end up crippling the Obama presidency. Hilzoy explains why:
That said, I can easily see why Obama might not want to do this. The problem isn't just that it would be bad for him to be seen as carrying out a partisan witch hunt; it would also be bad for the law, and for these prosecutions, if they were seen as a partisan witch hunt.
We're only hearing bits and pieces of information, so anything can happen at this point. Suffice to say, the Obama to-do list is miles long and to expect the new president to fix everything that George W. Bush screwed up is unrealistic.
The president-elect's pledge to end torture and extraordinary renditions, while engaging in a fact-finding investigation -- an investigation that could lead to "future prosecutions" sometime in the president-elect's second term -- is significant considering everything that needs to happen to repair eight years of damage.
And even if the president-elect were to do nothing, he can go a long way towards re-establishing the rule of law by setting a new standard for the executive and reversing these policies. He's already hinted that this will happen. And considering the to-do list, I'll take it.