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Saturday, Jul 4, 2009
New presidents as a rule want to move forward rather than battling the previous administration. Eight years ago, the Republicans were saying they were going to keep pursuing Bill Clinton once he was out of office. As right-wing-from-the-get-go as the Bush administration has been, that simply didn't happen. Of course, the Bush administration's crimes are far greater, but I suspect Obama suspects, correctly, that going after Bush et al would consume far too much attention from the media, overshadowing everything else. So, much as I'd love to see President Obama with a solid 60 Democratic seats in the Senate ("solid" meaning Lieberman doesn't count) sending Bush, Cheney and the rest of that criminal gang to spend the rest of their lives in prison as they deserve, it ain't gonna happen.
There is another option which is not mentioned in this post. Paragraph 7 of Article I, ยง 3 of the Constitution states:
Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.
The expiration of the current president's term does not make impeachment moot; the House can still investigate and vote articles of impeachment, with the Senate to determine disqualification from holding federal office in the future.
This is not a mere academic question. After serving as president, John Quincy Adams served in the House of Representatives and William Howard Taft served as Chief Justice of the United States. After serving as vice-president, Richard Nixon served as president and Hubert Humphrey served as a U. S. Senator. Former Vice-President Walter Mondale served as Ambassador to Japan and was nominated to run for the Senate from Minnesota when Senator Paul Wellstone died in a plane crash.
A special commission is not needed. The House Judiciary Committee has subpoena power, a demographically and ideologically diverse membership, and the other mechanisms necessary to ferret out wrongdoing, including the contempt power of the House of Representatives itself. Here's hoping that the next Congress will pursue articles of impeachment as to whether President Bush has taken care that the laws be faithfully executed as to torture, electronic surveillance and other subjects.
Surely the obvious criminality of the Bush administration should not be allowed to get off scot-free? Do we really want a country where the guy who robs a liquor store winds up with Bruno as a long-term roommate, and the perpetrators of mass murder get a complete pass?
Oh, you say, Bush and his cronies aren't murderers, war criminals, and so on? Fine. But let a court and a jury make that determination.
They should be held accountable like anyone else.
But it is true. Obama is basically a typical cowardly Dem and will not raise a finger.
All Obama has to do is declare the parties in question to be "enemy combatants." Then he can have them imprisoned indefinitely without charges. At least that's what George W. Bush says.
No one wants to go through a long trial, which the Republicans would call a "witch hunt." So let's just haul them away, never to be heard from again.
Then we can go back to abiding by the Constitution.
No.
There will be no prosecution of GWB because the Obama administration will be doing the exact same thing.
Wake up people - it doesn't matter who's in office - their hands will be dirtied. It's "part of the job." Whether it's Clinton or Reagan or Carter or Johnson or ... you can't be president without a lot of blood on your hands. It's what America wants, and they won't permit someone in the Oval who is a boy scout. He'll be out of there faster than you can say "arms for hostages."
in representative 'democracy', you have a remedy over at mike gravel's site.
but if you don't have the mixture of self-respect and energy to actually do something about the drift into '1984', why complain when others won't fix things for you? is mother still doing your laundry?
politicians are not going to fix what's wrong with america, they are too busy participating in things-as-they-are. that goes for obama too, who sees the wistful urge for a tooth fairy among american progressive people and says: "i'm it".
great sales point, but he isn't. the fault is not in the politicians, who merely profit from the weakness of the people- the fault is in the people, who are weak.
that might be the most interesting point of the bush/cheney regime: american people are fearful of a few dozen men of 'middle-eastern' appearance, so much so that that the paper and paper-thin laws of the constitution went into the trashcan with the first casualties. davy crockett wouldn't buy w a beer, and he wouldn't shake hands with anyone who did. they are lesser people in the usa nowadays. little men.
weak in education, weak in character, weak in initiative.
Talk is cheap. Obama won't do a fucking thing beyond that - if he does that much - to bring them to justice if he gets elected. And I believe that will cost him re-election.
thpse who claimed Nixon was politically persecuted were right. thanks obama for clearing that up.
At some point, somebody ought to investigate and prosecute Republicans in spite of the (apparently exonerating) reality that a large number of Republicans suffer cognitive dissonance when confronted with the possibility that members of their own party have committed crimes.
Whining about partisanship should not in any way deter a President from enforcing the law. Indeed, willingness to prosecute high crimes that have been committed is a sign of strength.
The current generation of political leaders seem to have completely lost any sight of the fact that there is a reality underlying all actions. It often seems that this generation cannot tell between rightful prosecution and wrongful prosecution. How else do we understand a party leadership that sits by while a member of their party and a governor of a state (Don Siegelman in Alabama) is indicted based on the testimony of a known liar, while administration officials repeatedly lie to Congress, violate laws left and right, and generally mock the rule of law.
It seems the Democratic leaders are still so whipped by the Gingrich years that they are afraid of offending the most rabid Republicans. It is really bizarre to live in a nation where the actions and desires of the most rabid Republicans are the determining factor for not only what their own party does, but what the opposition party does, too.
Here's a crazy idea. If the Democrats win the White House and control massive majorities in both Houses of Congress after the 2008 election, perhaps they shouldn't give a damn whether Republicans "perceive" legitimate investigations as a "witch hunt". At this point, we know that real crimes have been committed. The only question is who knew what and did exactly what when?
The Wasilla soap opera just gets weirder as Palin complains critics are "picking apart a good point guard"
The media outlet's use of Bush euphemisms sparks a much-needed debate on journalistic standards.
And so are his Fox News pals, who lambasted Sen. Al Franken's "stolen election"
An inflexible right wing is allowing the Golden State to drown in debt. But it's not alone
Thanks for sharing, Governor. Now please take a cue from Norm Coleman, and go away
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