None of them are going to go to prison. Allow me to be pessimistic.

[Lyric]

Bush will pardon anyone at risk of prosecution before he leaves. He could even get out of prosecution *himself* by resigning after issuing his pardons, and then allowing Cheney to pardon HIM before Obama takes office.

We can all hope and wish and pray, but no criminal charges are ever going to be pursued. Bush has the power to protect everyone around him--why wouldn't he use it? It wouldn't even destroy the Republican party--there would simply be a bit of a shake-up in the leadership, a lot of hand-wringing and faux-outrage from the "new generation" of Repukes who would swear that THEY didn't know anything about this, and that Bushco weren't "real" Republicans. The Joe Q. Repuke types would buy it hook, line and sinker, and use our own arguments to justify it. I can see O'Lielly now: "We've all heard for years that it's wrong to blame the Muslim religion for what a handful of crazy criminals do. Therefore it's just as wrong to blame the Republican party for what a few crazy criminals have done." Nevermind the fact that those "crazy criminals" have enjoyed the full support of a Republican party that knows and approves of what's going on. It's a bad analogy, but they'll use it anyway, and the conservative Sheeple will swallow it like it's candy.

America will be pissed for an election cycle or two, and then things will settle right back down into the same old same old, save that Bushco will have gotten away with murder, robbery, torture, and treason, free and clear.

I'm not feeling very optimistic about these criminals being brought to justice for what they've done. They knew going into this that the Presidential pardon would save their asses in the end. We might see a couple of fall-guys take some public blame and share the fate of Scooter Libby, but the masterminds and the Powers behind the atrocities of the past eight years are gonna get away with it, and there's nothing we can do about it.

Maybe it's time for a Constitutional amendment that restricts a President from pardoning members of his own administration, and redirects all such pardon pleas to some kind of objective committee instead--perhaps a committee made up of state governors, and chosen by seniority?

[valerief]

1. Yep. Justice is up there with Intelligent Design as another wacko concept. nt

[RainDog]

2. pessimist or realist?

How many times do we fall for the three-card monte trick before we walk away? I wish I could walk away... all the way to Canada, at the least.

[DinahMoeHum]

3. I have a better idea for dealing with them. . .

unfortunately, it's not fit to be mentioned here.

:evilfrown:

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. And, like the last time we did this, those couple fall guys will do

six or 12 months then be released, with no real accounting.

[cobalt1999]

5. Of course they aren't going to prison.

This isn't the Watergate days when people actually CARED about the constitution.

[Dogtown]

6. No one (of importance) will even be charged.

[bdamomma]

7. our new saying will be where murderers can literally get away with murder.

These are our government leaders.