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

[maryec]

Jane, where have you been??? I've missed your impeccable analysis. yes, impeach and imprison those two, for starters.

[Jane22]

Like I have been saying all along, IT IS ALL ABOUT THE MONEY! Back room deals and corporate donors put most of them in some sort of collusion that we feel, but do not see as it is all under the table away from public view. The entire bunch need booted out of office! THIS will never happen until there is comprehensive ELECTION REFORM. Since Congress must initiate this reform... SEE they will not because reform would threaten their very existence as the recipients of all the corporate buy-outs, I mean largesse! No, Buy-out is the correct WORD! That ANY OF THEM could say "CORRUPTION" WITH A STRAIGHT FACE IS THE REAL COMEDY HERE! Have we ever seen very many Politicians who don't have both hands out? Maybe a few at best!Perhaps if any of them in the House would really begin IMPEACHMENT, we would see them all ducking as the Repubs. probably have something on all of them? Think about it. I bet I'm RIGHT! I've been alive too long to believe otherwise! Peace

[ProgressivePartisan]

Spot on, Jane, as always! I look forward to your posts more than a good night's sleep!
As other bloggers have touched on, the impetus to impeach rests in and depends on the passions and agenda of the House majority. This House could very well pull it off despite the retiscence of its Democratic leaders.
But IMO the Senate - in this day and age - has lost(calculatedly forsaken?) their will to use an impeachment trial to rule on Presidential performance that outrageously violates the precepts of the U.S. Constitution.
Had the Senate upheld their collective oath to defend the U.S. Constitution we wouldn't even be blogging on this matter.

[JimReed]

" the idea that they "might have gone too far", but that their "intentions were good""

In an old PBS TV program on evil, one of the quotes from the ancient wisdom was "the opposite of good is good intention.­"

[Pneumaticus]

Good post, Jane, but now it's all just nit-picking. The original crime of state was when Bush and Cheney drove off the road and crashed into Iraq, an innocent bystander, and then blamed the victims for crashing into them. Now we're all paying the price for not prosecuting them in a timely manner 4 1/2 years ago, along with Rumsfeld, Bremer, and Wolfowitz, among many others.

[Bobby]

Jane, great story. But what do we expect from Bu$h & Cheney. During Vietnam, Bu$h was AWOL from Air National Guard duty getting coked up and drinking like a fish. Cheney had other priorities as he had FIVE deferments. They were SO brave when it was their time to fight and possibly be captured and tortured. Bu$h comes from a family that financially supported Hitler and made huge profits from that arrangement. It didn't matter about the concentration camps. All I can say, is once a Nazi, always a Nazi.

[Beatitudes]

We all need to start reading Dante's The Divine Comedy....­Bush/Chene­y et all would be led down the circles of hell post haste. Here in The Beatitudes is the substance, using Dante as subtext:

“My father loved Dante,” I said, and stood up. “Think of it, a man of the swamp, quoted Dante to me when I was a kid.”
“That’s admirable,” said the Archbishop.
“You bet. So anyway, Dante begins his journey and faces three beasts: the leopard of disordered appetites, you know drinking, eating, lust, that kind of thing; the lion of bestial doings portends what happens when we use our intellects, our sources of good for bad, very bad things; then there is the lean and hungry wolf, that’s the sins that occur when we use our intellect and capacity for good in the service of darkness, cruelty and desecration of life itself. The Holocaust, slavery, or the murder of children.”
“You think I have not seen the beasts?” he asked me, moving forward in his chair.
“Yes, I think you have. But I am reminded of this passage: The power that perceives the course of time is not the power that captures all the mind. That’s from Purgatorio. My friend, the one who was murdered and you prayed for recently, told me that time was endless. I don’t believe my path is laid out for me. I still choose which way to go and who to go with.”

