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Too Big to Fail, Too Big to Jail
Karl Rove recently described George W. Bush as a book lover, writing, "There is a myth perpetuated by Bush critics that he would rather burn a book than read one." There will be many histories written about the Bush administration. What will they use for source material? The Bush White House was sued for losing e-mails, and for skirting laws intended to protect public records. A federal judge ordered White House computers scoured for e-mails just days before Bush left office. Three hundred million e-mails reportedly went to the National Archives, but 23 million e-mails remain "lost." Vice President Dick Cheney left office in a wheelchair due to a back injury suffered when moving boxes out of his office. He has not only hobbled a nation in his attempt to sequester information - he hobbled himself. Cheney also won court approval to decide which of his records remain private.
President Obama was questioned by George Stephanopoulos about the possibility of prosecuting Bush administration officials. Obama said: "We're still evaluating how we're going to approach the whole issue of interrogations, detentions and so forth. ... I don't believe that anybody is above the law. On the other hand, I also have a belief that we need to look forward as opposed to looking backward ... what we have to focus on is getting things right in the future, as opposed to looking at what we got wrong in the past."
Legal writer Karen Greenberg notes in Mother Jones magazine, "The list of potential legal breaches is, of course, enormous; by one count, the administration has broken 269 laws, both domestic and international."
Torture, wiretapping and "extraordinary rendition" - these are serious crimes that have been alleged. Obama now has, more than anyone else, the power to investigate.
John Conyers, chair of the House Judiciary Committee, has just subpoenaed Rove while investigating the politicization of the Justice Department and the political prosecution of former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman. Rove previously invoked executive privilege to avoid congressional subpoenas. Conyers said in a press release: "I will carry this investigation forward to its conclusion, whether in Congress or in court. ... Change has come to Washington, and I hope Karl Rove is ready for it."
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who blocked impeachment hearings, is at least now calling for an investigation. She told Fox News: "I think that we have to learn from the past, and we cannot let the politicizing of the - for example, the Justice Department - to go unreviewed. ... I want to see the truth come forth."
Why not take it a step further?
Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, who led the charge in Congress for impeachment of Bush and Cheney, has called for "the establishment of a National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation, which will have the power to compel testimony and gather official documents to reveal to the American people not only the underlying deception which has divided us, but in that process of truth-seeking set our nation on a path of reconciliation."
Millions have served time in federal prisons for crimes that fall far short of those attributed to the Bush administration. Some criminals, it seems, are like banks judged too big to fail: too big to jail, too powerful to prosecute. What if we apply Obama's legal theory to the small guys? Why look back? Crimes, large or small, can be forgiven, in the spirit of unity. But few would endorse letting muggers, rapists or armed robbers of convenience stores off scot-free. So why the different treatment for those potentially guilty of leading a nation into wars that have killed untold numbers, torture and widespread illegal spying?
Which brings us back to Bush and books. Ray Bradbury's novel "Fahrenheit 451" is one of the titles in the National Endowment for the Arts' "The Big Read." This ambitious program is "designed to restore reading to the center of American culture." Cities, towns, even entire states choose a book and encourage everyone to read it. In "Fahrenheit 451" (the temperature at which paper spontaneously combusts), books are outlawed. Firemen don't put out fires, they start them, burning down houses that contain books. Bradbury said: "You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them." The secretive Bush administration is out of power; the transparency-proclaiming Obama administration is in. But transparency is only useful when accompanied by accountability.
Without thorough, aggressive, public investigations of the full spectrum of crimes alleged of the Bush administration, there will be no accountability, and the complete record of this chapter of U.S. history will never be written.
Denis Moynihan contributed research to this column.
- Posted in
66 Comments so far
Show AllAre they too big to execute?
30th of December, 2006.
Investigate the "full spectrum of crimes alleged of the Bush administration," says Amy, and I agree. And that would include the mother of them all, 9/11.
I totally agree. AND, without a new, independent and PUBLIC investigation of the false flag of 9/11, there will be NO TRUE JUSTICE for the atrocities committed during the Bush administration. 9/11 is the key to it all! Amy, you can help OPEN THE GATE ....please use your position in the media to let the truth march through and over the MSM's taboo regarding speaking clearly and openly about the numerous anomalies that occurred on 9/11/2001.
"Some criminals, it seems, are like banks judged too big to fail: too big to jail, too powerful to prosecute. What if we apply Obama's legal theory to the small guys? Why look back?"
