Ted Rall: Letting Bush & Co. off confirms 2 systems of justice

[BigBearJohn]

“The president’s decision to expose but not prosecute those responsible,” he writes, is justified. Why? Because “justice taken to its logical end here would likely require bringing George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and other senior officials to trial, which would rip our country apart.”

“Rip our country apart.” Wow.

Granting prosecutorial immunity to war criminals like Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and Powell is already “tearing the country apart.”

First and foremost, it confirms many people’s suspicion that there are two systems of justice in America: one for the rich and powerful and another for you and me. If I kidnap a man and hold him overnight, I face the death penalty or life in prison. Bush and his top officials ordered the kidnapping of tens of thousands of men, the torture of thousands and the murder of hundreds. Until America’s official mass murderers are treated as harshly as its freelance psychos,
Americans will view their justice system as something to be feared rather than respected.

Not only does extending executive privilege into retirement — and not even conservatives think there’s a legal basis for this — encourage lawless behavior by current and future political leaders, it feeds partisanship. Republicans impeached Bill Clinton for lying about oral sex. He was also disbarred (and rightly so). Richard Nixon, on the other hand, resigned before being impeached and never faced a jury. If Bush and his minions get away with murder, does that mean that only Democrats are subject to the rule of law?

If the officials who ordered torture, the legislators who let it happen, the lawyers who justified it and the men and women who carried it out are not held accountable, the message will not be — as Obama seems to believe — that the Bush years represented some weird aberration in American history. Obama will be telling the world that the 2008 election changed nothing, that legal illegality could return at the drop of a hat (or the detonation of a dirty bomb), that his administration protects the criminals and thus endorses their crimes.

Millions of Americans, many of whom voted for him, already feel alienated from a country that expresses values that it doesn’t live up to. Refusing to prosecute Bush deepens their cynicism.

(emphasis added)

GRREAT ARTICLE: http://www.sj-r.com/opinions/x1515813956/Ted-Rall-Letting-Bush-Co-off-confirms-2-systems-of-justice

[Dragonfli]

1. You are on a roll posting excellent articles tonight.

just wanted to say thanks as work has been crazy lately and I haven't had much time to read as much as usual. You have been a great help posting these articles so that I am able to make the best of what little time I have to read tonight.

Just wanted you to know that your efforts are appreciated and at least in my case timely.:hi:

[BigBearJohn]

2. wow! thank you.

:toast:

[vixengrl]

3. Rall is dead-on, here. If anything, those who were granted

great responsibility and the power to affect the lives of millions, should be held more accountable for their abuse of power in a fair world. Also, this nonsense of Freidman's regarding how "torn apart" the country will be is the worst kind of mealy-mouthed bullshit.

Torn apart--as if we didn't live through anything else before. As if the American public were a pack of children. As if we weren't strong enough as a nation to ever hold our leaders responsible for the trust we put in them. It tears at the very fabric of who we are supposed to be as Americans if we let these shits go on through life unmolested when they abused the trust that we put in them.

The idea that prosecuting these people is "looking backward" or "criminalizing legal opinion" is absurd. Criminal trials are, necessarily, post facto. As for the idea that prosecution of crimes that actually took place and also holding accountable those whose opinions endorsed such crimes, is "criminalizing legal opinion"--where would anyone stand on the legal opinion that causes something simple, like tax evasion? Or endorsing perjury? Or that endorses cover-ups? Where would anyone stand on a lawyer endorsing a murderer to tamper with witnesses so they could get a better trial? Sometimes, an opinion that leads to advice to engage in criminal behavior should itself be criminal, as part of a conspiracy to engage in a crimial act.


If the US is torn apart, it is as necessary as a cut that lets a cancer be excised.

[Greyhound]

4. The People had better move quickly (in societal terms) or it will be too late.

We are seeing the end-game right now and the only thing that will stop it is The People.

Wait another generation and it won't matter, at least not here. Perhaps South America will retain their new found independence.

[ruleoflawrev]

9. But here's what's going to happen....

You wrote: "The People had better move quickly (in societal terms) or it will be too late."

You are right, but here's what's going to happen. The American people are stuck on this useless "lesser of two evils" voting mentality. They complain, but they won't go find good candidates. They believe in the myth of "the two-party system of government", so they think they have to put up with whatever candidates the "two parties" put forth for their approval.

Until they figure this out, we're doomed.

in the mean time, I have initiated a new project that can fix this problem. Hopefully, millions will not only adopt the Rule of Law Revolution, but will become effective recruiters of other adherents. It's not a new party; and it doesn't cost money. It's a new ideology that suddenly puts "liberals" and "conservatives" looking at things in a new way that really tends to lessen their disagreements in a way.

Check it out. www.ruleoflawrevolution.com

Jack Pelham
Rule of Law Revolution
www.ruleoflawrevolution.com

[Hardrada]

5. Did anyone (except Lt. Calley) ever get prosecuted for Viet Nam?

[Kitty Herder]

6. K&R

[annabanana]

7. When it's pain that maintains the status quo... "tearing the country apart"

seems to be worth it.

[ruleoflawrev]

8. I agree that they should be prosecuted....but....

You are so right that those who have violated the Geneva Conventions should be prosecuted. If we do not prosecute them, we are saying that America is above the law.

We must understand, however, that this is one example of hundreds in which America, by policy, disobeys the law. Obama, W, Clinton, HW, Reagan, Carter, Nixon.... And it goes on and on. They have all broken the law. Obama says the Constitution has "fundamental flaws". W called it "just a goddammed piece of paper". Carter had his boys working on a new one, and Nixon said the president is "above the law".

We have been ruled by a class of men who do not consider our Constitution sacred. Party has nothing to do with it. Take Obama, for instance. If he really believes that the Constitution has fundamental flaws, shouldn't he be working feverishly to amend it? Isn't that the honorable and legal thing to do? Yet the Congress is working feverishly to violate it over and over---without amending it. Therefore, we can see that Congress, too, considers itself above the law.

And suddenly, torture, while tremendously important, seems like just a drop in the bucket.

We must replace the elected officials in Washington with a new breed of candidate-----one who will return this nation to the Rule of Law. It is so not about party or political philosophy. It's about government playing by the rules so that the people can rest easy at night.

Some people say, "It's not THAT bad yet." Well, I wish they would pay attention and listen, but even so, all they have to do is to wait a while. There is no way that this ungoverned government is not going to make an enemy of practically every American in fairly short order.

It has nothing to do with race or being a good speaker or being a likeable guy. It has to do with following the law.

[ixion]

10. I think the Constitution and Bill of Rights are remarkably clear... the problem

is our governments hatred of the people it governs. It simply can't stand the idea of the "little people" having all the rights and privileges guaranteed by the Constitution and Bill of Rights. In order to counteract this, they create 'wars' on abstractions and use these as leverage to wear down our Constitutional rights.

End the so-called 'wars', and roll-back every single piece of legislation that used these bogus creations as an excuse to remove power from the people and transfer it into the hands of fascists and power mongers.

[malaise]

11. K & R

Good read

[ThomCat]

12. Ted Rall is a remarkably good political columnist.

He has even changed my mind a time or two when I've initially disagreed with him. I can't say that about most talking heads.

Yes, we absolutely should be prosecuting. This worry about the consequences of prosecuting is bullshit. We should be far more worried about the consequences of NOT prosecuting. :(

[Solly Mack]

13. K&R

[tomp]

14. there is no other reasonable position. prosecute now. nt