Rep. Nadler: Investigate Torture or Face Road to Tyranny
PULLING THE MASK ASIDE - Even an ersatz Judge Judy like Fox's Andrew Napolitano thinks Bush the Lesser should have been indicted for his misdeeds. Clearly, that idea has gone by the wayside by a combination of political cowardice and extending the same Bush policies into the Obama era.
Remember those heady days when the reign of Bush the Lesser ended and the reign of The Messiah™ began? Hope was the watchword and people – with the possible exception of the Tea Bagger types who hate anything to do with hope, competence, or functioning brain cells – were infused with the “Yes we can” spirit?
Well, that didn’t work out quite as planned and neither did many of the other watchwords of the time – “investigation”, “subpoena”, and “truth commission”.
Remember how Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman, Patrick Leahy, called for investigations and threatened subpoenas for The Big Dick™ and Chimpy the Lame? Remember how he was so full of righteous indignation and how he pledged to get at the truth of how America ended up in two wars – originally scheduled as cake walks of several months – that still drone on 10 years later? The people would get answers about just what the hell torture was and exactly how we would or wouldn’t use it. There would be no stone unturned and punishment would fall where it may, based on sworn testimony and not the height of the throne on which crapulent asses sat.
The Gang Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight Escapes
That didn’t work out so well either. It turned out that badly-needed investigations, or even dishwater thin substitutes like a “truth commission”, never came. The Gang Who Couldn’t Shoot Straight escaped town before the tar was heated and the feathers plucked, right through a door the O-Man opened politely before them.
The Messiah™ made the first mistake of his fledgling Presidency by saying, “let bygones, be bygones”. Holding people accountable was just too rude and might offend the delicate sensibilities of the opposition. His hope was a new era of bipartisanship in which the world would be transformed into a civilized place full of harmony and love.
And we see how that worked out too.
The public got no answers. The Big Dick™ is indulging his heart attack fetish and the Chimp wiped his dirty hands on Bubba Bill’s back. Obama got neither bipartisanship nor support from any corner and we the people got a huge frickin’ bill for a war we can’t win nor withdraw from.
Not surprisingly, many people are still raw about the issue, even those who blindly supported the previous skeevy residents of 1600 Pennsylvania. Fox’s alleged legal expert “Judge” Andrew Napolitano has even turned on them. And when Fox turns on a Republican, it’s news – though Fox might not carry it for violating their “fair and balanced” policy.
MORNING CONSTITUTIONAL PAPER - Both the Bush and Obama administrations have shown disdain for the Constitution.
In an interview with Ralph Nader, Napolitano said, “So what President Bush did with the suspension of habeas corpus, with the whole concept of Guantanamo Bay, with the whole idea that he could avoid and evade federal laws, treaties, federal judges, and the Constitution was blatantly unconstitutional and is some cases criminal.”
But what should have been done good judge?
“They [Bush and Cheney] should have been indicted. They absolutely should have been indicted for torturing, for spying, for arresting without warrant,” said Napolitano.
Even an Ersatz Judge Judy Gets It
And there you have it. Even an ersatz Judge Judy gets it. Even he understands that not holding someone accountable for the damage done in this country’s name is an insidious disease that weakens the fabric of America.
His comments speak volumes about the Bush administration, and by extension, the Obama one too. Many of the Bush administration’s most onerous assaults on the law and the Constitution are still in place or in legal limbo where Obama won’t touch them with a 10-ft. pole. Both administrations banked on the public getting restless and wandering away to watch So You Think You Can Do Brain Surgery.
And we did just that.
It’s an amazing thing that Tea Baggers and Republicans can carp about Obama being a lefty and single-handedly destroying the nation while ignoring the fact that on most large issues – particularly those associated with security – nothing of substance has changed. He’s still feeling his way through the minefield by disturbing as little as possible, instead of bringing in the demolition experts and having them clear the road ahead.
It’s a hell of a way to honor justice or the Constitution.
- Jonathan Horowitz: Bagram Renditions Risk Serious Consequences (huffingtonpost.com)
- FBI uncovered 14 suspected leakers in five years (sfgate.com)
- Badass Quote of the Day [Dispatches from the Culture Wars] (scienceblogs.com)
- Obama’s Frightening Presidential Actions Are a Result Of Our Failure to Impeach Bush (alternet.org)