In a society where the "rule of money" has replaced the "rule of law", only the elite will avoid criminal prosecution.
amy writes:
"Without thorough, aggressive, public investigations of the full spectrum of crimes alleged of the Bush administration, there will be no accountability, and the complete record of this chapter of U.S. history will never be written."
then i guess there'll be no aggressive, public investigations of the full spectrum of crimes alleged of the Bush administration, there will be no accountability
and then "the complete record of this chapter of U.S. history will never be written"
what else is new
besides it is a well know fact that americans do not care to know about a lot of things like; the first nation genocide upon which the country was built, don't care to remember segregation, lynchings etc
americans don't want to know who killed jfk
americans don't want to know who attacked wtc on 9/11
apparently americans don't even want to know where their multi-trillion dollar bailout is going, that is who is getting it and what they are going to do with it once they do get (besides buying 50 million dollar jets)
americans don't want to know about the unnatural influence the zionist state of israel holds over their own country
americans don't feel the need to keep an eye on global warming, pollution, genetically modified foods
they are too busy cramming it down their fat assed throats
what else is new
cheers, b
I want to know and I am an American.
I wrote to President Obama.
To http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/opl/
The Habit of too much government secrecy in my life, I am now 66, began with with cover-up of the JFK Assassination with tens of thousands of related Documents now still hidden from the public even after the JFK Assassination Records Review board was ended.
The Warren Commission started the coverup ostensibly for National Security to prevent a war with Russia/Cuba as ordered by LBJ.
I was a witness to the JFK plot and want all records released for a public reconciliation.
Love and Peace,
Jim
-----------
to http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/
I was told about the JFK assassination by my friend, Phil Ochs, who said he was working with National Security many months before it happened and then Phil was sent to Dealey Plaza to Observe the Assassination and I was booked on a music tour of the South where I was set up to observe other elements of the plot and later cover-up.
I have been working on this mission to find the truth ever since and reported this to the, FBI and Representative, Adam Putnum.
I can help find the truth.
Peace, Jim
good for you jim
i know there are many americans swept up in the fascist state
my sympathy
cheers, b
Thank you.
Greetings, Jim, from a fellow ex-NE Ohioan. What you say is very interesting. Have you written about this in greater detail? What do you mean when you say you were booked for a tour of the South and set up to observe other elemens of the plot and later cover-up? And I didn't know Ochs had been working with National Security!
Are you the Jim Glover of "Jim and Jean"?
"Most people would sooner die than think, in fact they do so. Bertrand Russell
Jim, a good place to start is with J. Gordon Shanklin, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Dallas at time of assassination.
I've heard of FBI agents who believed Warren Commission until they heard that Shanklin was involved - then changed their minds. Apparently he had rep for carrying out acts of skulduggery with 'no questions asked'. Some of them claim to have then investigated on their own and found records within the FBI belying the Commission, but refised to comment further.
But I could be wrong !
Americans only want to know the really important things, like is American Idol on again this evening, what time does the Superbowl start, has tee time been arranged, where can I get cheap beer, you know, these sorts of things. All else is inconsequential.
-- ekaton aka d.k.shaw
For me, this feels like Deja Vu all over again. The Republican arguments to not hold Bush and Cheney accountable feels all too much like the apologists for Richard Nixon in the Watergate Scandal. Remember the missing tapes, then the tapes were provided with an "accidentally" erased section?
After Nixon was forced to resign from office, we were told actions were being taken to prevent white house "stonewalling" ever again. The Presidential Transparency Act is an example. But all it took was another group of sociopathic weasels to get into office to start up the stonewalling all over again. John Dean got prison time for his part on the weasel team, and he has written a significant book, "Worse than Watergate."
Bush and Cheney have been far more effective than Nixon in the fine art of stonewalling. The fact is, Nixon was busted and Bush / Cheney can leave office with a smirk on their faces for what they have gotten away with during their two terms in office.
No one is above the law. We at least need to roast and toast Cheney and Rove. As much as I dislike Bush, he has only been the buffoon with good name recognition to front for the real president, Dick Cheney. I have no doubt that Scooter Libby went to prison after making a deal for getting a pardon and having his fine paid off in full by donors for guarding the evidence that Plamegate went all the way up to Rove and Cheney. Outing Plame was vindictive, and who does that bring to mind? For me, it is the one and only Big Dick.
Using Cheney's standard, we should have waterboarded Libby.
And the bottom line is that "executive privilege" can only be invoked in transactions the president is directly involved in. In short, there is a strong constitutional and legal argument for saying it was illegal to invoke it to protect white house staff from testifying.
Last but not least, Cheney went on TV for an interview and brazenly admitted that he knowingly violated international law on the issue of torture with that post stroke one side scowl on his face. That type of pure arrogance needs a response and a reinforcement of our fundamental belief that NO ONE is above the law.
YES! YES! YES!
