What would you say are the odds anyone from George W. Bush's administration will ever serve time for crimes committed in office?
Leave aside, of course, Elliot Abrams, who was convicted of Reagan-era mendacity in the Iran-Contra Affair, pardoned by G.H.W. Bush for his crimes in 1992, and has served the current administration in high-profile Middle East-related positions on the National Security Council.
Forget, too, about John Poindexter, whose multiple convictions for criminality under Reagan were reversed on a technicality, and has served the current occupant as a counter-terrorism advisor at the Pentagon.
Discount, as well, the former Chief of Staff for Vice President Richard Cheney, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libbey, whose prison sentence for perjury and obstruction of justice the soon-to-be-departed president commuted in 2007.
Remove Brian J. Doyle and Claude A. Allen from consideration, insofar as Doyle, a former deputy press secretary for the Department of Homeland Security, is doing time for sex crimes unrelated to his official duties, and Allen, a former domestic policy adviser to the president, is on probation for pleading guilty to theft.
What I wonder is whether anyone at, say, the Justice Department -- from Alberto Gonzales on down -- will ever be investigated or tried for the illegal spying and wiretapping the administration has already admitted.
How about for the abuse of national security letters similarly documented?
For neglecting federalism in the enforcement of drug and death penalty policies? Attempting to suspend habeas corpus for terrorism suspects? Authorizing and using torturous interrogation tactics?
What will become of the charges DOJ officials such as Monica Goodling overtly politicized the hiring and firing process at the department almost from day one of the Bush administration?
Will anyone from the Pentagon ever answer for the coordinated propaganda campaign that utilized retired former military officers with intimate connections to corporations with billions of dollars in government contracts, in concert with some of the nation's largest media organizations to legitimize, promote and defend Bush administration foreign policies from which they and the defense contractors with whom they were connected stood to gain untold financial benefit?
Once upon a time, 'war profiteering' was looked down upon in the United States.
Has the rule of law been so thoroughly jettisoned as a guiding principle of this nation that it’s now ludicrous to imagine high government officials such as the Director of National Intelligence, the Attorney General, the Deputy Attorney General and the principal associate deputy attorney general cannot unapologetically lie – under oath – to Congress?
Has the separation of powers enshrined in our constitution become so quaint a notion that the president can instruct officials of the Executive branch to ignore congressional subpoenas altogether, with no consequence to the president or the officials, no complaint from the congress and no ruling on the matter by the judiciary?
Finding someone from the Bush administration to put in jail ought to be easier than shooting fish in a barrel but it looks to be a worse bet every day.
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lorianne
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Christine Macdonald
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Comments
Lincoln's said, "Whenever I hear anyone arguing for slavery, I feel a strong impulse to see it tried on him personally."
We now have convicted traitor Scooter Libby, and a president who gleefully admitted to war crimes. I echo Lincoln, and say that if we, as a nation, are going to torture people we should start with Scooter Libby and his cronies.
In the past there might have been some public outrage. Today, corruption has become the norm. It's the way things are, just part of the landscape, and people lose the capacity to be surprised, much less outraged. On top of that, the press is largely missing in action. Scandals come and go, but the big news is what happened on American Idol last night.
I'll tell you what happened. Robert Blake was acquitted. "If you can't do the time, don't do the crime" was his hook in "Baretta."
Seriously, there is an unspoken agreement among Republicans and Democrats alike: You don't burn my house down and I won't burn your house down.
LeCastor, I wore your shoes 25 years ago, completing my third year of law school and facing study for the bar. Kudos on making it through and best of luck to you come August.
You will understand by now, I feel sure, that the history of the law is one of a quest for balancing interests. When well-read lawyers make a persuasive case for balancing the public interest in freedom security afforded by the rule of law against the government's interest in operating efficiently, a criminal enterprise such as the one operated these past eight years by BushCo can and will be brought to heel.
Yup, it's a criminal enterprise, all right, but I don't know how to remedy it, save for somehow magically signing on to the International Criminal Court. And even then, if the home country of the alleged offender does an adequate job of investigating the alleged war crime/crime against humanity, the court has no jurisdiction.