Friday, April 17, 2009

Without Torture Accountability, All Obama's Victories Are Ashes

Thirty-five years ago this fall, Gerald Ford turned the U.S. into the kind of banana republic that manages peaceful transitions of power only by excusing departing presidents from accountability for their crimes.

Richard Nixon never faced American justice, thus establishing the precedent for future repug presidents to commit crimes against the Constitution and American people without consequence.

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush got away with Iran-Contra, and Smirky/Darth with crimes of treason too numerous to list here. It will happen again as long as succeeding presidents continue to allow their predecessors to avoid prosecution.

Barack Obama can put a stop to this criminal legacy only by prosecuting George W. Bush, Dick Cheney and all their acomplices, and doing it now.

Keith Olbermann explains:



Transcript here.

Cross-posted at They Gave Us A Republic ....

2 comments:

BimBeau said...

The first element of peace is Justice.
The first element of Justice is political and criminal accountability.
The first element of accountability is the deniability of just-us.

RichMiles said...

Precedent! Prece-fucking-dent!! I've been saying this for at least three years, and I'm only surprised that no one else I've seen has used the word. If Shrub-Cheney aren't punished, then another one, probably but not definitely a repug, will DO IT AGAIN. Commit acts of treason, get the country into a war for no good reason, spend the fuck out of the treasury, etc. etc. etc.

The only way to minimize this possibility is to throw someone in JAIL!!!

I mean, imagine - you are a preznit with nefarious ideas - and you think, "Wow - I wonder if they'll punish me - that is, if they catch me. Then you consider history, and you discover that NO ONE ELSE has ever been punished, and you say, "Fuck it! Let's give her a try!"

And America is fucked in various ways for another 20 years.

And dey ain't NUTTIN the people can do about it. Cuz no precedent was ever set.

I mean, am I wrong? Aren't there enough scoundrels around to put the theory to the test?

Precedent! Put the bastards in jail, several of them over several administrations. And THEN let's see what happens.

GodDAM but I hate GWB! He just HAS to go to prison. And I want to go visit him there. Just so I know for sure that's where he is.

Don'tcha know. Can'tcha see.