I always wondered what ever happened to Grandpa Munster after the series ended.
Posted on 03/05/2009 12:46:21 AM PST by seanmerc
WASHINGTON -- Can Americans face the truth about the Bush administration’s abuse of power?
I believe so, but clearly President Barack Obama and some Democratic lawmakers think they can’t. Or possibly they don’t want to be bogged down in a search which could be viewed as vindictive against the former regime. Too bad.
Obama -- a former constitutional law professor -- has ruled out a look backward, claiming that any review of possible illegalities by Bush and his coterie would lead to "politics that have made Washington dysfunctional."
Picking up on the last Bush mantra that we should move "forward," Obama with his don’t-rock-the-boat perspective is not about to nail his predecessor. After all, Obama is now a member of the club and shows signs of fitting in very quickly and easily.
President Richard M. Nixon had a more courageous opposition in the form of the Democratic-led impeachment drive that led to his resignation in disgrace.
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., quickly took any discussion of Bush impeachment off the table because she feared such a prosecution would disrupt the Democratic legislative agenda.
This double standard embraced by nervous politicians nourishes the perception that laws do not apply equally when politicians seek to protect each other.
Sen. Pat Leahy, D-Vt., Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, are the few congressional leaders who have the courage to say in effect: "Stop the music. We can’t go forward until we have a clear understanding of what travesties were perpetrated by the Bush administration."
They reflect the view of philosopher George Santayana that if we do not remember the past we are condemned to repeat it in the future.
But we’re not talking about grand jury indictments here.
Leahy is proposing the creation of a "truth-finding panel" designed "to get to the bottom of what happened -- and why -- to make sure it never happens again."
Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said: "For much of this decade, we have read about and witnessed such abuses as the scandal at Abu Ghraib (the notorious prison near Baghdad), the disclosure of torture memos and the revelation of warrantless surveillance of Americans."
He noted that some political leaders "say do nothing." A few senators even tried to make Attorney General Eric Holder promise in his confirmation hearings that he would not prosecute anyone for Bush-era lawbreaking.
"At the opposite end of the spectrum, others say that even if it takes many years and divides the country and distracts from the urgent priority of fixing the economy, we must prosecute the Bush administration to lay down a marker," Leahy said.
"It is easier for prosecutors to net those far down the ladder than those at the top, who set the tone and the policies," the senator noted.
Thus, low-ranking soldier-guards at Abu Ghraib were prosecuted, but their commanders and CIA personnel -- who inflicted cruel, inhuman "enhanced interrogation" such as "waterboarding," which simulates drowning, have gone free.
The inhumane policies on treatment of prisoners were set by Vice President Dick Cheney, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and legal advisers in Bush’s White House and Justice Department. Those higher-ups haven’t paid the price for approving torture.
Leahy said the truth panel should include people universally recognized as fair-minded and without axes to grind.
"Their straightforward mission would be to find the truth," he said. "People would be invited to come forward and share their knowledge and experiences, not for purposes of constructing criminal indictments but to assemble the facts."
Leahy also said that immunity from prosecution could be given in order to get the whole truth.
I suggest that former President Jimmy Carter would make a fine chairman of the suggested truth forum.
Leahy’s bottom line: "We need to get to the bottom of what happened -- and why -- to make sure it doesn’t happen again."
I always wondered what ever happened to Grandpa Munster after the series ended.
My eyes, my eyes!
Actually were I President, the first order of business, at the first meeting in the White House press room, would be, to set the ground rules. The news media are some of the best and brightest, and in order to sustain that image, the first time I hear an obvious stupid question, the guilty party will be escorted from the room and not be invited to return.
I don’t think it would take more than one event to trim things down to those, not associated with an agenda.
Helen, shut you nausea inducing troll.........
I never would’ve believed that the USA would elect a Marxist, but with Soros money and ACORN, it was accomplished.
The only question remaining, is how long it is going to take for the American democrats among the voters to wake up.
Wish you hadn’t posted that pic. I was diagnosed with Pink Eye by my doc yesterday and am taking medication for it. It was getting better but now is swelling up again and hurting. Need to double my med dose now. Thanks a lot. LOL
....and thanks for allowing me to only rent this morning’s bowl of oatmeal.
Except when I see Helen Thomas ... nothing. No such feeling. She seems to be the only elderly woman whose image triggers nothing but a sort of light loathing. There is something deeply ugly about that woman, and it isn't the way she looks.
Evil comes in many faces but this one is special.
Let’s investigate Bush!!!!
(but please don’t ask us to investigate the financial meltdown)
Which is more important?
Damn you!
Leahy is an idiot who ought, by rights, to be in jail for leaking sensitive documents to the media.
Furthermore, he’s also an idiot in other ways too. About a dozen years back he tried to get funds for his state by claiming Vermont was a Great Lakes state. The funds that were designated for environmental concerns about pollution of the Great Lakes were, acording to Leahy, on the table for Vermont to claim - since Lake Champlain is part of the Great Lakes.
I kid you not. Yet the MSM rarely covers such idiotic statements and outright lies form Democrats.
More like....WE NEED TO BRING UP SOME SMUT BECAUSE WE ARE GETTING OUR BUTTS KICKED, CAN WE PLEASE CHANGE THE SUBJECT....OH YEAH, LETS GET BUSH!!!
YOU START THIS CIRCUS AND WE WILL KNOW YOU HAVE REALLY LOST CONTROL OF OUR GOVERNMENT...AND NEED A WAY OUT.
I dont recall the witches Column when Bush Let the Stain Maker Skate ,and oh yeah old Papers in the Underwear Berger too.
Tell the Old Fart to clam up
Dial-up users will never forgive you for that one.
Helen, we don’t do show trials here. Also, Obama has demonstrated so far no more constitutional scholarship than I have, and my degrees are in business and engineering.
truth panel = great purge = political witch hunt
It’s time to take a closer look at the “enemies of the people.”
Scary stuff indeed.
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