7 Days in America: What Should Happen Now? A Truth Commission for Bush

Scott McClellan's book What Happened has been a feast for cable talk shows and commentators everywhere, with much discussion veering off on his motives. The Bush Team went into overdrive with its smear gear. Disgruntled? Money grubbing? Out of the loop? Off his rocker? A Manchurian author controlled by his North-Korean-like publisher? In a laughable attempt to blame the radar gun for the speeder, apologists Michele Bernard and Michael Smerconish actually argued on MSNBC that the big story was whether McClellan wrote the book in order to defeat McCain.

One who got it right was New York Times columnist Bob Herbert, who wrote that the issue is not the author but a "scandal and a crime" called Iraq. So since it's not flak McClellan but commander-in-chief Bush with the power of war and peace, life and death over Americans and the world, let's now focus on George, not Scott.

Understandably upset with another source exposing his falsehoods, Karl Rove went on Fox to say that McClellan "sounds like a liberal blogger." Well...yes! In fact the liberal community -- Air America, MoveOn, the Nation, the Huffington Post and scores of others -- has been completely vindicated on Iraq and Rove et. al. completely discredited. Since the Far Right likes World War II and Hitler analogies, here's one -- the left was mocked and then historically vindicated about Iraq as much as an out-of-power Churchill was when he warned about the rise of Nazi Germany. Facts are stubborn things, said President Reagan.

And on the question of W's veracity generally, again we need only stipulate what scores of books, articles and probes have shown. As Lincoln once said of a rival, "he has such a high regard for the truth he uses it sparingly."

So most of the MSM may still feel the need to engage in on-the-one-hand-on-the-other hand journalism -- "let's hear from both sides on whether the earth is flat" -- the verdict is now in. It's not only McClellan but also a slew of books on Iraq (Fiasco, Hubris) and other administration memoirs and articles (Tenet, O'Neill, Clarke, Dowd)) which confirm that Team Bush misled the press and public by using propaganda to stampede America into a war that's spurred more terrorism and led to hundreds of thousands of lost lives and limbs.

This is now the majority view. And if some 25% of Americans disagree, it's probably the same quarter that believe that NASA staged the moon landing. The verdict is in.

But now what? How can we hold Bush, Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Feith, Wolfowitz, Ashcroft, Gonzales, Woo and all of them accountable? For what we have here is not just a normal failed administration or even one Nixonian Watergate but a systematically corrupt group of people who shamelessly and serially lied and violated the law. America needs to make sure that some future administration doesn't assume that they too can dissemble and cheat since W got away with doing it for two terms and retired to a life of relaxing at the ranch and being feted by AEI and the Petroleum Club of Houston.

Until the President imitates the communist party boss of Mianzhu on his knees seeking forgiveness from mothers whose children died when their shoddy schools collapsed during the recent earthquake, here are four suggestions for those who a) understand that the Congress won't impeach Bush and Cheney and b) refuse to patiently wait for the verdict of historians in 50 years, as Bush urges:

*Vote Big. Americans have to use the franchise to reject Bushism by significantly increasing the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and electing a Democratic President with a big mandate. Record primary turnouts and wrong-track polls indicate that this is a realistic prospect. Revenge is a dish best served by 140 million voters. That's a recipe that the Republican Right will understand.

*Shame 'em. The mainstream media has to stop coddling this group and not allow them to escape scrutiny with a smile and a spin - Dan Bartlett on McClellan comes to mind. So, for example, when Bush tells the Air Force Academy last week that Iraq is like World War II, could a prominent network correspondent say: "You're kidding, right? For if it's similar, why did we draft millions in 1941 and no one in 2008? Would we have fought and won WWII with 150,000 soldiers?"

*Sue. While legal rules about "standing" have so far made it hard to legally uncover all the illegalities of this regime, the Federal False Claims Act allows individual citizens to sue (it's called "Qui Tam") if the government spent money fraudulently -- and then get a percentage of any recovery. Indeed, I'd guess that a private for-profit group could raise funds to create a law firm with the sole purpose of bringing False Claims Acts against federal agencies and complicit individuals for, say, Halliburton's illegal contracts or overruns or against government officials who unlawfully spent money appropriated for Afghanistan in Iraq. Hit them in the pocketbook.

