Should the Democrats focus on punishing the Bushies for torturing supposed terrorists?

What are the consequences, both domestically and internationally if punishing the Bushies becomes a focus of Congress? Obama and others say it will distract from his agenda. Is there anything wrong with exposing the torture tactics (say hurting the US reputation internationally even more than it has already been hurt)? Could crucial information have been gotten via torture that couldn’t have been gotten any other way, as Cheney asserts?

For more info, see this NPR article.