Hey Amy, are you still single?
I have a proposal.
Amy always seems to articulate with such humanity and understanding, even when crucifying Bush and Rove.
Zero
The calls by the republicans that seeking to investigate and prosecute the Bush administration are a classic example of projecting one’s own prejudices and biases onto your opponents. The prosecution of Governor Don Siegelman is exactly the type of politically motivated prosecution that republicans rant against. The prosecution of Qwest’s CEO Joe Nacchio for insider trading after he refused to cooperate with the illegal Bush data mining prior to 9/11/2001 is another example of using the Justice Department as a weapon to punish your political opponents. The attempt by the Justice department to prosecute the people that leaked to the press information on the illegal wiretapping is yet another malicious prosecution under the Bush administration.
Throughout the entire Bush administration speaking out on abuses by the Bush administration has been a fatal career choice. Paul Craig Roberts wrote this article Monday on Counterpunch about Major General Antonio Taguba who wrote that the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib rose to the level of war crimes and by doing so ended his career.
http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts01262009.html
The flip side of this coin is the several unsolved and unpunished crimes of political significance during the Bush administration, foremost is the anthrax terrorist attacks against democratic Congressmen and journalists but the leaking of Valerie Plame’s identity to Robert Novak, the leaking to Ahmed Chalabi that the NSA had broken the Iranian diplomatic code and the release of Mohammed Naeem Noor Khan’s arrest are all unpunished criminal violations that advanced the cause of the neocons but did great damage to the nation.
sierra7
The whole Bush administration reign has been one of a gigantic criminal enterprise and should be prosecuted under the RICO laws.
We must not forget the million Iraqis slaughtered by this past regime (taking nothing away from the Clinton Administration and the 10 years of brutal sanctions).
Unless prosecutions begin soon, our Constitution is nothing but used toilet paper.
The ten years of "brutal sanctions" included fly-overs and inspections on the ground of any suspicious activity. It was a continuance of Iraq War One, and a part of the cease fire. It was legal.
Did you write to Clinton or your congress people to complain about those sanctions?
Where were you when the Bushites declared Iraq had WMD's even though we had been policing that country successfully for the previous ten years?
What publications did you inform that any chemical weapons left over from the previous invasion would have deteriorated by now?
How many letters to editors did you write to complain that the whole story wasn't being presented to the people?
I wrote to them all. It is the media! (I will not add "stupid" because that is rude and I don't know you.)
The Republicans have successfully blamed everything on Clinton -- even eight years into the Bush II terms. And now, even though it has been explained many times over why and how the Clinton years were not as productive as they could have been, still we are blessed with unending "blame Clinton" from those who should know better.
Write to your President Obama and try to make him into your image of him. He will not "progress" without your input.
Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, who led the charge in Congress for impeachment of Bush and Cheney, has called for "the establishment of a National Commission on Truth and Reconciliation
What this country needs, to restore transparency and integrity to senior Government Administration, is for such a Commission to be permanent, to analyze EVERY administration when it leaves office, and to give a "report card" to The People. It could be run similar to that of the Office of Special Prosecutor, but rather than prosecute, it provides closure to the many questions that remain unanswered during an administration's tenure.
Hell, in our jobs we are evaluated every year, why not the White House?
Never criticize a man until you've walked a mile in their moccasins - Native American proverb.
Ursa
Its to big too fail because of all the people it could possibly take down with the bush administration. This includes wall street,Democrats and Republicans.
Bill Clinton was always pushing that look-forward-ignore-the-past line when it came to Iraq. Since his wife had voted in favor of leaving it up to Bush, Clinton had reason to get past it and move along.
Well, the problem with move-along-nothing-to-see-here, is there is never a recognition, an accountability, an official acknowledgement, a psychological acceptance formally stated on the public record. There is no closure--the door is left wide open. It is like the judgement at Nuremberg was for nothing--we should've just looked ahead and not concern ourselves with past unpleasantries. I recall Pelosi, washing her hands, with that scared deer-in-the-headlights look, "the people don't have the stomach for an impeachment", she proclaimed, "if you can show me any evidence of a crime committed" she recited...
What does she know with her cheerleading for Israel, and pumping the banks with cash--with no strings, no accountability.
Sooner or later, it all catches up with you.
Every new administration that comes in, since I have been alive (b. 1969), it seems, has been asked about what they plan to do about the previous' lawbreaking and for every administration the answer is the same: essentially no, we must go forward. What does a president and his cronies have to do that will actually motivate the next administration to unequivocally, and emphatically, say they will definitely prosecute. In recent months there have been reports that have come out tracing crimes all the way to the top, and even some public admissions of guilt, although those admitting probably wouldn't see it that way. Why does every administration need to dance around the question? We KNOW there have been crimes committed. Yet the guilty always get to walk away. There is some half-hearted mumblings of possible investigations and that's it. Stop saying we are a nation under the rule of law if that law isn't applied to EVERYONE equally. We kicked out the king in 1776, when did he come back?