*Create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). This worked in a very different historical situation of South Africa and can work here as well. There, South Africans who engaged in murder and violence were given amnesty if they confessed under oath to their crimes and knowledge...but would be prosecuted if they didn't. Of some 7110 seeking amnesty, 849 were granted it for "politically motivated" crimes...which in turn provided evidence to pressure and prosecute others. The largely successful effort led to both truth and reconciliation.

If Richard Nixon had his Leon Jaworski, a special prosecutor who sent 29 aides to jail, who will investigate George W. Bush? If massive prosecutions is too big a bite for a 44th president wanting to look to the future, here's a fair, workable compromise to make sure that the past doesn't become prologue.

In 2009 a new President could choose a new Attorney General who similarly announces that s/he will prosecute past officials for unlawful acts unless they first come forward and testify under oath. Because Bushies took literally their oaths to "faithfully execute the laws," their record amounts to a near executive coup d'etat (see Charles Savage's Takeover and my Losing our Democracy, chapters 2 & 3). Such examples include:

• condoning torture;
• ignoring the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act;
• assigning officials to politically campaign in open violation of the Hatch Act;
• refusing to enforce the Clean Air Act;
• spending money for propaganda as the Pentagon did in gathering former brass to hit the airwaves;
• violating contracting rules by giving lucrative contracts to favored firms,
• engaging in cronyism and coercion to influence prosecutions in the U.S. Attorneys
• abusing signing statements.

Indeed, even mere falsehoods could be investigated if they were under oath to Congress or if they legally vouched for false budgets, as Sarbanes Oxley explicitly does for CEOs attesting to annual reports.

If what we know about lies and illegalities is largely what managed to leak out or has been disclosed by a few insiders, imagine how much more may come out when a new administration turns over 43's rock of corruption?

A TRC for the Bush-Cheney administration would be unprecedented for the U.S. But so is a government of crooks and liars who misled us into a calamitous war and openly violated the U.S. Constitution. Or is it only consensual sexual misconduct by a president that warrants the attention of investigators? The way to deter the "culture of deception" in McClellan's subtitle is a combination of voters, lawyers, prosecutors and a Truth Commission -- to vote against it, sue it, prosecute it, or expose it. Do we believe in the Rule of Law or only the 'Law' of Rule?

EXCERPTS FROM 7 DAYS IN AMERICA, MAY 31, W/ ROBERT ZIMMERMAN, CONASON, HUFFINGTON & GREEN

Listen to the entire show here.

ZIMMERMAN: Q: A lot of the mainstream media mock Hillary Clinton for first agreeing that Florida and Michigan wouldn't count yet now saying that it'd be a violation of civil rights if they don't. On the other hand, you're a Clinton superdelegate who blames Obama for the mess. Why? "Let's be clear about it, he is one of many players who have participated in the scandal of disenfranchising Florida and Michigan. The only real answer was to have a re-vote in both those states, period, end of story. It is an absolute dereliction of duty -- from the Democratic National Committee to the local state governments of Michigan and Florida to the Obama campaign -- because all of them either did not either make the effort to push for a re-vote or,as we saw from the Obama representatives, engaged in a strategy to block a re-vote."

ZIMMERMAN: Q: Will Scott McClellan's book have any effect this year since already Bush has the highest negative rating of any sitting President in modern times? Does this simply make each side dig in their heels even more? "I think it has a tremendous impact because it puts the Iraq war and our policies on the Iraq war front and center in the national debate. While John McCain stands with the Bush administration, Democrats stand with 67% of the American people who feel this war was a tragic miscalculation and want a change of direction to fight terrorism more effectively."

