Currently there are at least 2 American soldiers in prison for the crimes the President feels we should overlook...

Currently there is an old German Military Prison guard being extrodieted  for crimes the President feels we should overlook...

Currently there is a young Somali man being charged with piracy while the criminal from the Bush Administration travel the world and enjoy life because they committed crimes the President feels we should overlook...

While none of these horrible crimes is worth NOT prosecuting, it gives me a troubling comparison of crimes and how the American justice system treats them.

Lynndie England & other members of the372nd Military Police Company are young, with no advance education, no real money or political power and no bank of lawyers to protect them.  They were tried and convicted. 

John Demjanjuk  is in the middle of a deportation battle because it is thought he was a guard in the Sobibor Nazi concentration camp.  John is 89, in failing health and has fought and won this battle once before.  Still in 2002 a judge stripped his American citizenship because he felt there was enough evidence to prove he was a Nazi guard and not a prisoner as he states.  His case is still under review - oddly enough, his claim is that deportation would amount to torture...

 Abduhl Wali-i-Musi is a Somalian Pirate.  He and at least 3 others tried to hijack the Maersk Alabama merchant ship just a couple of weeks ago.  Law enforcement official claim he is at least 18 but his Mother claims he is only 16 and his name is Abdi Wali Abdulqadir Muse.  He has just arrived in the US and will be tried for Piracy.

All of these people have committed Crimes, or have been accused of committing crimes, and deserve what they get.  I am not advocating for their release or even leniency.  I believe EVERY crime should be punished and every punishment should fit the crime.  If you J-Walk, you should pay.  If you speed, you should pay.  If you steal, you should pay.  If you kill, you should pay.  If you torture, you should pay.  If you lie to start a war that puts thousands of soldiers’ lives at risk, you should pay.  If you create a false financial market that collapses the world market, you should pay.

The questions I have are simple:

- Why are members of the 372nd MP Company in jail yet we are not even pursuing charges against their commanders who authorized their actions and authorized action worse than they ever imagined...

- Why are we "looking forward" when it comes to dozens of Americans who tortured and put this country's soldiers at risk just a few years ago but jumping through hoops to ensure an 89 year old who committed his crimes 65 years ago.

- Why are we trying a young man who, as it turns out, hurt no-one and as it turns out may be too young to prosecute, may have been captured against international law and in violation of principles of truce in warfare on the high seas?  We do this while we former leaders of this country complain about the release of memos explaining how they themselves authorized crimes well beyond any crime the American public would have thought possible.

Unfortunately the answers to all these questions are simple:

Politics, Money, Power, Friendship and Ego.

I can't be sure what the lead cause of this injustice is but I'm thinking it is Money first, then Politics.  This administration doesn't want to lose the big money contributors and doesn't want to embarrass any of the Republicans or Democrats that they may need help from to get their agenda through.

It's a tough call because if this battle goes on much longer, I am going to need more anti-depression meds than any current insurer will allow and I have to ask myself if I am willing to give up my principles and those of this great country just to get the medical attention that this debate has caused...

 Now my head hurts again...