WTF January 28th, 2009 12:49 pm
Your suggestion, about a commission to investigate and provide closure for outgoing administrations, is a very good one. Have you written to your Congressperson and Senators? I urge everyone to do so regarding this (and so many other things...)
In this scenario "lawbreaking" becomes sickeningly predictable, with President Obama and his Administration being the next in line. We can go forward and meet him and his inevitable 'law breaking' in the system as it stands, or we can look backward fervently to the past self same lawbreakers going all the way back to the garden. Regardless our intention if going forward can be the same as that we espoused by looking backward; to put an end to unlawful leadership.
What happens when snowflakes stick together?...............friends come together and have snow ball fights. :)
Leea
I bet Amy voted for Obama, just a guess.
What happens when snowflakes stick together?...............friends come together and have snow ball fights. :)
Leea
Either we prosecute this gang of homocidal looting liars or America will be plagued with same until the End Times - which, by the looks of things, should be soon.
How must it feel to be one of the many hundreds of thousands of US citizens in jail for possession of pot right now, watching these mass-murderers walk away rich? You can kill and lie and steal all you want, betray your oaths, betray civilization's promise - just don't have the wrong leaf in your pocket.
The mass-murderers walking away wealthy are also the major wholesale importers of drugs.
-- ekaton aka d.k.shaw
On the other hand, I also have a belief that we need to look forward...
--------------
Agreed President Obama. We need to look forward.
If we don't prosecute all the criminals from the past 8 years they'll surely come back and cause even more damage.
If only President Clinton had looked forward he could've put the entire Iran Contra gang in jail.
Then they wouldn't have been able to infest the Bush admininstration and cause such catastrophic damage.
So I agree President Obama. We need to look forward.
Not all of them, George H.W. Bush pardoned the ring leaders.
The Obama Administration will not prosecute the crimes of the Bush Administration because they would only be setting themselves up for prosecution by the next Administration.
Surely the Obama Administration will commit plenty of crimes just like all other previous Administrations. Our country is run by criminals and the system is set up to protect them.
"Surely the Obama Administration will commit plenty of crimes just like all other previous Administrations."
Wow. You've been reading the mainstream news too much. ;)
As measured by the total number of convictions and forced resignations within his administration--a fairly objective measure of an administration's corruption--Clinton's was the cleanest administration of the 20th century. It was in fact the cleanest two-term administration since Teddy Roosevelt.
Being corrupt is not the same as accused of being corrupt. That's the whole story of Bill Clinton.
By this same measure, the Reagan Admimistration was by far the most corrupt administration in U.S. history, sometimes racking up more convictions and forced resignations IN A SINGLE DAY than the Clinton administration managed in its entire eight years.
In fact the Reagan administration had a total of over 180 charged and , I believe 86 convicted! All US records, they should be soooo proud. In fairness though the Democrats are not entirely clean by any means, and most of the sleazy political machinations that enrich the few at the cost to the many go unnoticed. Just business as usual.......
"Most people would sooner die than think, in fact they do so. Bertrand Russell
You voted for the Congress and Executives. Who is to blame? You voted to continue the status quo.
And everyone thinks that letters to our so-called leaders will put them on the right track. They're going to "hold their feet to the fire." Yep. Righto. If they think that a few letters or emails is going to "change the way Washington conducts business" they better go back to dreamland.
In this situation there is only one course of action...
deleted by author -- off topic
toubibcal
Amy, as a faithful listener of Democ Now You have skirted the most important issue facing America. The manipulation of this country via the "false flag" of 911. The rampant militarism to the detriment of of the country has been made possible ONLY because of the implosion of the towers. A TRUE inquiry by an honest commission will expose the fraud and the house of cards of the neocons will fall. You as a New Yorker have a unique obligation to focus on the most important story since the coup d'etat after the murder of JFK.