HUFFINGTON: Q: What's your view of Robert Zimmerman's complaint that Obama's campaign stalled and helped defeat revotes in Florida and Michigan because it wasn't in their political interest? "I find this whole conversation amazing, honestly. Because it ignores the fact that Hillary Clinton's campaign, Obama's campaign, all the candidates who were in the race at the time agreed that Florida and Michigan were going to be punished because they were breaking the rules of the party. Now I think it was a stupid decision, but it was made by all of them. So I don't understand why we are debating this, I don't understand why the media treated this as a serious point, when in fact it is nothing more than an attempt to have a redo. There should be no redo. The delegates should be seated split between Clinton and Obama, the end."

CONASON: "The problem with Arianna's point, if I may, is that, the fact that the Clinton and Obama people went along with a bad decision of the DNC in the first place does not in my view justly disenfranchise everybody who voted in those states."

HUFFINGTON: Q: Karl Rove responded to McClellan's new book by saying that McClellan 'just sounds like a left-wing blogger.' Do you regard that as a smear or flattery? "No, I actually think he does sound like many of us who have been writing about this thing since 2002, and that's why the title of my blog post about him was 'Scotty Come Lately' because his critique not just of the Bush administration but of the media has been spot on but way too late. I'm glad he did it obviously, but there also has to be some questions asked of him like why now and why not then?"

CONASON: "I actually don't see much point in quarreling over the nature of Scott McClellan's character which I think has been well established for years as deficient -- the question is whether he has anything interesting to say, and, as Arianna said, his assessment of the subservience of the press to the White House during the years while he was there is devastating. And of course the reaction has been very interesting because they are extremely defensive. Charles Gibson got on the air the other day and said, 'oh no, we did a great job and we really pressed them when Colin Powell testified,' and if you go back, as Glenn Greenwald did in Salon and look at what Gibson said at the time, he was a complete lap dog. So that to me is the crucial point here, it's the podium's-eye view of a press that is kneeling before them."

HUFFINGTON: Q: What do you think of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission for America -- in other words, if the Congress will not impeach this year and if Bush wants us to wait 50 years for history to vindicate him, how about something in between? In 2009 the Congress passes a law asserting that the Bush people cannot be prosecuted for any illegal misconduct so long as they testify under oath about their crimes and lies...they get amnesty for candor."I absolutely love this idea. I think you should sit down for 10 minutes and write it down as a blog post for the Huffington Post."

Comments

[lungfish]

I disagree with the reconciliation part. Treat these people like the citizens and patriots that they claim they are and if they don't measure up, then bring the law to bear. Whether or not we choose to impeach we can certainly identify and prosecute criminality. The last thing we can afford to do is learn the laundry list of malfeasance that these people have perpetrated and then let them off the hook for it. If we want America to regain it standing in the world then we need to see these murderers brought to justice.

[mgloraine]

No amnesty. We can get to the truth without plea bargains for the major players. We need to see at least the "top 20" go to jail for life while their personal fortunes are seized and used for war reparations and payment toward the debt they created.

This is NOT like South Africa because the crimes committed extend well beyond our borders. There's the issue of war crimes which need to be prosecuted at the international level at the Hague. We can't absolve these crooks of their treason and high crimes against the USA, and we can't forget the crimes committed against the population of Iraq and others worldwide. Only Republicans are arrogant enough to think that the concerns and opinions of the rest of the world don't matter, or that the deliberate murder of millions can be overlooked as a political expediency.

[Annette]

No amnesty for the top players, but I am willing to support plea bargins for the underlings who are willing to testify to save their own skins.

I certainly am willing, once our trials are over to turn them over to the Hague for crimes against humanity. This needs to be out in the open, all the evidence needs to be made public. I don't want people to be able to say this was political. Sunlight is the best disinfectant indeed. The evidence needs it be visable and maybe then everyone in the country can get through this disaster of an administration.

[WarrenPeace]

While I find this column enlightening, the information on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) is largely incorrect and misleading. The TRC proceeded over five years, with many many hearings. They were successful at finding hidden truths with mid-level managers and foot soldiers, but not at all successful with the highest ranking officials. What we need in this case is western style retributive justice -- not restorative. Trials, convictions, and jail.

