After reading the title of the article and making my comment, I then read the article and have started reading the other comments. Some comments on the comments and article:

--APEuroHistorian May 31st, 2008 3:00 pm and others
Paraguay does indeed have an extradition treaty with the U.S., but the government is so corrupt that extradition is ineffective against the wealthy; however, I think I read recently that Paraguay has a new and less corrupt leader now.

--Bugliosi
I'm surprised, Vince, that you don't know that Bush did halt the execution of just one convicted Texas murderer. His name is Henry Lee Lucas, a serial killer of more than one hundred innocent travelers.

--balakirev May 31st, 2008 11:31 pm
thanks for doing your homework on Paraguay and the aquifer. I will add that Paraguay is one of the very best places on earth to sit out a global nuclear war, and I sometimes suspect that is why Bush bought a ranch there.

I'm with you, sLiMsHaDy June 1st, 2008 4:41 am. I want my money back. And my country.

Why prosecute Bush? I mean, seriously, I wonder if he knows anything about what's going on in Iraq. He must be the dumbest puppet ever. It's not him that you should care about, but the whole arms industry and people like Rumsfeld, Chaney and Wolfowitz. Those are the real criminals behind this whole war.
So I'm with you gnsarg.

Vincent Bugliosi is the most qualified and viable person to serve as Attorney General of the United States in the next administration.

The critical smoking gun in the prosecution of Bush et al is the idea that what he did, his crime - fixing intelligence for the purpose of leading us into a war, and outing an intelligence agent - added or abetted the enemy. Simply leading our brood to their deaths doesn't make muster and Bugliosi must know that. Being the first kid on the block with a brand name to suggest there are grounds for a trial, is a strategy with no seeming enterprise. Writers like Bugliosi don't crawl out on this ledge without an endgame, or gambit at least. Perhaps he is just pushing the left to frame their fight now, so that once the leadership changes, they have an opportunity to play their trump card.

"The least I can do is put that thought in his mind until he goes to his grave," Bugliosi said. "That's the least I can do for the thousands of American soldiers who came back in an aluminum box or came back as a jar of ashes. And the parents are told - don't open the box, it is unviewable. They are getting back limbs and body parts. And this - I don't want to use a cuss word here - this small, horrible human being - while young men who never had a chance to live out their dreams, being blown to pieces by roadside bombs - and this guy is having a ball dancing."

**powerful words. Unlike the democrats, you can tell he means what he says.

This is the best article bar none that i have ever seen on common dreams at least over the last 5 years. after reading each and every post i think you have about covered everything that i can think of. like the guys in the guiness commercials would say...."brilliant!" heres one thing that i can add, in addition to the Bush Crime Family (which includes mommy daddy and all siblings and children and children of siblings and all compliant cohorts Cheney et al) i would like to see all of their instruments of deception taken into custody and tortured regularly after all wasnt it rush limpdick that said abu grahib was nothing more than fraternity hazings? so round up rush, oreilly, hannity, beck, coulter (the ugliest and most unsuccessful sex change i have ever seen) and perform a few hazings on them.....

From your words to the heart/ears of what's left of the justice system in this "inverted totalitarian regime". If this putrid human we call our president is not indicted, imprisoned and hung, as you have so eloquently said in dfifferent words, may the specter of his imminent arrest haunt him until his LAST far overdue breath!

I don't support the death penalty under any circumstances, but inBush's case weekly water boarding for the rest of his life would do nicely. After all he doesn't think that is torture.

I definitely want him to be prosecuted.

I think that the entire Bush Klan(yes, every last one of them) deserve a post-white house vacation in Iraq, anywhere outside the greenzone.I am sure that there are many Iraqi's,and US troops for that matter, who would volunteer to be their 'escorts'

Best of luck Vince. I think my version of a death sentence would be better for georgie boy; lock him in a cage until his god calls him home, then bury the corpse behind prison walls. Just think, the only state funeral held behind prison walls. I wonder who'd show for his funeral???

...and then dig them up for retrial, conviction, execution and reburial with wooden stakes through their hearts.
Rx: Repeat as necessary.

At last a leftist with some guts hurray. If we don't stand up to the bullies all the up from Bush down to the Jake Newtons of this world they will continue to kick us and laugh while we squirm on the ground. Vast crimes against humanity is one exception I support the death penalty for.

overkill May 31st, 2008 1:33 pm ..Now you're talking! And do it during the bright sunlight for added effect!

Have enough sense to elect Obama or Clinton or both BEFORE you send Bugliosi out shouting "death to Bush". Otherwise, us less-than-smart Americans shall conclude Bugliosi is a terrorist and elect McCain by a landslide. (How do we KNOW he is a terrorist? Duh. Funny name, of course. EVERYBODY can see that. Yes, "we" are collectively that dumb.)