good point
although amy has done some air with the 9/11 thing - she has had david ray griffin on her show to debate
admittedly, the 9/11 movement is both rough and uneven but at least we trying to hold those responsible to justice
not an easy task when we are so outgunned
griffin is one of the most eloquent truthers but he has his problems
ie: he dwells on building 7 which was imploded - building owner mr silverstein fessed up to that on pbs
he also dwells on explosives as the cause of the demolition
as he himself has pointed out - in rejecting a poor thesis one does not need to provide a counter thesis, which he then goes ahead and does - i have always found that odd
most people therefore are not aware that 7 buildings making up the wtc were destroyed that day, buildings 1, 2. 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7, the smallest one being 15 stories - the tallest being the 2 towers at around 110 stories
no one knows exactly what went on that day - that is why we need - for the first time - an investigation
two planes (by the way i don't believe there were any planes that day) take out 7 buildings
don't think so
after years of thinking about this issue i think that dr judy wood has come up with the best explanation - directed energy weapons - dew weapons, which have, by the way been around for 30 plus years
weather modification is another aspect of that day that needs to be looked at
the international treaty that is in effect today states that no nation may affect another nations weather for more than 1 year
huh
many people in china feel the united states caused their last earthquake, which killed in excess of 50 thousand people, using weather modification weapons
youtube "chinese earthquake" "haarp weapons" and "dr judy wood"
we also need to expose jfk's killers
obama can look ahead but "we" need to look all around
cheers, b
"after years of thinking about this issue i think that dr judy wood has come up with the best explanation - directed energy weapons - dew weapons, which have, by the way been around for 30 plus years"
I'm glad you mentioned this. I have a really weird instance to report. I was around 13-14 years old ( '63 - '64 time frame ) and visiting my grandparents. I was watching television program showing actual tests of a "pulsed laser" weapon actually shooting down a bomber-type of aircraft. I saw this once and never again, and never heard of it again. Truly weird. I remember thinking at the time I had no idea lasers had become so advanced in such a short time. Yes, I know, lasers are not DEW weapons per se, but strange days nevertheless.
-- ekaton aka d.k.shaw
that is interesting
glad you mentioned lasers
essentially the dew weapons - haarp - lasers are all messing around with frequencies
they are probably more dangerous than nukes by a factor of a million
people need to educate themselves
cheers, b
I agree with other posters. Amy, 9-11 was an inside job, a false-flag attack. A neo-Con/Mossad op. Help bring attention to this. One whistle-blower, one confession, clear evidence of internal and or Israeli complicity from the inside of that black-op could change the world for a hundred years. Put Palestine back on the map. Keep the re-Thugs out of power for generations. Maybe precipitate a Peaceful Revolution.
azjoe.
We need to sell the investigations of all things Cheney/Bush as a jobs program that will help stimulate the economy - we're talking tens of thousands of lawyers, paralegals, assistants, clerks, IT experts, researchers, law enforcement officials from every agency and all the support positions working full time for years... And that's before ya toss in all the lobbyist crimes, the Wall Street crimes, the real estate and bank and predatory lending crimes...
Talk about shovel-ready f**king jobs, man... Plus, we could throw in all kinds of re-training, too. Why flip burgers when you could be working for your local Asst. Attorney General?
Hell, the FBI has already launched it's largest recruitment drive in history...
This is very funny. I'll have to tell my friend who says that prosecutions those who broke serious laws during the Bush Administration would not be "cost-effective".
Joe
The legal field already has a full employment act. It's called the War On Drugs.
Now that's a stimulus program!
Excellent use of the unemployed or underemployed!
Simple. Obama is now in charge of the Secret Service. Have them deliver Bush and Cheney to the International Court of Justice and let that august body to the investigation and trying.
Signed: Lawlessone [for more irreverence, see resistence-is-possible.blogspot.com]
We are either a nation of laws or a lawless nation. President Obama has no more important job than ordering an investigation of war profiteering and constitutional violation during the eight years of our national nightmare.
"Most people would sooner die than think, in fact they do so. Bertrand Russell
Pssssssssst! Want to hear the latest? Obama won't pursue Bush because he might make a noose for his own neck in four or eight years. Wait, there's more!
Obama doesn't want any examination of Bush's exploitation and trampling of the Constitution because that might curtail some of his own immense power. Make sense? Hang on, friend.
The American political system, like its financial system, is corrupt and has been for decades. Everyone is on the take. Greed is the new morality, that and war.
Pssssssssssssst! Check this site for more unsettling perspectives.
www.dangerouscreation.com
Its getting kind of hard to have respect for any law at all as long as the "elite" commit felonies at will and are allowed to simply walk away.
-- ekaton aka d.k.shaw
The object of a Truth and Reconcilliation Comission is not prosecution, but, rather, by immunizing witnesses from such prosecution to enable the truth to get out once and for all. Failure to accept immunization within a set time period cancels any offer of imunization.
More important than jailing people is making sure the most complete record of the details of their crimes are documented for posterity (the legacy thing). Think Benedict Arnold, Aaron Burr, Jefferson Davis, Joseph McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, etc.
Poet