The Bush years were frustrating for many Americans. After the September 11 attacks, Congress passed the USA PATRIOT Act. Many Americans thought the act curbed civil liberties. Many thought the law was unconstitutional. The American Civil Liberties Union was as busy as it had ever been.
In 2008, Americans turned to Barack Obama to give them something different. By then, domestic problems had taken the spotlight. Obama won the election on his strong domestic agenda and took office during an economic crisis. From the day he assumed office, Obama has urged the country to move forward, look forward, and work together.
Now seven months into his presidency, there are some Democrats who would like him to change course. They have a valid point. If vice president Dick Cheney ordered the CIA to keep secrets from Congress, he broke the law. If he ordered the CIA to torture prisoners, he should face charges.
Some argue that looking into these issues would destroy the trust between the president and the CIA. Certainly, if the agents who followed orders were disciplined, this would be true. But agents who follow orders do not make them up. It is not the underlings, but those who commanded them who should be investigated.
In both the CIA and the military, there are leaders and followers. The followers are expected to do as they are told, without question or thought. The leaders assume responsibility for them. These followers should not be held accountable for following orders, particularly if they were told that the orders were legal. Remember, the Bush administration went to a great deal of trouble to declare torture legal.
There is plenty that went wrong in the previous administration, and the justice department should look into it. The question is when.
Timing is everything. Unless the statute of limitations is about to run out on crimes committed during the Bush years, investigations can wait. The wrongdoers of the Bush-Cheney cabal will be just as wrong in six months, after Americans have better access to health care, as they are today.
Getting 535 people to agree on anything is difficult. Getting the 535 people in Congress to agree on health care reform is worse. Members of Congress face daily pressure from lobbyists to leave health care as it is and call it reform. Getting 100 senators to agree on energy policy is also difficult, given the amount of money corporate America is willing to spend to get them to do nothing. Considering the important work Congress is doing, perhaps it would be better to clear their collective plate before adding anything else.
A suspicious person might think that the industries affected by the energy and health-care reform bills were pushing these issues now. It certainly benefits them. The issue makes a perfect distraction. This will certainly turn out to be a Democrat versus Republican issue, which makes it even better, since people busy calling each other names in the morning may have problems working together in the afternoon.
Barack Obama's platform helped him win the presidency because Americans felt that it was time to address domestic policy. Obama asked Americans what they felt was important. He used their answers to set his priorities. Most Americans agree that this is how government should work. So, let's keep it working.
It is absolutely necessary to face the problems created by the previous administration. It is not absolutely necessary to do it now. It might be wise to tell your representatives in Washington so.
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Comments: 37
Agreed. Much as I'd love to see Shrub, Darth and their senior minions have their own wing in a secure federal prison, I'm pretty sure I don't want to see that trial any time soon.
Wasn't "Just following orders" the claim of the Nuremberg trial defendants? Is it not the duty of Americans to refuse orders that are unjust or illegal or immoral? I agree the dmestic picture needs immediate help, but we can't allow anything to be allowed to slide by. We must maintain America's insistence upon fighting tyrrany, and not let even hints of it get by us!
Bush & Co. went to great lengths to legalize torture. The peons had to do what they were told. In this case to prosecute the underlings would be foolish. It's the big fish we want.
Of course the leaders should carrry the greatest part of the burden, but any soldier who followed those orders absolutely should not be excused. Torture is UNAMERICAN! So are the lies and obfuscations that made it convenient for those underlings to allow their ugly selves to prevail. Nobody should be blamesless!
I agree with Joanne. "Just following orders," isn't an excuse.
Otherwise, regarding what was expected from Obama. I feel betrayed, and wish I hadn't voted for him (I wouldn't have voted for McCain either). We now have an increase in warmaking in Afghanistan and bleeding over into Pakistan, only a token withdrawal in Iraq, more mercenary soldiers we had to hire to fight these wars and and Congress that gave Obama 106 billion $ to continue wars in sovereign countries that never attacked us.
Obama said what he was going to do, and he is in the process of doing it. He made it clear that Afghanistan was not finished, and we are withdrawing from Iraq.
In the eight years we've been in Afghanistan what has changed? We installed a UNOCAL consultant to run Kabul, and the rest of the country is run by the same group of warlords/druglords. What exactly is happening to change that dynamic, and could that be completed in the next eight years?
I don't believe Obama said he would expand the Afghanistan "war" into Pakistan, and withdrawal in Iraq isn't much more than a token gesture at this point. We're not leaving the massive embassy or permanent bases we built there for a very, very long time.
And I don't recall hearing Obama telling us about his plans to increase the size the quarter-million man mercenary army of "private contractors" we employ by a 23%.
Basically Obama's carrying out a Bush third term with the exception of a woman's right to choose, stem cells and health insurance.
I totally agree with your position, Ann. While more and more evidence is accumulating regarding illegal actions by the Bush administration, I am not interested in seeing our Congress bogged down "discussing" it for the next 3 1/2 years. But, then I feel the same way about the "political theater" taking place with Judge Sotomayor today. And, make no mistake...that's ALL it was today!
Appoint a Special Prosecutor and then get out of his/her way!
I totally agree - appoint a special prosecutor and let him/her do their work. If Bush, Cheney and Rumsfeld are innocent, it will be proven. There is a lot of evidence to collect - evidence that the previous administration took great pains to conceal and keep from Congress. They won't be able to do that now.
Let's "bring them to justice", to use one of GWB's favorite quotes. We should know the truth and a probe would be the only way it would ever come to the surface.
