I am all for the indictment and subsequent conviction of Bush, Cheney and the whole fucking lot. But proceed carefully! Bush has the power of the pardon.

I'd like to point out that you can't be PARDONED unless you've first been CONVICTED.

So wait until he's out of office and far, far away from the White House before you go pick him up and send his ass to Gitmo.

It grieves me greatly to draw this analogy, but I would suggest a Truth Commission along the lines of what was done in South Africa as the way to restore America's moral bearings. By and large, that approach worked by not prosecuting those guilty of the torture and oppressive acts of the apartheid regime but allowing the guilty to have to openly admit to their crimes. This did, in fact, bring some sort of justice and closure to the victims and allowed South Africa to move forward as a functioning society. This, in addition to a clear declaration by the Obama administration on the U.S. not continuing to torture and the restoration of a proper judicial process for the accused, would go a long way to establishing justice in our country and avoid most of the partisan acrimony that would attend criminal prosecutions and not be impeded by Bush's pardons as no criminal charges would be contemplated. The only thing the guilty would have to deal with is the public humiliation of having participated and abetted these shameful policies and that is not pardonable. The world would see that the U.S.A. does not approve the actions of the rogue Bush administration.

Among the first orders of business for any administration that purports to be for "change" must be to bring Bush and Cheney and the rest of the leading malefactors of their administration to justice -- for war crimes, crimes against the peace, and crimes against humanity. Let those who were "only following orders" have their Truth and Reconciliation Commission(s). For Cheney and Company, Gitmo (or its functional equivalent, since Gitmo should be closed ASAP and returned to the Cuban people) would be getting off preposterously easy.

regarding the International Crimminal Court allows for prosecution of war crimes committed from 2002 onward. The seven countries that voted against the treaty were Iraq, Israel, Libya, the People's Republic of China, Qatar, the United States, and Yemen. Lovely company we are in.

One of Obama's first priorities should be to make the U.S. a signatory to this treaty.

A commission to study the relevant evidence and pass it on to the ICC would be in order.

Didn't Rumsfeld narrowly escape detention in Paris last year? Even Kissinger has not been held accountable for his being an accessory to war crimes - wars of aggression, genocide (Indonesia), torture (Chile), etc.

Would that the civilized world would at least shun all these war crimminals instead of giving them honoraria on the lecture circuits.

may go through the motions of looking into it, but he knows that he will have to make command decisions that will border on questionable legality. He also has to work with the minority.

He's a career politician and not suicidal, so there will be no fuss. He's going to need his replacement to return the favor, one day.

Oh, and FOCA is also suicidal, so watch it go away.

George, Dick... now that you and your all-star cast of mustachioed-villains are shuffling off to your great reward, I (and probably lots of others) are sincerely hoping you get all the richness you so well deserve...

So I'm proposing that you all receive an all-expenses paid lifetime vacation at Gitmo, that lovely spot of man-made tropical paradise where you and all of your pals will get to spend the rest of your days basking in the tropical atmosphere, revelling in the quiet and solitude, euphoric afternoons spent waterboarding and those other pleasurable tortures, idyllic evenings spent studying the bible-- or whatever you want your one book to be-- and those sensuous, romantic nighttime rendezvous with the guards-- you're just gonna love those nightsticks!

And the best part is, without Habeas Corpus, the fun never has to stop! (What a brilliant stroke on your part, eh?)

So don't worry about the rest of us, we'll be doing fine-- without you.

I think "truth and reconciliation" commission is a great idea that will accomplish exactly what is needed to put this shameful episode behind us.

I also hope that the excessive use of executive privilege and secret classification of documents will be overturned and not repeated. Complicit Democrats must take responsibility for their actions. Got to turn the page and begin this new chapter.

The "blanket pardon" discussed in this article isn't unprecedented because of its scope, it's unprecedented because it's not actually legal and is impossible to fly.

A president cannot pardon any individual who has not been found guilty in a court of law for the thing being pardoned. A president can also not pardon anyone after he is out of office.

For everyone wondering what sort of reason Pelosi has had for sitting on her hands all this time concerning prosecution of these crimes--now you know. The democrats have been playing this hand very, very close to their chests for the past two years, and rightfully so. This administration tends to "make laws as it sees fit"--which is also of questionable legality, but can also not be undone without monstrous effort, buying them the effect of the "legislation" without the "legislation" even having to be legal.

I don't blame the democrats for wanting to make sure their charges stick, if and when they do make them.

I remember reading somewhere that one of the considerations in deciding whether an individual should be charged with international war crimes is the likelihood that the person will be prosecuted in his or her own country. Wouldn't a Presidential pardon granted to Bush, Cheney, Addington and all the rest here on Gilligans's Island make it more likely that they will be charged and tried internationally? I'm not complaining at all, just asking.