[Colmore]

Please, please keep James Baker off any panel that investigates this. He is so attached to the Bush family, he is like one of them. He was part of the "no counting votes" in Florida. He has been aiding and abetting this family almost his entire life. He did all that was possible to get Georgie into the WH, even though he HAD to know what a lame-brain he is. There HAD to be something in it for him. If he is on the panel, it will be a total waste of time. I will tell you right now that he will find no fault.

[WharfRat77ch]

No Thomas Kean or Lee Hamilton either

[elbzee]

Revenge is a dish best served by 140 million voters. INDEED! Well (said with credit to Kahn.) Every single one of your suggestions makes me feel better. However, until we stand these monsters up in front of the world, nothing will be better. As a nation, we won't be able to heal until the evil that is our administration is purged. Publicly and, I hope, painfully.

[llinflorida]

Reading "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" by Vincent Bugliosi just out. He makes a powerful, clear case to take this step.

[jcorrington]

Great post Mark. I am afraid its wishful thinking, but I admire you for speaking out. Love you on Hardball. Thanks



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[luziannagirl]

I would agree with a truth and reconciliation initiative after the worst of them have been tried, convicted, done some time in jail, and had some of their rights as citizens revoked. Throw them a bone---take the specter of execution, extradition, rendition, and torture off the table.

Sorry. It's not like these guys & gals are going "mea culpa" wholesale. Do you see anyone high up in BushCo asking for forgiveness? Hell no. They still don't think they did anything to be forgiven for. Forgiveness for them would be casting pearls before swine.

Let's keep our pearls to ourselves, until the pigs figure out they're going to get pig swill until they at least start to feign contrition.

[larry278]

A Truth & Reconciliation Commission on the South African model may prove attractive to all associated with W & Co. One faces the death penalty if one is convicted of treason in a US Court.
Fessing up to a T&RC or hoping that one is tried by an International Tribunal on war crimes, genocide, & other crimes against humanity at the Hague or elsewhere would insure that W & his cohorts wouldn't face the death penalty or be confined in an American prison. US prisons are very harsh & underfunded. One is in danger at all times in a US prison & there is minimal medical care for US prisoners. Prisons in Europe are more humane than US prisons.
It's probable that an American T&RC would allow W & his minions to cop a plea & be allowed to be tried by an Int'l Tribunal. Doing time in Europe is much better than facing death by judicial execution or at the hands of fellow prisoners in the USA.

[ResidentChimp]

It's typical of surrender monkeys to talk about reconcilliation, when they really mean we shouod surrender to their marxist viewa. Some loser writes a tell all book and the opposition try to use it for politiccal purposes. They would put their politics before their country and then use Newspeak to have you belive they have the best interest of the Country in mind. Nothing could be further from the truth. All these minions are in the hire od George Soros who wants to run the Country through Obama. Obama is in Soros' pocket ans Soros will be pulling all the strings. The only thing the far left has been vindicated of is their traitorous behavior. They pay someone to tell lies and then crow about how his lies are just like their lies.

[TheEmptinessOfTruthiness]

So, you are (not) saying the book is accurate, but that we should ignore it?

If the book has lies, can you be more specific? What exactly are the lies? Who is pulling George's strings?

Please, talk more about 1984. We are living in it.

War is peace
Freedom is slavery
Ignorance is strength.

Your post confirms all 3 of these.

[InjunTrouble]

You have been listening to some strange Hillary supporters who think Hillary lost because of some George Soros conspiracy. Have you heard about their marxist plan to sap and destroy our 'precious bodily fluids'? That is really scary.

[ResidentChimp]

Illiterates like yourself don't bother to check up on what kind of person Soros is. Or bother to educate themselves about the church Obama was indoctrinated in for over twenty years.
Ever heard of Liberation Theology, or Afro-Centric Christianity? Probably not. You spend all your time watching 1960 movies.

[Annette]

Better Soros running the country than Bush/Cheney. Bush was a repeatedly failed businessman who allied with Cheney, a lifelong government employee lied, killed people in the hundreds of thousands all for the idea that he would be a "great president of he was a war president" Soros is a sucessful businessman who made his millions, he was a refugee from the communist bloc not a "Marxist".