I'm not defending Bush. But good grief, the promise, before an election, of the capital prosecution of him is how you get a backlash from every lunatic in the country.
Those lunatics, don't forget, won the last two.

Won, stole, what's the diff, eh?

Daniel David May 31st, 2008 2:40 pm ..Do you believe the fear of the ignorant masses should overrule justice and conscience? Or am I just missing the facetious nature of your remark?

In reply to Daniel David's remark, let me reassure that everything Bugliosi wants can be done at the state level or even lower. In fact, I've read it argued that the DC Chief of Police can and ought to walk right into the White House with a warrant for Georgie's arrest. After all, the loonies who might elect McCain are the same loonies who cry out "States' Rights" all the time. In any event, what makes Daniel so sure that either Clinton OR Obama would have the gumption to authorize indictment proceedings into the activities of their predecessor? And if we believe another current rumor, what will any prosecutor be able to do to Bushie if he skips to Paraguay, which has no extradition treaty with the US and where he is alleged to have bought land? By the way, speaking of "funny names" as Daniel has done, I see as I look at my typing that the names "Bugliosi" AND "Obama" show up underscored in red, thus calling for the spell check, while Clinton's name does not. Point to Mr.David. As to any punishment, let me just say that my moral objections to the death penalty are getting a tough sled ride here, but I remind everyone that Norway and Israel, two nations which do not execute, reversed their stands for the single exception of Quisling in Norway in 1946, and of Eichmann in Israel in 1962.

willybill,

No, I just believe that the ignorant masses themselves are quite capable of overruling justice and conscience---without having the slightest idea that they (we) are doing so. They (we) have been doing it quite a bit since 1981 (Reagan).

I don't have a qualm in the world about prosecuting Bush for all kinds of things. I'd just prefer we start talking about that AFTER a Democratic government is seated that could actually initiate it anyway. Talking big now and then losing the government (in part because of unnecessary backlash) is bad policy for citizens. And, yes, I do think that there are plenty of voters that will "backlash" at the slightest thing. They (we) just "love" the importance of the Jeremiah Wright flap, for instance. I don't want to lose both the government AND the opportunity to prosecute Bush by spouting off too soon and inciting some hillbilly "sympathy movement" for him. And America is very "good" (unfortunately) at such things.

My problem with this is that it exonerates Cheney, Powell, Rice, a majority of the House and Senate and an enormous number of our fellow American citizens. Unlike Scott McClellan, who knew himself to be a puppet, Bush is sufficiently delusional to believe he's in charge. He has never been in charge. That doesn't exonerate HIM, but it's terribly naive to think that drawing and quartering Bush will either right all the wrongs committed under his administration or alleviate the suffering and anger of the world. This administration has committted treason. It must be addressed at a higher level.

I don't believe in torture or the death penalty for anyone, period. What I do believe in is justice so a life sentence would be possible. I try to not despise the person but rather the act. This is not always easy to do with Bush considering how many reprehensible decisions he has made and how many people he has had killed.

DD the Dims strategy always to call for deferring action until more Dims are elected. For example in 2005 we were told to hold on off on anti-war protests least we effect DIMS chances of winning. Well guess what they won anyway and then did EXACTLY nothing. Everyone sees through your tired snake oil DD why do you even bother?

The rural white poor you disparage may well be the ones who save our butts if martial law is declared, latte sipping crystal gazers, and Dims wit neatly trimmed beards? Not so much...

dolkar May 31st, 2008 3:18 pm ..No one gets exonerated here. Hitler's underlings were not exonerated. Many, but not all paid the price. Hitler escaped, supposedly at his own hand (debatable). Bush is not that delusional. He knows he is the puppet, but basks in that position as one would expect of someone with his IQ. You can BET he's running scared as one thing he knows for damn sure is that ultimately, he is responsible, moron or not. I am not sure of what "higher level" you speak. I, for one, do not wish to wait for the arrival of the Christ for justice. We the People are at present the higher level and it's up to us to DEMAND justice. Call Conyers on Tuesday and demand impeachment proceedings!

May be if John Edwards becomes attorney general under Obama, we will see a prosecution for murder on, not only the American dead, but the tens of thousands of Iraqi children who have been slaughter by that mad man in the White House.

Oh, yeah, don't forget that Cheney needs to be tried, too.

I also do not support the death penalty, but Bush and Cheney and Rice and Rumsfeld and a few others should be imprisoned for the rest of their lives, no parole, no special treatment.

There is an old adage "You become what you hate" and I am not interested in joining Bush et al in their unevolved state of being. They are all, however dangerous to the public and as such should be locked up. Orange jumpsuits and highway cleanup detail for life.

