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

[blackchaps]

More and more, I think we should prosecute/impeach the bastards for one reason only - to let the next President know that we, as a nation, aren't going to put up with this shit!

[Macready]

Bravo Jane . . . bush, cheney and co have to be held responsible for their crimes . . . or "the law has no meaning" . . . it is more than time impeachment was put on the agenda . . . the spinlessness of Congress in not them responsible for their crimes is appalling . . . it smacks of complicity and/or cowardice -- if Pelosi can't face putting impeachment on the agenda she has to be replaced as Speaker . . . after impeachment they should be sent to the Hague along with the poodle bliar for war crimes . . .

[StillAmused]

"The law has no meaning."

Welcome to Bushworld. Visitors may pick up their pardons and immunity documents at the service desk.

[mamacat]

Impeach, indict, convict.

[Raven]

They knew well enough to worry. They knew.

And all those redacted documents all through their desperate maneuvers will show just what they knew about the possible consequences.

It's up to all of us to make sure those possibilities become reality.

And, Jane, I couldn't agree more. Bring it on.

They'll pay for what they've done to our country one day, no doubt about it.

But the sooner we insist on that, the sooner we can begin healing.

It's just that simple.

[thedeanpeople]

Without impeachment there will be no prosecution/accountability of any kind. There need not be conviction/removal, but without at least objection/accusation all acts of the regime are "approved" by complicit DC-Dems who have put their oaths of office "off the table."

That is the simple, sad reality.

Which is why our ONLY moral, patriotic option is to speak of nothing else. Demand impeachment as often and loudly as we can. Draw others away from distractions like the '08 horserace and Iraq.

Yes, Iraq -- or more specifically the "All About Iraq" meme -- is a distraction.

It's time to stop being "Anti-War" and start being "Pro-Impeachment."

No, you can't ride two horses with the same behind.

--

[MysticBrit]

Jane, thank you. Your words always give great hope. Your like will heal America of her wounds and restore her respect in the world. You are very fine.

[SkippyJones]

I agree wholeheartedly with this post - mainstream America is going to wake up from their slumber one day to learn that their President and Vice-President are war criminals, hated the world-over.

I don't understand one item in your post - 'retroactive prosecution'? Isn't any prosecution retroactive by definition?

[Balloonman]

If we don't IMPEACH we have lost the opportunity to bring to justice HIGHEST ORDER CRIMINALS who have and continue to perpetrate crimes against their subjects: malfeasance and fraud and treason.

Stolen elections and 'elected' executive privilege signing statement dictatorship, a VP claims his post exempt from liability since he is no part of the executive branch, are more than just extenuating reasons to add to their already proven illegal actions--protected from prosecution by, in many cases, rewriting the rules--to investigate and indict and put to trial these two THUGS, leading our nation to ruination. If not brought to trial and exposed we are ensured we will repeat ourselves under the influence of White House criminals like this current consciousless duo, ADVANCING ONLY THE CAUSE OF THEIR OIL BASE ONE-PERCENTERS, over and over, again and again.

[libdude]

This administration has changed the law to protect not only itself, but also to protect the mega-corporations that it has enlisted in
its phony war on terrorism: corporations in the telecommunications industry that have knowingly broken the law for Bush in return for
immunity from prosecution, and, of course, receiving fat government contracts they would not receive without their lawbreaking. The relationship between big business and the Republican party has always been symbiotic. Now, in the neo-con matrix of Bush and the new Republican Party, it's become criminal.

[Jan12th]

To do that we need to educate a "majority" of Americans to the fact that the current administration is "breaking" the law.

That's your gift, Jane. Keep up the good work!

[Spookcatcher]

It is so glaringly apparent that in Our Country the criminal justice system , law enforcement, and the politicians have become such broadbased criminal corporations that the "public" is ostracized from any chances of defending ourselves or restoring our Republic. The law enforcement (including our military) has become so permeated by fascist ideology that they openly refuse to police themselves much less admit who among them is criminal because they are all so complacent, even if they are not a party to the crimes themselves. They are so brainwashed and perverted by a false sense of psuedo-intelluctuallism as to what a crime is whenever one of them is implicated. While there are approaching 24,000,000 laws enacted in our country we still can't get the truly dangerous and socially destructive activists investigated properly, much less charges or convictions! Having reached this point, how is our Nation's populus support for its institutions and governance supposed to, or even should continue to be expected to, be an orderly complacent society?

[workinguy]

You have it Jane. The key words are "they did know better." Just look at what happens when one of their minions is threatened with a subpoena, investigation, damaging verdict, or trial. They scramble with a full-court press of denial, spin, obfuscation, immunity deals, pardons, claims of executive priviledge, armies of attorneys, and threats of political retribution. They will do anything to stop the "thread from being pulled."

Just look at the Libbey case. At one moment Libby's defense is prepared to go through all the circles of hell to defend him. They are so fired with righteous indignation they are going to bring in Dick Cheney for the defense. Then, mystically, half-way-through the trial, the defense acts as if it is defending a traffic violation. Why? Because someone got the message too Libbey he would be taken care of as long as he keeps his mouth shut. Sure enough within days of his conviction he is pardoned.

I agree with you that retroactive prosecution is the way. I only regret it is not taking place in the present.

My question to anyone is...Who from the State Dept. gave immunity too Black Water employees? And, I do not believe that it was incompetenence. I think they knew perfectly well that by doing so would taint Black Water confessions and testimony therefore making it even more difficult for the FBI and the Justice Dept. to indict and convict.

Just curious what others think.

[LindaJay]

Jane, I couldn't agree more. However, I become more and more pessimistic that our cowardly Congress is going to do a damn thing about it!

[TheAqzd]

I, too, hope to see them pay for their crimes. Pardon for Lt. Cmdr. Matt Diaz too?