You know someone doesn't know what is going on when they try to whine about the dangers of "Marxism". You also know they are unable to think for themself when they whimper the GOP line of "surrender monkeys" their thoughts are being fed to them with a spoon. "Marxism hasn't been a viable system or a threat for decades, buck up your information and get into the 21st century.
Obama is a succesful lawyer, author and skilled speaker. He has been a sucessful state senator and US senator. He may agree with Soros on some things but your delusion that Soros will be pulling the strings is just that ,a delusion. It is only weak useless people who let others pull the strings, like Bush.

[ResidentChimp]

Obama is a Marxist Afro-Centric Manchurian Candidate. You obviosly know nothing about him. Why don't you try reading his books to see what kind of person he really is? Why not read Shelby Steele's book about Obama? It is only weak and useless people who let others pull their strings. A perfect Description of Obama. When the going gets tough, he throws somebody else under the bus. You haven't been in a school lately if you are unaware of Marxism. It's what's being taught today. Perhaps you never heard of Howard Zinn. TRy to educate your self before talking out of school. I'm sure you idolize Soros who made his money on currency speculation. He drove the pound into the ground and made billions. Now he's doing the same with the dollar. But you probably are unaware of that fact, like many other that you are oblivious of.

[Economike]

Spoken like a tax and bomb republican

[ProfessorDuh]

Truth, but no reconciliation. Truth and imprisonment.

[jbatch]

My sentiments exactly. Without accountability and punishment these crimes will be committed again.

Lying to the american people; violating FISA; breaking the Geneva Convention; eviscerating the Bill of Rights -- these must be acknowledgd, yes. But they must also be punished.

Not for revenge -- although that would be sweet -- but to show all who come after Bush that they are accountable for their actions and to preserve the democratic principles this country was founded upon.

[ProfessorDuh]

We are in complete agreement, my friend.

[tellner]

"Truth and Reconciliation" only works if the villains tell the truth and there is a reason for reconciliation. Would Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Gonzalez or Yoo tell everything just because a bunch of little people asked them nicely to do it for the good of the country and to make everyone happy? Not on this planet. There's plenty of evidence that these things only work if the really bad ones at the top receive serious punishment. There has to be justice for the seemingly immune or people will not believe that justice has been done. Nurmeburg would be a better model - trials for the ones at the top with the full penalties of the law. Those further down whose crimes are less can be shown mercy.

[luziannagirl]

tellner, I tend to agree. Right now, offer amnesty for truth and this crowd would just laugh in our faces.

[Moose49]

"Create a Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC)."

Archbishop Desmond Tutu the other day suggested precisely this for the U.S. in a Washington Post story. This would be absolutely the right thing to do.

[cheforacle]

I agree with most of your recommendations. Too much time has been spent on this nominating process. Once Clinton drops out, the spotlight can be shone on these issues and the fallacies underlying Mccain's strategy for Iraq. For America's sake, this nomination must be over this week because that is all the media will cover if she stays in after she has clearly lost. I want to hold my hand out to Clintonites but it is not possible while Clinton continues to run and fails to help unify the party.

[wldnswmmr]

I couldn't agree more with your unprecedented suggestion for a Truth & Reconciliation Commission to deal with an unprecedented administration full of crooks and liars. If we don't undertake such a task, I don't think the federal government is going to work very well in the future no matter who is running it. Simply look at the blatant way that Bush operatives ignore Congressional subpoenas now. The concept of oversight and regular judicial process is being fatally undermined. Cheney declares, depending on the week, that he's not part of the executive branch. The attorney general says that enforcing congressional subpoenas is not something he does. The courts say all this stuff just involves "political questions" and won't step in, or if they do, they take the side of the scofflaws. It is becoming standard procedure for the executive branch simply to go its own way and tell Congress that it has no power to control it. This is the way a country can sleepwalk its way into tyranny. We need to bring the Bush people up short. Any talk about looking only to the future, as Pelosi has tried to do, simply undermines the credibility of the entire government.