Sandra Day O'Connor Should Lead Torture Investigation
Is there anyone in the country more reliably moderate than retired Supreme Court justice Sandra Day O'Connor? She is a lifelong Republican who was the critical vote that put George Bush into office in 2000. For which liberals will probably never forgive her.
She's also the person who said about Republican attacks against an independent judiciary, "It takes a lot of degeneration before a country falls into dictatorship, but we should avoid these ends by avoiding these beginnings." She was also the deciding vote against overturning Roe v. Wade. For which conservatives will never forgive her.
Both sides might have a bone to pick with her, but there is no question that she has maintained a stubborn impartiality throughout her long career. This is why I think she might be just the right person to head an impartial investigation of the possible torture committed under the Bush administration.
I personally don't favor a truth commission, simply because we already know most of what happened, the real question is what are we going to do about it? But if there is a nonpartisan Truth Commission, O'Connor should probably lead it.
I would go even further and ask her to be the special independent prosecutor in a criminal investigation of torture by the Justice Department. Now that we largely know what was authorized under Bush and how it worked its way down the chain of command and what the results were, what we really need is someone to determine if specific laws were broken.
O'Connor might not have a lot of experience in hands-on prosecution of cases, so admittedly independent prosecutor would seem to be a strange role for her, but I'm not proposing she get in the courtroom and try these cases herself. I think the proper role for her is to figure out if anyone has actually committed a crime here and determine if prosecution is necessary in the first place. And then if that determination is made, there are plenty of capable prosecutors in the country.
My hunch is that O'Connor, given her cautious nature, would be very reluctant to call anything a crime by the president or his deputies. But if she got overwhelming evidence that in fact a crime was committed, she would have the courage not to ignore that evidence. If the evidence in this case eventually passes the O'Connor barrier, then the American people can be confident that this issue was not politicized but given the judicial scrutiny it deserved.
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I want Wesley Clark to investigate this, he understands the military and I would love to hear how these Repugs abrogated//thwarted the Army Field Manual after 60 years....T
I don't know what your story is on recommending O'Connor for this investigation???? I take great exception to your unoriginal idea, and usually I'm with you on most everything you write.
That she sat on the Court and voted Bush into the presidency
That she retired unexpectedly so Bush could appoint another right winger...S
That she is a life long rethug....
Sorry Cenk...but SHE'S OUT!!
Go through a list at the ACLU and pick a few intense attys and let them go at it.
In your post, you used words like "IF specific laws were broken"!! and "possible torture"..
And then you top it off with: "My hunch is that O'Connor, given her cautious nature, would be very reluctant to call anything a crime by the president or his deputies."
Why would anyone take your advice after that statement?
Haven't you heard the cries of the nation? We want WAR CRIMES prosecuted, thank you very much.
back in 2000....
anyone with a BRAIN and ethics would never have voted to put Bush in office.
Why would she have either now?
exactly!
Yeah well, ACORN and the UAW got Obama elected, so alls fair in politics I guess. At the very least we can at least give Bush credit for keeping us safe. I didn't vote for him, but I always try to find the good in all presidents, because there is. None of us know what they face everyday. Just my thoughts..
If I'm not mistaken Sandra Day O'Connor supported the tobacco industry which addicted millions through spiking up nicotine, and then perjured themselves before congress.
Sandra Day O'Connor was the vote that installed shrub and the bushies, without whom we would not even need to have a commission on why and how and who we tortured. As far as I'm concerned, the former Justice can stay on her ranch in AZ where she can do no more damage to my country.
yeah...i'm sure that wouldn't be biased.
I believe we should go with a panel of judges, possibly retired Federal judges, to decide who should be prosecuted. I think we are well past the point of determining if a crime was committed.
People have been killed as a result of these policies. And many more have simply vanished, due to CIA extraordinary renditions. Let's have it all! All information out in the public domain! Hearings and trials in public! There is no other way for America to regain the moral high ground!!!
I agree. We should not leave it up to a single person to decide. A panel of 3 retired judges is about the right size for such a weighty decision.
I think this could prove to be a great idea! Although Justice O'Connor usually disappointed me during her tenure on the USSC, she did make cautionary warnings about Bush when she retired. I liked hearing her then, and I do believe she might be an inspired choice to lead this necessary investigation. And it sure would defuse the GOP.
whoo hooo cautionary warnings!
That and a quarter get you squat.
Inspired choice? I don't think so.
What good were her "cautionary warnings about Bush" AFTER SHE RETIRED?
She was intrumental in putting him in the Oval Office AND she is a very close friend of George Sr. and Barbara Bush. That alone should be a "cautionary warning" against Justice O'Connor.
Read Jeff Toobin's "The Nine" before nominating her...
And at the end, she can choose political loyalties over the law? Like she did in Bush v. Gore. No thanks.
She also retired during Bush's tenure, giving him the opportunity to install someone even more right-wing.
But it's an interesting idea.
another reason NOT to ever trust her
As for her later criticism of Bush, even the rethugs criticize their own if it scores them a few points.
I don't think Cenk Uygur understands that people who have made it to the top of the judicial system are some of the most political people around.
O'Connor is a Republican politician from way back. When she was in elected office, she was the Republican leader of the Arizona State Senate. Republicans are loyal to party first, and the Constitution and the people are down at the bottom. Some Democrats are like that, but not most.
We have a system in place. It's called the Justice Department.
War crimes will be prosecuted, war criminals will be punished and it will be no defense to say, "I was just following orders."
~ George W. Bush, March 17, 2003
http://www
Wow, that is one powerful quote from Bush.... and interesting comments about Oconnor, I am sure you are spot on. Thank you!
I concur; I believe (after 8 years of Bush and Republican rule) we can never just HOPE that a Republican will do the right thing.
With Bush and Cheney, lying was as easy as breathing. You point out just one more example.
amen
On the one hand, it is hard to for give her for Bush v. Gore, which was so clearly a legally flawed decision and such a disaster for the ENTIRE WORLD.
On the other hand, I think she truly regretted her part in that, and the disaster that was Bush II pushed her further towards the center and towards bi-partisanship.
If I were Bush (W), I would actually be afraid of her at this point.
As a person on the left, I would at least be fascinated to know her opinion of the Bybee/torture memo.
Well, I'm not holding my breath to hear what O"Connor's opinion is of torture memos. In fact she is an old lady that has retired and that is just as it should stay.
It's not like we don't have younger more energetic and progressive lawyers and Judges that we can TRUST in place of one we should never trust in anything ever again.
She put Bush in office!!!!!
No. Sandra Day O'Connor sold the U.S. down the river by helping appoint Bush to his second term. Terrible, terrible idea.
She'd sell the US down the river again by going easy on her Republibuddies Bush and Cheney.
Mr. Uygar, I believe the various congressional committees need to finish their work first, but
after that, I think Mrs. O'Connor would be an excellent choice.
good suggestion.
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