Thankfully, Obama's fans are dwindling as they figure out who he really is.
Who he really IS is the 44th president, President Obama, who was handed one of the top two $hittiest presidential baskets in the history of the United States; perhaps THE $hitiest basket ever...by the absolute $hittiest president in the entire history of the USA. (That would be Dubya.) Who came in with a surplus and left by bringing the entire planet to it's economic knees.
I think we ought to give him a little more time to get his agenda pushed through.
I sincerely hope he cannot do more damage than he has already done. I will do everything I can do to fight the cap & trade bill and to fight his health care reform...and any other program or policy that moves our country more towards socialism. He has done more damage and created more problems and spent more money than any president.
Until Obama, I might have agreed that Bush was not a great President. Now, I love him dearly for everything he did (and didn't) do. Because by contrast, he is a gazillion times better than Obama is or could ever be.
"Obama asked Americans what they felt was important. He used their answers to set his priorities . . "
Or, he said whatever would get him elected, and has priorities that have virtually nothing to do with what Americans want. I have seen nothing at all that persuades me he is more than superficially different than his predcessor, and the warentless spying, renditions, imprisonment without trial, humongous give-aways called "bail-outs", massive spending on the military/intelligence apparatus, interventionist wars and occupations, cover ups of wrongdoing and shielding of wrongdoers, etc. etc., continue, and in some instances have been accelerated.
Oh, and he says a lot of things to justify no real changes . .
A lot of you do not know about Obama asking the American people what was important to them, in order to set his agenda because you did not go onto his website and participate, so, of course you, you are unaware of it. You were already against Obama before he even got started, and only went to what you refer to as mainstream media (which includes Fox) for your info.
Obama has been steadily communicating with the people via the internet, which you will not bother looking into cause your anti Obama politics has you NOT caring to know what is really going on.
Amazing how much Republicans are concerned with the rule of law when Clinton was in office, but are willing to let killers of thousands go free just because they voted for them.
It is the height of hypocrisy, not to mention totally un-patriotic and supportive of treason. The law's the law - whether it's a Democratic representative or a Repubublican. They are SO concerned about 1 justice of the Supreme Court not following the letter of the law, yet they are not concerned when an entire administration for 8 years disregards it? WTF?!?
"WTF?!?" may very well be the tagline of the Bush administration. I know I said it thousands of times in the 8 years he was in Washington.
Amen.
Good article, Ann, on an important topic.
I also would wait — for the reasons you cite and I dread the 24-7 months of cable "news coverage."
Very nicely written Ann but I do not believe we can move forward until we take care of our out of place justice system. The crimes of the Bush regime need to be addressed now not later when we have lost all hope of ever coming to terms of leadership in the world.
We have many domestic issues that need to be addressed now by congress but the justice department is who will investigate and put the responsible people on trial not the congress that cannot even agree to disagree.
Some one above posted torture is not American by the truth is torture is not humane treatment for nay human or animal by any race of people.
Our military laws do not force any troops to blindly obey orders that are against the Geneva convention rules of war or American federal law and their is no excuse for the inhuman murder that has taken place in CIA and federal prisons.
If a person is caught abusing or torturing an animal they are tried and locked up and putting any animal above human life is deranged.
Jack Rice, a former CIA agent made a good point on The Ed Show today. He said, the minute that Cheney started the secret organization and told the CIA to keep it from everyone, he broke the law. He also pointed out that it was CIA agents that alerted Panetta about it, and told him it needed to be disbanded.
Great article by the way!
A special prosecuter should be appointed, a gag order should be put in place to keep anyone from trying their case in the press and if the evidence warrants it put them on trial. If I held up a bank I am quite sure I would be prosecuted.
"Getting 535 people to agree on anything is difficult. Getting the 535 people in Congress to agree on health care reform is worse."
It should be very simple. Our elected representatives vote as their constituents direct. That is their job description. If they are not doing this, vote them out and elect better people.
Our representatives are supposed to do the best they can to represent our interests, not just go along with popular sentiment in their home district. They are supposed to research the issues and think hard on them. They are not supposed to poll their constituents and vote however the results say mindlessly. (Of course they aren't supposed to let the lobbyists control their votes either but that's another rant.)
I disagree: "Our representatives are supposed to do the best they can to represent our interests, not just go along with popular sentiment in their home district".
Their job is to REPRESENT us, which means voting as we direct. Yes, it is their duty to be physically present and mentally alert during speeches and debates on the floor. Ever notice all the empty seats during those experts' speeches?
Most reps trade votes in back-scratching deals, rather than serving as the voice of their constituents. Their aides call them, wherever they are, to let them know when it's time to vote. That does not sound as if they are conscienciously researching or representing those of us who elected them.
Thanks for posting to Fugitives from Ignorance, Conformity, and Peer Pressure
I have to agree with what Jan said. She pretty much summed up exactly how I feel.
"Members of Congress face daily pressure from lobbyists to leave health care as it is and call it reform."
They can walk away from lobbyists if they really want to. The fact that they give them a minute of their day is proof they only seek what's "best" when it benefits them first.
Since Congress cannot multi-task, we need to keep them on course on health care reform. We cannot forget the laws and trust broken by the 43rd Gang, but at this time we can only boycott them. Refuse to watch programs that have them at guests. Refuse to attend functions that feature them as speakers. We have the power in many ways to turn them into social outcasts.
There are still those idiots who worship them and they should be shunned too. Willful ignorance and bible-blind stupidity should never be in fashion.
Excellent points and well reasoned.