Bring it On

There is an article in today's New York Times about the way Michael Mukasey has been hedging on waterboarding. The difficulty, according to many experts is, as "Jack L. Goldsmith, who served in the Justice Department in 2003 and 2004, wrote in his recent memoir, The Terror Presidency, that the possibility of future prosecution for aggressive actions against terrorism was a constant worry inside the Bush administration." Another expert points out that future prosecutors "...would ask not just who carried it out, but who specifically approved it. Theoretically, it could go all the way up to the president of the United States; that's why he'll never say it's torture."

I have to say that I am both glad and amazed that the Bush administration is with it enough to worry. That is a good sign. And they should worry, because they should be indicted, at least. I hope that they are, and that, indeed, it does "go all the way up to the president". One of the Attorney General's jobs should be making sure not only that the laws are enforced, but also that the laws are actual laws--not opinions by John Yoo or David Addington or some other
administration apologist. There is an exact definition of what a law is in this country, and it is not the same as a partisan legal opinion.

One of the enraging things about the Bush administration is the way that they have consistently written their own rules, as if governing the nation is like playing a game of stealing the flag, where the stronger team, when it finds itself losing, simply changes the score or the rules until they either technically "win" or wear out the other side (and in fact, George W. Bush, according to Gail Sheehy, was well known among his friends for changing the rules of a game until he could engineer a win -- and isn't that how they won in 2000?). To do such things is not "courage" or "resolve", it is tyranny.

Mukasey and other Bush administration officials clearly believe that they are going to put over the idea that they "might have gone too far", but that their "intentions were good" and they "just wanted to protect the country". In such a way, they plan to avoid paying the price for their choices and decisions. The law deals with this sort of defense. Someone whose car hits another person in a crosswalk might have been too frightened to stick around or might not have even
realized he had hit someone, but the law still prosecutes these crimes, because a responsible citizen is expected to conform to the laws no matter what his emotional state. Same with Cheney and Bush. You or I may suspect that they were indifferent to the idea of torture in their names, or possibly relished it, but we will never know that. We do, however, know that they explicitly and knowingly allowed torture. The law has no meaning if they don't have to pay for these crimes.

The number of times the Bush administration has skirted or broken or changed the laws to suit themselves is enormous and outrageous. We cannot hope to correct what they have done to our country without addressing their lawlessness. If this means retroactive prosecution, I say bring it on. The fact that they are worried means they know that they should have known better--in fact, they did know better. All of them.

Comments

[traveler501]

I want to see them tried and punished fully...he­ck, I want to see their "ill-gotten gains" seized. I want to see them in jail for life...ide­ally after prosecution in the World Court for war crimes (and yeah if this means actually joining the World Court...so be it! )

[MasterfullyInept]

The law has no meaning if they don't have to pay for these crimes.

Thats says it all in nutshell.

[Newsguy]

The best piece I have seen on waterboarding was written by an expert who has done it and condemns it in no uncertain terms.

http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/2007/10/waterboarding-is-torture-perio/

He describes waterboarding in graphic and sickening detail and outlines in this lengthy piece why it is torture and why it should be banned.

[KRANKY]

Real Americans will act to drive the fascists into the sea.
The real treasonists are those that conform to authoritarian dictatorship.

Once the collapse begins, Patriots are poised.
We will be methodical. We will be measured. We will be determined.
We will kill fascists where we find them.

They will not know us, we will know them.

Repukes, leave now while you can.

[AllOnePeople]

I'm always happy to read a Jane Smiley article.

I totally agree that Cheney and Bush must be accountable for their crimes. We are in deep trouble as a nation if they are not held accountable.

[outnow]

According to the article by Sidney Blumenthal at http://www.salon.com/opinion/blumenthal/2007/11/01//mukasey/html

"Addington's domination over the law - controlling the writing of the president's executive orders and the memos from the OLC, the office of the White House counsel and the carefully placed network of general counsels throughout the federal government's departments and agencies --is a well-established and central aspect of Cheney's power. Addington has been indispensable to the vice president since he served as his counsel on the joint congressional committee investigating the Iran/Contra scandal, when Cheney was the ranking minority member. In that capacity, Addington wrote, under Cheney's signature, the notorious minority report that was an early clarion call for the imperial presidency­."

The Iran/Contra scandal involved selling missiles to Iran to finance arms for the Nicaragua Contras against explicit Congressional legislation. Addington served as deputy to William Casey, the former director of the CIA, the moving force behind the Iran/Contra matter. According to some, Casey made himself a clandestine secretary of State. Casey was a covert foreign minister in Afghanistan, China, the Philippines, Iran, and Central America.

Casey chose Lt. Col. Oliver North to run the covert Contra operation in violation of the Boland Amendment and testified falsely that the CIA was unaware of the shipment of arms to Iran. He died of a brain tumor before he could be prosecuted.

Addington, Cheney, Advisor John Poindexter keep lurking and resurfacing in wars it seems. Democrats were unaware of Addington's link to Casey as he attacked the Iran Contra investigation, defended the administration and covered up his own involvement in the Casey operation, according to Blumenthal's article.

[darker]

Bush-Cheney walked into office announcing they are ENTITLED to do anything they want--because they were "elected". This happened TWICE.

Bush-Cheney's performance and its outcome shows
how dangerous it is to vote based on IMAGE designed by publicists, advertising.

Without forethought and seriousness, the voters will always lose by choosing FALSE WINNERS.

[rixhex56]

Ahhh... if only I could commit crimes of this magnitude and have laws "off the table". I, too, would then be a wealthy man. ;-)

[k8k9]

They smirk, “Let’s see ‘em squirm over this one,” each time they wriggle out of responsibility for yet another palpably corrupt mess. If they were democrats, Bush would have already been impeached.

Why can’t we hold their feet to the fire? Where’s our courage? We’re Americans for god sake. How did we become impotent within our own government?

[patriotscholar]

"To do such things is not "courage" or "resolve", it is tyranny."

It shows a complete lack of honesty and honor as well.

[5yrsoftorturencounting]

I was one of those that held that these guys were totally inept and had gotten in over their heads but recently with the rhetoric pushing for another war in the mideast it occured to me that they have accomplished exactly what they sought to. Oil is now 100 dollars a barrel and if we were to attack Iran it is speculated to go to as much as $300. I would say that they have very much accomplished one of their main objectives. I would also guess they would, before being subjected to any legal remedies, would slip out of the country in the dead of night. That is the coward's way you know.

[claytongrayum]

I'm going to sleep until 2009

[oldcitizen]

Amen! Ours is a society based on "The Rule of Law" and no one is above the law, especially not our highest elected representatives who are charged with enacting and/or enforcing our laws. No where in the historical records of our great nation does it say that one special man, or just a few special men, can disobey laws that all the rest of us must obey, nor can members of the executive branch make their own laws in order to give themselves extraordinary power and privileges. Everything in our Constitution, Bill of Rights, and Declaration of Independence screams out against arbitrary, unjust, inequitable rule by a privileged few. It's time that the Bush/Cheney administration is held fully accountable for all of its violations of the most important principles upon which our society is founded.

[ScooterLiddy]

Well, Joe Biden mentioned the Senate might press charges AFTER they leave office. Once the Dems are in the White House there will be a lot of rocks turned over.

[zitlight73]

I've longed beleive that the best and probably the only way to keep the executive branch honest is to have the Attorney General apart from the executive branch. in forty years I've seen too many presidents break the lawa and get aw ay with it because the Atoorney Generals at the time refused to prosectute their bossess.