Investigation of Bush-era crimes could start in a matter of weeks

I think you will find its just more lip service. Obama is losing allot of supporters over this and is going to pull the same lip service he does with everything else.

I hope not!

Ok, here's what I don't get.  We spend time and money going backwards.  Whatever happened, happened.  Nothing will come of it.

The Republicans did this to Clinton and the Democrats are doing this to Bush.

Why don't we put that time and money to use on something positive instead.

Perhaps to prevent it's happening again.

That's a great thought.... I just think that the whole system is so corrupt that it probably doesn't matter. 

Did Clinton Murder millions of people or torture innocent people Teresa?

Until we bring back the rule of law we cannot ever hope to move forward.

Obama does not want to prosecute Bush because he is using all the illegal Bush policies to keep these blood for oil wars going.

American presidents are not dictators and subject to the same laws as any other public servant.

Yes, I believe that Clinton and his "people" are evil and will do anything for money.  The sad thing is that the majority of people either don't care or aren't willing to stand up for anything.  These investigations are bogus, cost a ton of money and we know the outcome before they even start.  Everything is hushed up, covered up and the truth is so hard to find. As I said earilier, the system is corrupt and broken.  It is time for a revolution.  WE THE PEOPLE need to grow a set and step up to the plate.

"Whatever happened, happened.  Nothing will come of it."

Then why did Saddam Hussein have to die? Why do Americans go after Bin Laden?

Whatever happened, happened, as you say.

Or Americans and the rest of the world differ in terms of crimes, responsibility, and justice?!

I can't answer that because I am not in charge.  I did not make the decisions that got our Country where it is today. 

Much as it would please me to see Bush and Cheney in jail, getting them there would be a HUGE (and useless) distraction.  We shouldn't do this.

The other end of this is that we could find ouselves in the repetitive postition of seeing this after every change in party administration.  I do NOT think that would be a step forward for the country.

The ONLY case in which I would endorse this idea would be IF Cheney actually WERE found to have been running a murder ring - a scenario now circulating in the blogosphere.

If we have to do this in every adminestration then we have to but I believe once these political hacks see they are subject to our laws like everyone else they will wise up.

I do not want our country distracted from our many crises.

However, we put a man on trial for having sex. Should we ignore men who glaringly broke the law, making our country look barbaric?

Dropping another ,and bigger, bad idea into national politics won't likely make much of anything better.

We can never move on until we take care of present business.

Tom Hartman was talking about a new book about the Bush family that may reveal a lot.

As for the investigation, I do believe that justice needs to be served.  History tends to repeat itself and ignoring such acts even makes it more probable that it will happen.

Mebbe so, Carla... But the whole idea worries the heck outa me.

Far from being a distraction from "more important" issues, this goes to the heart of the issue from which all the others fall.  We the American people have allowed ourselves to be represented throughout a crazy, unstable world, many of us regrettably out and out supporting, not just illegal but reprehensible and arguably evil activities.  Showing ourselves to have been duped but no longer, to be willing and able to use the law for its purpose of correction, to not only be outraged but out to make the needed changes, would go very far to healing a great many angry wounds and getting us on track to go forward in strength.

I think we all know those investigations are deserved, but I really doubt the truth ewill prevail!

Then there are all the obedient servants who followed the orders.   This could take quite a while.

Doesn't matter how long it takes it matters that it starts happening.

The whole system is managed by security forces that operate rather autonomously.  Any organization designed to know what is going on in the country can be a facilitator or an inhibitor.  We do not know what the FBI and CIA and a dozen other organizations actually do, and they have the resources and technical capacity to destroy a person by stealing his identity, raiding his bank account or setting a person up to be captured in the act.  Most people do not even know what is legal or illegal, so most people can be offered a deal  they would not even recognize as illegal.

If our security forces are not the scammers, why can our FBI not catch them?

Never mind Bush.  The country is run by an army of spooks, paid with tax money and anything else they can scam and accountable to no body.

Great article Savo.  I love reading your views on the news from the other side of the planet. 

Well, in my humble opinion, we have to do the next right thing.  (A wise woman once told me this is how we should live our lives.)  The hard thing is to know what the next right thing is.

Do we "go for the immediate economically wise thing, and avoid spending dollars on researching and prosecuting the specific figurehead folks that are out of office, and will no longer harm us by their decisions based on personal greed?  Do we "let it go?" and hope it just never happens again? 

What message does this send to our own citizenry and to the world at large?  As our economy has become a global economy, so too are the rest of the pillars that hold up civilizations and the diplomatic relationships that support us all.

I say that one of the premises that upholds us all is the law.  It is supposed to be crafted to be universal, not double-standard-based.

If we turn out back on the law, we lose credibility within and without.  If we need to change the laws, to exempt millionaire families from prosecution, then let us change the law and say what we mean, and mean what we say.  Otherwise NO ONE will have faith any longer in what it really means to "be an American."  Witness Theresa's comments above.

If we don't have that faith in our own society, then we may as well throw in the towel.  One yardstick for all people (in my not so humble opinion.)

Wilka