I think the key is to prosecute him – Bush – where he cannot be pardoned. I'd hate to see him slip the punishment phase of his miserable life. I am against the death penalty also but I think a cage for life is worse and he deserves every cold steel bar of it.

Impeach and prosecute!

And knowing all of this - just talking about all of this - does anyone out there really think that they're even remotely inclined to give up power come fall?

mrraven500,

I do not "disparage" the rural white poor as you allege, and I've never had a latte in my life. Neither do I speak the stategy of the Dems (Dims, whatever.) I speak my own "strategy" as a liberal, and I'm telling you that you (we) have lost on backlash several times before. Snake oil, you say? Not hardly. Just learning from the lessons of history.

DD sed: "hillbilly "sympathy movement"

Is that your idea of a love poem to the rural poor? Busted! Lie much? I guess you have the perfect model for "mispeaking" in corporate sock puppet Dims. Your delicious mocha is waiting for you, sorry I got your coffee of choice wrong. :)

Great! The problem is that if Bush feels his life is in danger, he would react by starting another war, declaring martial law, canceling election and certifying his longed for dictatorship. He might do it anyway though...

DD p.s. my assignment for you today is to meditate on this quote with your mocha.

"This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy."

Martin Luther King Jr.'s I Have a Dream delivered August 28, 1963 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradualism

If it were 1963 you would urging Dr. King to back off least he ruin the chances of electing Demorat Lyndon Johnson. We all saw where THAT got us... Vietnam ring a bell?

Democracy is no longer available to the America people. America started to run out of Democracy after WW2. It has been being replaced with fascism, disguised as patriotism. Unfortunately availability of Democracy peaked in the sixties and we are past the tipping point. Without the Magna Carta and habeas corpus, and the with the Constitution in the hands of corporate America, there is going to be less and less democracy to go around. Only the rich will be able to afford democracy in the future. Have a nice summer.
Hoa binh

Problem here is --as much as I despise W-- you would have to try damn near the whole government for murder
and/or accessories BEFORE the fact ALSO. That would be one helluva list, Mr. Bugliosi! I suggest you broaden your scope AND your net and get busy! I'm with you, whatever it takes to get the ball rolling, I hope you give that ball a push instead of stopping at a book. (That goes for Scotty, Richard Clarke, and all the other "tell-all" writers AFTER-the -fact.

Where do I sign up to be on the Jury?

Bravo, Bugliosi!

Frankly, given that death is the great equalizer, the fate we will all face, I think it's too GOOD for Bush & his merry band of neo-con hit men/women. I took the liberty of expanding on this idea in a story I wrote (unpublished) entitled, "The Greater Good." The premise is that a Buddhist monk who comes to the US ends up rebelling against some aspects of the "harm none" Buddhist creed. Recognizing the power of thought, he teaches his meditation students to focus on one thing: Air Force One going down.

The students do this and don't KNOW what actually occurs. Yes, (in my fiction) the plane goes down but the dear leader ends up rescued off the coast of South America by a band of indigenous people who know who he is, the most hated man in the world; and know the price on his head, but decide that teaching him the lessons that will alter his soul for lifetimes to come is the greater reward (and serves the greater good). By becoming enmeshed in actual poverty, by seeing the direct impacts of global warming on indigenous peoples who have lived symbiotically with the seasons/nature for generatiions, by learning to FEEL what others endure... THAT is the man's punishment AND education.

The Bush Crime Family and their evil cohorts, the war profiteers, haven't a care in the world. They're in 7th Heaven because (1) they don't have a conscience and (2) they've made billions of dollars off of the deaths of American soldiers.

Let's not forget the million (over two million counting the time between Bush Sr and Bush Jr) dead, innocent Iraqis.

"It's a volunteer army; they didn't have to join." What an arrogant, callous thing to say. Unbelievable! The ruling class of war profiteers made it clear that they consider people in the military's lives to be cheap.

The war-profiteering death cult also didn't have to send them on an unnecessary mission to die, either. Bush, Cheney, et al. are up there in the same league as the other mass murdering despots who torture and kill e.g. Stalin, Pol Pot, Suharto, and Hitler. They've been committing genocide on defenseless Iraqis ever since Bush Sr. gave Saddam the green light to invade Kuwait. Bush Sr lied and sent the message to Saddam that the U.S. would not get involved in a dispute between two Arab countries.

This article just made my day. As much as I would like to drop the entire Bush cabinet in downtown Baghdad, naked, and put most of Congress(both parties) in chains for the rest of their miserable lives, I just don't believe we will ever see these bastards pay for their crimes.
And while Bugliosi has a great idea in planting that seed of fear in this worthless worm we've had representing us for the last 8 years, Bugliosi will fail for one simple reason: GEORGE W. BUSH DOESN'T READ!!!
He will never read this book. And his handlers, if they even mention it, will only spin it in a way so Stupid George will continue to feel good and self righteous.

