Posted on 01/31/2009 6:44:13 AM PST by markomalley
As someone who has spent nearly three frustrating years actively advocating the impeachment of President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for their many crimes and abuses of power, I have to admit that not only did it not happen, but that the likelihood of their being indicted and brought to trial now that they have left office is exceedingly slim.
While both men are clearly guilty of war crimes, and have in fact admitted to willful violation of international law and the US Criminal Code relating to torture and treatment of captives, and while Bush has admitted to the felony of willfully violating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), and while a good case of defrauding Congress could be made against both men with regard to their claims made to justify the invasion of Iraq, not to mention a host of other crimes large and small, I think it is clear that the new administration of President Barack Obama does not want to be seen trying to put the president and vice president in the slammer (where they so deserve to be). For better or worse, Obama has decided to pursue a less confrontational politics in Washington.
That said, I would argue that there can be a good case made, both legally and politically, for the convening of a Truth & Reconciliation Commission, which could put all key people in the last administration on the stand and under oath and klieg lights to explain just what they did and why.
Of course, such a commission, if established by an act of Congress, would on one level amount to letting off the hook people whose criminal actions have led to the deaths of over a million people, including over 4500 Americans in uniform, to the torturing of hundreds and perhaps thousands, and to the undermining of the constitutional rights of all the people of this nation. And yet, it may be the best way to establish just what the extent and nature of those crimes were, who was harmed, and how to avoid such reckless and criminal behavior by a president and an administration in the future.
Furthermore, if properly constituted and empowered, such a commission could still lead to prosecutions in the end.
Heres how it might work: The commission would call administration officers, whether former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld or Vice President Cheney. Under oath, they would be asked what their roles were in, say, the authorization, promotion and covering up of torture. If they answered truthfully, they would be immune from prosecution for any crimes they admitted to, but the world would know for all time what they had done. If they refused to answer, or if they were to lie to the commission, however, they would be subject to possible indictment for contempt or perjurycharges that could place them before a judge or even a grand jury.
Moreover, if lower-ranking members of the administration, called before such a commission, chose the route of coming clean about their role in administration crimes, it would both provide evidence that could later be used to prosecute higher officials who might refuse to appear and testify before such a commission, and at the same time would tend to create a public sentiment in favor of prosecution.
A truth & reconciliation commission would have to be authorized by an act of Congress, I believe, because only Congress could offer the necessary waiver from prosecution for a capital crime like torture in which victims have died, as is the case with the torture that US military forces and CIA agents have engaged in over the past eight years. But the new Congress should be willing to support such an act, because, far from being retribution, the truth & reconciliation process, which was used in South Africa, and which has been used in other countries recovering from past criminal rule, could be presented as a way of getting out the facts, and of restoring the countrys international reputation, without trying to put anyone behind bars.
Moreover, I think that the vast majority of the American public wants to see some kind of reckoning made with the past eight years of secret government, official lying, and criminal actions by many of the top officials of the land.
If South Africans can respond to generations of a criminal apartheid regime and a police state with a truth & reconciliation process, so can we in America.
It is, after all, the truth, not the punishment of criminals, however heinous, that sets us free.
But our nice, moderate, mainstram Congress has also been laying groundwork:
Senate Armed Services Committee Hearing: The Origins of Aggressive Interrogation Techniques (Part I)
REINING IN THE IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY (PDF File) (Conyers report)
Wait till there is some unrest about the economic rape of the country that the Congress is doing. Prediction is that they will start having hearings on Bush -- in order to distract the sheeple from what they're doing.
If this happens, then I hope if and when the GOP takes over, it similarly goes after every Democrat (not just any, but every one) for every possible crime.
“As someone who has spent nearly three frustrating years actively advocating the impeachment of President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney”
In other words, a crank. No need to read further.
Keep saying it enough times and people will believe it.
The DNC would love to make being a Republican a hanging offense.
Pray for America, Our Troops and obama’s Guidance
Dave Lindorff states the Alinskyite position of attacking and destroying the opposition. He shows himself to be an American enemy.
Tin foil hat ????
I don't agree. They like 'pubbies like McLame, Snowe, Gregg, Collins.
They want to make being conservative a hate crime.
We need to hold Obama accountable for NOT HELPING Americans in the Ice Storm of 2009. 42 people have died so far. No Obama, No FEMA.
See post http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2175615/posts
Aha! Another Ivy league professor that would love to usurp the will of: “a government by the people, of the people, and by the people.” And he dares to refer to the “Truth!”
And how much has he written about the past,”on presidental TV liers” as WFC said, “I did not have sex with that women.”
He mentioned the over 4500 deaths of our servicemen in Iraq, maybe he should give a report on the number of deaths by DWI and binge drinking at his “Columbia University.”
May he and all such, remember, our elected are not voted in by south Africans, nor by any European union, we the citizens of the United States elected them.
I love the seal of Columbia University, which consists of a seated woman with the Hebrew Tetragammaton name of God, YHVH, written above her head. The Latin motto inscribed across the top is Psalm 36:9. “In Thy light we see light.”
In alluding to Psalm 27:1, the Hebrew phrase Uri El (”God is my light”) is written on a ribbon and under the woman’s feet the scripture is inscribed, “1 Peter 2:1-2,” an admonishment to desire the pure milk of God’s Word.”
I’ll bet your Mr. Sawyer (Lindorff) did not know that.
Professor Lindorff ended his article with a reference to the words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.”
(John 8:32) Let me end with: “By mercy and truth iniquity is purged; and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.” (Proverbs 16:6)
P.S. And I believe most of the evil, in our nation, and against our nation, comes from our Universites and our Congress.
Wow, I didn’t know that Olberman had a twin.
How can you impeach someone who is NO LONGER IN OFFICE? Are these people insane? That’s a rhetorical question. Of course they are!
Dave Lindorff is an impertinent ignoramous
And a proud member of the MSM.
But I repeat myself...
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