Bush can commit war crimes and atrocities, then pardon himself?

Given the tone and conclusions of the experts quoted in this article, a president with the balls not to worry about their "legacy" really is above all the laws of the land. Bush had it right all along.

The election results attest to the moral revulsion of many American toward Bush and the many that he choose who failed to to honor the Constitution of our government. They have been judged on the level of decency, integrity, and character and judged to be catastrophically corrupt. But that is not enough. The foundation of a society is integrity and when its leader lie, hide crimes, and misuse their powers to subvert the general welfare they must be held accountable. The future well being of its citizens will be destroyed unless the social justice that our hearts demand are confirmed by the responsible acts of those who have been granted the power to do so.

Though I am in favor of investigating the Bush Administration's crimes, I'm afraid of what the political fallout would mean for the Dems. This could backfire on the Democratic Congress and Obama in a way that bailouts and beefing up regulation of the markets can't. I can see Mitch McConnell right now arguing that Obama cares so much about the rights of terrorists over "innocent Americans." The Dems in Congress have been so craven over the past year that I worry whether or not this issue might limit Obama to one term. Independents WILL side with the Republicans if the Dems allow them to frame the issue.

If no one has congratulated you on your headline yet, let me be the first. If they have, then I add my vote of approval. I'm against all torture in principle but my primitive vengeful voice says Bush should, indeed, be...probed.

We are about to witness the inability of this country to come to terms with the nightmare of the last eight years much less hold anyone accountable. This should not shock anyone since we have seen this same process play out starting with the widespread criminal and unconstituional activities of the Nixon years culminating in his pardon. This was followed by the criminal and unconstitutional activities of the Reagan administration during the Iran/Contra affair. In a historic context the Bush administration only continues and furthers trends apparent to anyone who pays any attention to our recent history.

We will now be inundated by a litany of reasons why criminal and unconstitutional actions cannot be revealed, investigated, and prosecuted with the intention of making, finally, it absolutely clear that people will go to jail for breaking the law. We could end the nightmare with the latest attack on our society but it is highly likely that won't happen.

It won't happen because the political class--politiicians at the highest level of government, appointees at the highest level of government, the intellectual mafia from the Ivy league schools and the think tanks, all of the careerists who place their immediate interests before any other consideration, the corporations who have a vested interest in the National Security State--are all complicit and at risks for any true accounting to take place.

The prospect is for more of the same. The two party system will continue down the merry path of avoiding discussing real issues. The intellectuals will provide the rationale for avoiding an accounting. The corporate interests will continue bellying up to the bar. Those who are concerned about truly changing the direction of the country will be ignored and marginalized.

Brennan has no argument with torture...

Except that it doesn't work really actually awfully very well..

Without more transparency, the value of the C.I.A.’s interrogation and detention program is impossible to evaluate.

Setting aside the moral, ethical, and legal issues, <==> supporters,

such as John Brennan, acknowledge that much of the information that coercion produces is unreliable.”

http://www.pierretristam.com/Bobst/07/wf081007.htm

And so just to set aside these simple civil liberty quibblings, then...

And he's on any Obama team? WTF are? they thinking.

[mybolds & stuff]

Can't we refer this matter to an International Court? At least half of the stuff Bush & Co pulled were violations of International Law. Can't we have an extrodinary rendition of the whole bunch to the Hauge to stand trial. No immunity there. No partisan issues save for Obama looking away long enough for the transport aircraft to clear US airspace.

"...top Democrats in Congress were briefed in secret on some of the harshest tactics used by the CIA and appear to have done little, or perhaps nothing, to stop them."

Feel free to out these people. Jane Harman is one. She is my representative in congress who traditionally votes with the Republicans and goes with the flow when it comes to torture, war, corporate rule of government etc... She refers to herself as "the best Republican in the Democratic Party." Her and her husband are worth 3 billion dollars. She goes uncontested almost every year for her seat in congress. She uses her congressional influence to lobby on behalf of the military industrial complex in our district (of which she and her husband have a conflict on interest in their government contracts) and does little for the people of the district.

"Harman, who replaced Pelosi as the committee's top Democrat in January 2003, disclosed Friday that she filed a classified letter to the CIA in February of that year as an official protest about the interrogation program. Harman said she had been prevented from publicly discussing the letter or the CIA's program because of strict rules of secrecy." ~ wikipedia.

Basically, she covered her ass with this letter, claimed it was classified, yet leaked its existence when it became politically expedient. That is like stating: 'I am a witness to constitutional crimes in government, but I can't blow the whistle because of my security clearance.'

If anyone wants to run against her, I'll work for you.

The problem with investigating and prosecuting the last administration is pragmatic, not principled. If the outgoing administration is going to be jailed after they cede power, they may refuse to leave office.

Look at the power the incumbent administration has, and imagine it in the hands of the other party, without a safe way to leave office and retire to private life. If orderly transfer of power becomes impossible, if by leaving office President Bush is going to prison or signing his death warrant, he will refuse. Anybody would, for self-preservation alone, and then we have civil war. If the stakes are too high to leave office peacefully, no one will. This has happened before, in miniature, when President Andrew Johnson tried to fire Secretary of War Stanton and was impeached for it by Stanton's supporters, only escaping by 1 vote.

It's like being the highest ranking military officer in a third world country. You might not want to be in charge, but if the party that's elected is coming for you, your soldiers, and your family, it's self-defense to take over in a military coup d'etat (See Pinochet).

An investigation and prosecution of President Bush and Vice-President Cheney, unless done with the promise of amnesty for participation (even then I'm skeptical), is a very bad idea for the future of the republic.