Lyn LeJeune, The amazon.com...amazon.com, ya'll

[Not Blind]

The Rule of Law is above interpretation. Our Constitution, which Bush, Cheney, Rumesfeld, Gonzalez, Addington, Yoo and others within the administration, as well as Congress, swore to uphold, defend and protect has been diluted, re-defined and blatantly disregarded.
Those within the administration have definately changed the rules to suit their diabolical plans and design, to dominate everything and everyone, or destroy those whom they can't convince to join them.
The condoning of torture and murder goes all the way to the top (Bush & Cheney). It is my dream they will be brought before the Hague and tried for crimes against humanity, as the Nazi war criminals were tried in Nuremburg.
They've bankrupt this country both financially and morally.

[texanna]

It would be great if we could find some Demnuts in our Congress that understood what the definition of a law is, or even the concept of the three, separate, but equal branches of government! Maybe, we'd have some hope that these bullies would be brought to justice. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell there is no one who is focused on the biggest problem with Mukasey -- his acceptance of the neonut idea of the prez being above the law due to some inherent powers that are apparently written in some mysterious ink in our Constitution and only the they have the ability to see it! It starts with the Nixonian idea that, "...if the President does it, it's not illegal." Until we all get focused with laser vision on this as Mukasey's problem, we'll be no further down the road of restoring our country than when we had Fredo.

[dirigo1]

The analogy, "steal the flag," perfectly describes the technique of someone who doesn't want to play by the rules, rules understood by most people as the ones that matter, the ones that have stood the test of time - the negotiating parameters that allow us to say we actually have a functioning civilization.

The schoolyard bully, whether wearing hobnail boots, or penny loafers and a cardigan, is a well-known character to people who pay attention during their formative years and experience early on that sort of brazenness. There's always a sense of entitlement to the bully's attitude, a certain wink and nod, often learned at the family dinner table.

"What mine is mine; what's yours is mine too." Lincoln talked a lot about that sort as I recall.

Sooner or later, you have to push your hand in the bully's face, call him on his game tactics, and say, "Stop right there."

If a penalty is required in the stopping, then there should be a penalty that has bite.

The referees must be on the level too.

Shock and awe.

[gwpriester]

If the country were actually safer and it could be proven that the use of torture actually produced some results, it might be one thing (it is not, but it might).

But there is scant evidence that any of this has done anything to make this country or the world safer. Sadly, everything points to the opposite conclusion.

But fear not. If it did not work in Iraq, maybe it will work in Iran.

Have we all died and this is hell?

[darcy]

Jane, great article, as always. Can you explain to us why the hell Pelosi isn't impeaching? What is it going to take for Congress to do its duty?

[Neuromancer13]

We should use this as a teachable moment for our children regarding the importance of human rights, the rule of law, and transparent government. In that spirit, I present to you the adventures of a cranky old elephant entitled "Rummy Goes to Paris"

See us torture
Does Rummy know?
Does Rummy know that he knows?
Does Rummy know that we know that he knows?
See Rummy resign.
Bye Rummy? Not yet.
Oh no. Rummy's coffers are low.
To Paris, a dash. A speech, for cash.
Unknown unknown.
Indictment. Quick! Run home!
Run Rummy Run!

[NotMyPrez]

Bush, Cheney and Mukasey were all turning blind eyes and deaf ears to the extreme tactic. Do we need another Nuremburg? Granted, some of those being interrogaed were evildoers, but when we stoop to the levels of the Khmer Rouge and Pol Pot, we lose.

[lastdays]

14 months. Judging from the Quinnipiac poll showing Rudy up on Hillary by a basket, most Americans probably favor torture. The country has no moral compass left. Abortion is infanticide and genocide is peacekeeping. How's that for republican wordplay. Guilliani is a major torturer writ large. As a NYer, I watched him abet the disappearance of equal justice, presumption of innocence and all traces of compassion. His cause it is just (fascism). And if 47% of Americans can look at the last 8 years and still vote Republican, I have to feel that they endorse this embrace of the dark side. So be it. As ye sow, so shall ye reap. So shall ye reap.