An investigation is the only way we will find all the ways Bush and Cheney have changed the way the government works or doesn't. We need to find out all the secret operations they have installed and put a stop to them. The government is now contaminated. That cannot be allowed to continue.

What secret deals have these criminals put in place?

After you are robbed, you need to take inventory and see what has been stolen, what has been wrecked.

Of course if we wait for Bush to pardon everyone, they will have to testify since the 5th ammendment no longer applies. If they don't, they can be held in comtempt.

I cannot understand why Bush was not impeached. I cannot see why Pelosi and Reid are not guilty of dereliction of duty or worse.

How is it that no one in the Democratic party even cares. What in the hell is wrong with them?

If the authorities break the law as a matter of policy, and their successors decide to let them go free, then neither possesses the moral authority to hold me responsible to the law. Their actions have left a vaccuum which I can fill only with my own moral precepts, regardless of what "the law" says, and my only practical concern is whether I can get away without being caught. In this situation, the legal authorities are my role models.

I agree completely with the sentiments in this article, and I think its important to emphasize two points about investigating the Bush administration.

First, allowing a man(many actually) who had every advantage in life, and who was entrusted with the most important job in the country, and who is now suspected by many, with good reason, to have committed truly horrendous crimes, to retire to his ranch and write his memoirs with no investigation into his conduct, would be a terrible inequity, in a country where people who had none of the privileges that Bush did, are routinely jailed for relatively minor offenses, and pleas for mercy met with admonitions that justice must apply equally to everyone.

Second, failing to address the probable illegal conduct of the Bush administration would set a precedent. It really doesn't matter if Obama chooses not to exercise the sorts of powers that Bush did; unless there are repercussions for Bush's actions, the exercise of such powers could come to be seen as a matter of presidential discretion.

There is no reason why Obama would need to be personally involved in investigations or prosecutions, or to let them interfere with his agenda. All he needs to do is state that no one is above the law, he has faith that his Attorney General and Justice Department will conduct a full and fair investigation, and that he will not interfere with that investigation.

I wonder...

...how the Madwoman of Chaillot would handle this?

Fascinated by this...

It follows an eccentric woman who lives in Paris and her struggles against the straitlaced authority figures in her life.

I'm going to have to see if I can find the movie with Katherine Hepburn, a woman I greatly admire. The above sounds like a description of my life but in a much more interesting location.

I totally understand where Glenn is coming from. I also feel that if Obama can restore the laws that have been destroyed or eroded, that would be the best step. A smooth direct path to the restoration of constitutional law is the most efficient and best course. The DOJ, NSA, CIA, and FBI need more transparency and a cleanup from Republican entrenchment.

Investigations into deep corruption involve shakedowns of power that weaken entire countries not just regimes. Instead, Obama and family can positively influence the country in countless ways. The hatred, domestic terror, demonizing and dirty politics of the Bush era can be visibly shown to be pushed aside by tolerance, intelligence, understanding, diversity, and ethics.

"While I don't expect high-level officials to be convicted, I do hope enough dirty laundry will be aired that they will have a hard time showing their faces in public."

Just one of endless examples: Think Newt. Present candidate for "new" leader of the GOP.

I doubt I'll ever lose a certain Pollyanna side of myself re: politics (and humanity and the world at large), but

thinking that a public slap-on-the-wrist "will (hopefully)discourage any future officials from engaging in illegal activities"...nah, I don't have that faith. Nothing seems demeaning enough not to surge for a comeback.

So many examples. And not all GOP.

Whatevs, so long as I get a puppy.

Imagine the roles of Repubs and Dems are reversed. Do you think this debate would be happening? The Democrat administration would be soon to experience "enhanced" interrogation techniques to be sure.

I have no faith that Obama will advocate prosecution. I just hope he hires someone who will without sabotaging him. Conyers is a joke. Don't hold your breath waiting for him.

I would suggest we start a 10 or 20 "Most Wanted List" but that wouldn't be nearly enough slots. I would like to see propagandists in the media as well as corporate war looters prosecuted too. Corruption in the military too.

I have to go... someone is pounding on my door...

you get too caught up in the righteous vision of idealism and miss the reality that pragmatism can accomplish.

What, pray tell, has 'pragmatism' accomplished in the last two years?

I go back to 2006 because that's the time frame that the wingers will blame on democrats due to their majorities in Congress (I'm talking the letters after their names, obviously, not the evidence of their votes).

What 'pragmatic' thing did you see accomplished?

Oh, and another thing....

What catamitebastard said.

Much more visceral and to the point. We needed that.

(and 'Gleen/Glenn' copped a good belly laugh!)

Heru... You're exactly right, but what we're reaping right now sprung, literally, from the "mistakes" of Watergate, the last time any administration served real time. Not just the tactics, but many of the same people have returned to re-fight that battle against democratic government, repeatedly, from Iran-Contra to the Recent Unpleasantness. This time, they've pretty much won, and pardon season isn't even here yet, when we can again hear the traditional, lilting silver bells of Bush Family henchmen going free. Another Republican scandal turns out to be a virgin birth. Merry Christmas, America.

I would like to see comparative figure of the total value, this year, of that tacky, disorganized kind of theft, robbery, and violence people actually go to jail for versus that more tasteful type that generally pays better and takes place among "better" people, who are invariably better dressed, too. And it never involves jail time because, oh, that's right, the jails are too full already. What a coincidence.

The sad part is the astonishing number of people who continue to fall for this.