IF Bush,Cheney, and Rummy were arrested by the JD...

[Badfish]

and charged with war crimes. What would happen to our nation ? ..How bad would the divide be ? ..What kind of violence would we be looking at ?

It's so easy to say "just charge em" ...but what would the consequences be ?

[samplegirl]

1. Worth it! No Matter What!

[Badfish]

2. What if...

your son was attacked at a local store for a bumper sticker ? ..and was injured ?

What if there were more assassination attempts on congress ?

"no matter what" ...means alot of things.

[samplegirl]

8. Many people died due to this Moron

so to me.........even if it were my own life it would be worth it.

[liberal N proud]

3. You would need to keep Beck, Limballs and Palin's mouths shut

Then there wouldn't be any violence because no one would have told the morons what to do.

[GoCubsGo]

14. Yep. Good luck with that.

I dare say that's why nothing is being done now. Also, they still have good buddies in the Pentagon. Can you say "military coup"? Let the world courts handle this.

[Doctor_J]

17. Getting the country away from these criminals isn't going to be easy

If violence erupts, and the instigators you mention are among the casualties, even MORE progress would be made.

[polmaven]

4. K&R

This is certainly worth thinking about.

And welcome to DU :hi:

[Badfish]

5. I thought so.

But I read thread after thread of people demanding Bush/Cheney be charged , and NOBODY ever brings up the consequences of that action.

I am asking ..."what if ?"

[shraby]

7. I remember Nixon skating and getting a pardon. The whole

country was disappointed. He should have paid the penalties. We wouldn't have had the mess we have now, if all the perps including Nixon in that administration were punished. They would have been cooling their heels for a long time.
The same thing applies to today. If you do the crime you should have to do the time.

[MasonJar]

21. True, Gerald Ford made a mistake, but at least he did issue a pardon,

which is the President's prerogative. It was legitimate. The war criminals should be charged. Then if Obama gives a pardon, the country can deal with him as it did Ford...no re-election.

[karynnj]

6. The country would be in a state of shock and concerned that we were no longer the

superpower that we were. It would lead to questions on whether there is American exceptionalism. I think there would be a feeling of embarrassment for the country - even among Democrats who were against all they did. These acts were official acts of the United States. I would hope there would be regret for not having pursued any trials on even things like approving torture.

[peace13]

10. Yes torture. We are the only country to openly embrace it.

Without a shred of shame I might add. Really, Obama fell down on this issue. I love the guy but he let the * criminals and the torture issue seep into the fabric of our flag. Never to be washed clean unless he himself is willing to be held accountable.

[Badfish]

11. Thats the point of the thread...

here you are telling me how "Obama fell down on the issue"

But still won't address the issue of consequences.

[peace13]

12. See post #9

Secondly, I thought the purpose of you OP was to make us worry about the consequences.

[Badfish]

13. Nice try.

I wasn't telling anybody anything , I was asking a question , that is why there are 4 question marks in my very short post.

[peace13]

9. Until the right thing is done no right things will ever be done again.

On the other hand how many folks worried that about how talking about an intern with a cigar up her twat would effect the divide?

[PADemD]

15. what would the consequences be ?

Humility instead of arrogance

[Badfish]

19. Well , I guess it needs to be spelled out for some..

RIGHT NOW we have guns at political rallies , assassinations , second amendment remedies, head stompings, ect..

But you believe that charging Bush/Cheney with war crimes wouldn't stoke the fire in any way ? ...how absurd.

[Doctor_J]

16. The continued failure to prosecute CRIMINALS got us to this point

If Reagan had been sent to prison for delaying the hostage release or for Iran Contra, this ridiculous 30-year history of treason would have been halted in the bud. The main reason, besides media deregulation, that the crimes get worse and worse, is that there is never any punishment for high crimes. Arrest them and hand them to the World Court, and celebrate the justice that is meted out. We will get over the "embarrassment" faster than we will the continued crime wave.

[Badfish]

18. And ....

"Arrest them and hand them to the World Court, and celebrate the justice that is meted out. We will get over the "embarrassment" faster than we will the continued crime wave."

I agree.

The question asked in the OP is what would happen ?

You think the ONLY consequence is a little "embarrassment" ? ...The political atmosphere right now is very very tense , you are claiming that charging Bush and Cheney would reduce the tension and we would only suffer embarrassment ?

[MasonJar]

20. They should not be above the law, just because their supporters

would object to a fair trial.

[Badfish]

22. I agree.

How do you think their 'supporters' object ?

[Fiendish Thingy]

27. I'm sure there would be demonstrations, perhaps some violence

I don't think the Bush/Cheney supporters in the military would stage a coup, but even if that were a strong possibility, to subvert the Rule of Law to avoid such consequences essentially achieves the same goal as a coup, as it did over the past decade. Your suggestion is that we shouldn't punish the powerful, lest we suffer a backlash from the powerful who support them- that's nuts (the suggestion, not you).

[Fiendish Thingy]

28. I'm Sure there would be demonstrations, perhaps some violence

I don't think the Bush/Cheney supporters in the military would stage a coup, but even if that were a strong possibility, to subvert the Rule of Law to avoid such consequences essentially achieves the same goal as a coup, as it did over the past decade. Your suggestion is that we shouldn't punish the powerful, lest we suffer a backlash from the powerful who support them- that's nuts (the suggestion, not you). :hi:

[dionysus]

24. in a sane world, they wouldn't be.

[dionysus]

23. my guess is, there wouldn't be riots, but around half of the country would be

super pissed.

absolutely no legislation of any kind would get passed, it would be an epic three ring circus.

the punishment for war crimes and treason life is usually life imprisonment or death, i don't know if you can get the majority of americans to buy it.

[Fiendish Thingy]

25. Are you suggesting the Rule of Law should not apply for fear of violent retribution?

That's just plain nuts.

[Badfish]

26. Read the thread , look at post #22

before calling people nuts.

[Cleita]

29. There would be no violence once their crimes are brought

out in the open just like there was no violence from the Germans when they were shown what Hitler had done. The main consequence would be that justice is served and our credibility in the free world would go up a few notches.

[Badfish]

30. Ummm,

Bush tortured , and then admitted to torturing.

it couldn't be more 'out in the open'

[Cleita]

31. And there has been no violence.

We want justice.

[Badfish]

32. Because he wasn't charged.

The violence would come from the right when Bush would be charged.

[Cleita]

33. Really, you might have a few white militia guys out

there trying to stir up shit, but most of the people who voted for Bush regret it and think he's an ass.

[tekisui]

34. There is nothing to suggest that to be the case.

Where are you getting this idea?

[paparush]

35. The Nation would groan - Dammit, they've preempted American Idol for this?

[Ter]

36. Obama would go to war with any nation who arrested them

n/t