I'd like to see Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gates, Powell, Rice, Ashcroft, Tenet, McConnell et al. tried and convicted, but not sentenced to death. It would be wrong to bring ourselves down almost to their gutter level; I say almost because there is no doubt they are guilty, while most of those whose lives have been lost were unequivocally innocent civilians.

Bush was absolutely gleeful about executing people when he was governor of Texas, and now he has a much bigger stage on which to play out his psychotic, sadistic fantasies and a large supporting cast in the administration, Congress, the media and the American public.

Bugliosi says, "Bush is guilty of murder for the deaths of over 4,000 American soldiers who have died fighting his war in Iraq."

But what about the over one million Iraqis who have been murdered as a result of the American invasion, destruction and occupation of Iraq? Don't their lives count?

I understand that he's emphasizing American soldiers' lives in order to get district attorneys to prosecute. But still, he's closing off legal options by not including the atrocities committed against the Iraqi people. There's an underlying notion that soldiers are cannon fodder anyway; certainly a court may see it that way ("It's a volunteer army; they didn't have to join," etc.).

http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/14/3839/

"I'd like to see Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gates, Powell, Rice, Ashcroft, Tenet, McConnell et al. tried and convicted, but not sentenced to death."

Really? I think a special case can be made. After all, the Nuremberg Trials hanged the fascists. The ruling class needs to be put on permanent notice that their time is up, and it's justice time.

The entire Bush admin, past and present: Impeach, convict, imprison!

When Bush leaves office, he has options. The Bush family has purchased (as usual, with the help of connected friends and Reverend Moon) almost a 100,000 acre spread in the wild Chaco region of Paraquay.

A US military base is located near this property as is Reverend Moon's almost 1,000,000 acre indoctrination and missionary complex.

The Bush property is located on one of the largest fresh water aquifers in the world: aquifero guarani. And of course it is near some of the largest hydroelectric works in Latin America -the Three Corners Falls.

Morever, the Bush property is in the Wild West Chaco region of Paraguay which is famous for its big gun-running operations and large-scale illicit drug transactions. (The Bushes will fit right in.)

Last, the Paraguayan government has no extradition treaties with the US.

Cheney is slated to move to Dubai in order to return to his executive duties for Halliburton.

Many of these soon to be ex-Bush officials may find it difficult to travel because there are many warrants for their arrests worldwide. In fact, there are several US cities that have warrants ready.

Just recently a well-known British citizen almost got Bolton with a citizen's arrest.

These guys and gals will have to scramble, hide and/or set themselves up in impregnable compounds.

I do know Rumsfeld couldn't get a cushy academic job with (I believe) the Hoover Institute. Too many students and faculty protested.

Now there's a guy who should be arrested. Where is he living?

The thing is that these acts were premeditated, illegal in the most serious sense, and led to the death of over 1 million people. I don't like to throw away anything, it might be of use later, so I don't like the death penalty at all. However, when someone who has accumulated power in a position of the highest responsability commits a crime, that by US law is punishable by death, one could argue that execution would send the kind of message that would mean that these laws are to be taken seriously. When you are that powerful, only this level of punishment is intimidating because from prison you can always get out when someone can be bought to spring you.

Let's add Cheney, Rice, Pelosi, and Conyers to the list as well. It's well past time to put some ache'in on their bacon.

mrraven500 May 31st, 2008 2:01 pm:

Jake Newton? The (I) running for the House in Tennessee? Or am I just not as well-informned and widely-read as my smug li'l ass likes to think?

When Ford pardoned Nixon, we lost, as a people, a cathartic moment necessary for national healing and a shared belief in the need to restore the rule of law. If Bush skates on exponentially larger crimes, we're finally and forever lost. Fittingly.

Arrest, yes. Try, yes. Convict, yes. Execute, yes... but we want to be reimbursed. We want our money back, ALL OF IT. The phrase "follow the money trail" is often used by commentors. The money trails should be followed and every dime and dollar misspent on all of their BUSHIT reclaimed; strip their families; bush, cheney, rumsfeld, etc ad nauseum of EVERYTHING. Leave that putrid, blubberous bitch called barbara destitute on the streets of New Orleans. Drop Laura off at a soup kitchen in Detroit. Force Mary Cheney to spend the remainder of her time on earth cloistered in an all male monastery. It would be too damn good for the lot of them. And a whole world of problems could be alleviated, if not resolved. As for the males of the bushco subspecies, refer back to the beginning of the paragraph!

The concept of prosecution should be spread as much as possible, further into the realm of the thinkable, normalized until it gains a possibility of happening.