Monday, March 30, 2009

There's Bull, Then There's Bullshit



I think as Americans we should all be thoroughly embarrassed that the country of Spain has launched the world's first serious investigation into war crimes perpetrated by high ranking members of the Bush administration.
They've so far limited the investigation to Bush underlings like former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Justice Department Lawyer and Author of torture memos John Yoo; former General Counsel for the Department of Defense William J. Haynes II; Jay S. Bybee, Yoo's former boss at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel; and David S. Addington, who was the chief of staff and legal adviser to Dick Cheney.
Legal experts say the inquiries have been limited to second tier Bush administration members, because to name Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld in the inquiries would likely be met with resistance from the Obama administration, unless the Bush lawyers first were found guilty.
As much as I like President Obama, I think he's neglecting his duty to the American people by standing idly by as a foreign country takes the lead in investigation of torture and war crimes that people like Dick Cheney not only have admitted, but publicly bragged about.
Meanwhile, news reports say Cheney told Israeli officials that then President-elect Obama was pro-Palestinian, thereby spitting on American politicians' tradition of not trashing other American politicians away from American shores.
Is Cheney actually still so powerful that he can trash the President, boast publicly of his torture policies, and as VP was likely to have had his own secret assassination squads trained to go after foreign leaders he disliked?
Sure, Bush was the president and probably knew of Cheney, Rumsfeld and his Justice Department's torture policies, war crimes and the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame, but I think it's pretty clear that Bush served Cheney, and Cheney called all the shots.
As such, I am praying Spain's investigations result in arrest warrants and extradition requests for Bush's legal goons, which may ultimately lead to the arrest and prosecution of Cheney, Bush and Rumsfeld.
President Obama should ignore the possible political implications of investigating and prosecuting these criminals from the Bush administration, and see that justice is served for the good of the Justice System and all Americans.
The world is watching.
Spain should not have to do the heavy lifting in investigating these obvious, atrocious crimes.
As Americans, we all should be embarrassed and ashamed.

6 comments:

bigsis said...

If Obama went after Cheney, half the country would say he's just playing partisan politics and the other half would be pissed that Obama isn't focusing 100% on the shitty economy Bush left us. It'd be a lose lose proposition.

I think Obama is doing the right thing by letting the neighbors come after Cheney and not discouraging the investigations. Let that son of a bitch Cheney be called out on the international stage and try to defend himself.

Muchas gracias Espana.

Lulu Maude said...

Viva Espana!!

Let this post-Franco nation take the lead on this.

With any luck, Bush, Cheney & Co. can all be sentenced to a public goring in a ring.

Ole!

nonnie9999 said...

i am sorta in the same camp as bigsis on this one. i am hoping this is part of a strategery cooked up by obama and holder. if they go after chimpy and deadeye dick et al, the rethugs will take the opportunity to distract everyone with cries of how it's a political witch hunt. however, if the spaniards uncover oodles of incontrovertible evidence, then they can say that their hands are tied, and they must investigate and indict.

p.s. i did a poster on this, and william haynes II (not junior, but the second--fuckin' asswipe!) is really mr. bean. seriously!

Fran said...

I think that bigsis and nonnie are on the right track.

Fran said...

Yay Spain!

There is a back door way to get to the big Dick & his sidejick the Decider-- let ther be REAL gitmo trials, where the truth about torture is told under oath.

That is why they wanted military/kangaroo court trials for Gitmo prisoners.... they could have just saved time & money by buying a huge DENIED stamp.

But real trials could put Dick & W in the legal hot seat-- right where they belong.

In a perfect world.... Dick & W & the gang would spend the rest of their lives in Gitmo.

dguzman said...

We'll see how far this goes--here's hoping my compadres over there are going to see this through.