Presidential Poison (the signal to support prosecutions will haunt Obama)

The Wall Street Journal ^ | April 23, 2009 | Editorial

[St. Louis Conservative]

Mark down the date. Tuesday, April 21, 2009, is the moment that any chance of a new era of bipartisan respect in Washington ended. By inviting the prosecution of Bush officials for their antiterror legal advice, President Obama has injected a poison into our politics that he and the country will live to regret.

Policy disputes, often bitter, are the stuff of democratic politics. Elections settle those battles, at least for a time, and Mr. Obama's victory in November has given him the right to change policies on interrogations, Guantanamo, or anything on which he can muster enough support. But at least until now, the U.S. political system has avoided the spectacle of a new Administration prosecuting its predecessor for policy disagreements. This is what happens in Argentina, Malaysia or Peru, countries where the law is treated merely as an extension of political power.

If this analogy seems excessive, consider how Mr. Obama has framed the issue. He has absolved CIA operatives of any legal jeopardy, no doubt because his intelligence advisers told him how damaging that would be to CIA morale when Mr. Obama needs the agency to protect the country. But he has pointedly invited investigations against Republican legal advisers who offered their best advice at the request of CIA officials.

"Your intelligence indicates that there is currently a level of 'chatter' equal to that which preceded the September 11 attacks," wrote Assistant Attorney General Jay Bybee, in his August 1, 2002 memo. "In light of the information you believe [detainee Abu] Zubaydah has and the high level of threat you believe now exists, you wish to move the interrogations into what you have described as an 'increased pressure phase.'"

[Tublecane]

“I’d like to have Dick Cheney testify in Congress and kick their butts.”

After Ollie North, they won’t let that happen. They’ll constantly interrupt him, or they’ll hold the meeting at 4 am, or they’ll hear him in absentia.

Anything not to listen to him.

[Tublecane]

“’Obama will prosecute GWB and Cheney OVER MY DEAD BODY!’

‘Nice sentiment but what could you do??’”

Apparently kill himself.

[RC one]

I like Newt. He would be a strong seasoned candidate and the left would be absolutely outraged at a Gingrich Presidency. They would be livid.

[Cheerio]

DemocRATS fight to WIN. Republican’s fight to WIMP out.

The Republic is so over.

[Tenniel2]

Where are the damned Republicans, you ask? The big-R ones are in the thick of it, along with their great and good and esteemed and distinguished big-D friends across the aisle. Anyone looking for concerted principled opposition from the big-Rs is living in fantasyland. With a minuscule handful of exceptions led by DeMint, Inhofe, and Bachmann, every member of the Perpetual Congressional Nest-Feathering Club is on the same corrupt team, even if they occasionally scrimmage in different-colored jerseys.

It'll take fifty little-r and little-d firehoses from outside the Beltway to clean out the Potomac stables. We can start next year by DRIPping them -- Don't Re-elect Incumbent Politicians. Then the real work of dismantling the supporting bureaucracy will begin.

[Dr. Scarpetta]

Mr. Obama may think he can soar above all of this, but he'll soon learn otherwise. The Beltway's political energy will focus more on the spectacle of revenge, and less on his agenda. The CIA will have its reputation smeared, and its agents second-guessing themselves. And if there is another terror attack against Americans, Mr. Obama will have set himself up for the argument that his campaign against the Bush policies is partly to blame.

BTTT

I just hope when the next attack comes, it's not on civilians. People like Pelosi need to suffer the consequences of how their endangering us.