Posted on 04/23/2009 7:53:55 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Barack Obama may like the idea of trumped up, vindictive prosecutions of his political opponents for "torture," but initially, even he was smart enough to see where it would lead.
If George Bush or Dick Cheney were sent to jail for "torture," why couldn't Barack Obama be sent to jail by a future Republican Congress for taking over corporations or for some other similar allegation? In fact, if Republicans were to do otherwise, it would be nothing less than an open invitation for Democrats to criminalize Republican beliefs.
But as anyone who has watched him knows, Barack Obama is a political coward and when his fellow fascists on the Left complained that he was closing the door to putting the Bush administration in jail for disagreeing with them, Obama quickly said it might be considered. It was typical Obama: voting "present" on a tough call.
However, the charges are ridiculous. Many people, myself included, consider none of the tactics used at Gitmo to even remotely approach the standard of torture. Moreover, the Bush Administration wouldn't have gone forward with techniques like waterboarding if they hadn't received legal opinions saying they were permissable. In addition, it's worth noting that Democrats like Nancy Pelosi knew about these tactics as far back as 2002 and approved of their usage.
So, to come back in 2009 and try to criminalize what was done based on a few contrasting legal opinions and kvetching liberals who are desperate to find any reason to jail their hated political foes may be one of the most foolish and counterproductive acts in the history of our country.
At best, it's scaring the CIA into not doing their jobs, which could lead to another 9/11.
At worst, well, let's just say that history is full of examples where trying to criminalize opposing political views led to similar retaliatory acts and even widescale violence. There are, at a minimum, tens of millions of people in this country who would consider it to be far beyond the pale and even dangerous to democracy to attempt to jail members of the Bush Administration for waterboarding terrorists. Obama and Company would be very wise to take heed of that sentiment before they do something extremely foolish that we may all end up regretting before it's over.
Update #1: From Congressman Peter Hoekstra,
It was not necessary to release details of the enhanced interrogation techniques, because members of Congress from both parties have been fully aware of them since the program began in 2002. We believed it was something that had to be done in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks to keep our nation safe. After many long and contentious debates, Congress repeatedly approved and funded this program on a bipartisan basis in both Republican and Democratic Congresses.
Last week, Mr. Obama argued that those who implemented this program should not be prosecuted -- even though the release of the memos still places many individuals at other forms of unfair legal risk. It appeared that Mr. Obama understood it would be unfair to prosecute U.S. government employees for carrying out a policy that had been fully vetted and approved by the executive branch and Congress. The president explained this decision with these gracious words: "nothing will be gained by spending our time and energy laying blame for the past." I agreed.
Unfortunately, on April 21, Mr. Obama backtracked and opened the door to possible prosecution of Justice Department attorneys who provided legal advice with respect to the enhanced interrogations program. The president also signaled that he may support some kind of independent inquiry into the program. It seems that he has capitulated to left-wing groups and some in Congress who are demanding show trials over this program.
Members of Congress calling for an investigation of the enhanced interrogation program should remember that such an investigation can't be a selective review of information, or solely focus on the lawyers who wrote the memos, or the low-level employees who carried out this program. I have asked Mr. Blair to provide me with a list of the dates, locations and names of all members of Congress who attended briefings on enhanced interrogation techniques.
...Perhaps we need an investigation not of the enhanced interrogation program, but of what the Obama administration may be doing to endanger the security our nation has enjoyed because of interrogations and other antiterrorism measures implemented since Sept. 12, 2001.
It seems obvious that this American President, conciously and unconciously, is trying to hurt United States.
It would be apprepriate I think to start calling him the First Anti-American President.
I’m kinda torn on this. I don’t think waterboarding is torture and frankly think these methods should be used when deemed necessary to protect American lives. So on one hand it would be a travesty to see good people subject to a partisan witch-hunt by the likes of Patrick “FY” Leahy, on the other hand it would probably divide the nation and infuriate and unite a large enough segment of the population to put an end to Obama’s popularity and presidency.
I think O needs to go for it. This to me will be a direct attack on our troops. Bsuh and Cheney did the best thing to protect Americans, not Hussein boosses in Mecca/Medina. They also did things to protect our troops. I say go for it Obama.
Attorney Dr. Edwin Vieira said if Obama charges any person under criminal law signed by him - the accused can demand his BC and NBC. The judge will have to force Obama to couch up his birth certificate. Maybe not because the law and Constitution appear to be meaningless anymore.
The question then is would Cheney or Bush be able to demand a copy of the B or proof of NBC which we know he does not have as far as NBC.
Some “defending” of Constitution!
More like treason!!!
“..... and unite a large enough segment of the population to put an end to Obama’s popularity and presidency.”
Count on it.
If they indict republicans they need to indict Pelosi as an accessory. That commie witch was briefed and had no problem with it at the time and also did nothing to stop it. She is just as complicit if the commie scum rats want to go down this road.
Can’t believe it will ever happen.
Recall when Proxmire was under investigation for sex harassment, he had his “diary” - Clinton, with Lewinsky, “outed” his oppostition.
There is likely so much here that would spill out that would implicate the entire DC oligarchy, they’ll grandstand now, but uttimately- punt.
You know, the funny thing is that this can work both ways.
Prosecutors should be put on notice that they may be tried for treason by the next administration.
This is how banana republics operate. Welcome to the People’s Republic of Amerikanistan.
Let him try. We’ll prosecute him in kind for treason.
If he tries this, the chosen one will be arrested the day he leaves office. What goes around comes around.
If they go after the lawyers, they will have to go after all those inthe Congress who were briefed fully and said and did nothing, This includes Nancy Pelosi, Jay Rockefeller, Jane Harmon among the Democrats (as well as Peter Goss, and probably Pete Hoekstra).
Levin was on fire on this today,says if they go forward,it will getvery nasty....for Democrats.
Under what law can you prosecute someone for giving a legal opinion?
I believe Obama is just posturing to placate Soros and his idiot buddies at moveon. All talk no action is my read here.
Yep.
WRONG
The pattern is emerging. First the administration releases enough info to ignite a controversy...like AIG or the "torture" memos.
When the right counters with evidence that shows this is a false scandal, the administration releases another dose to incite the leftwing mobs into taking action themselves.
We now see last night the release of more photos showing prisoner "abuse". This is the signal that will will mobilize ACORN.
Once the perceived public outcry is so large, Obama will relent and allow investigations that will take years....years of distraction and years of "Bush is Evil" that absolves Obama from any potential sins.
It would be apprepriate I think to start calling him the First Anti-American President.
Accurate, just not (IMHO) appropriate. People just don't absorb that.IMHO it is necessary to find a way to express the reality which is illustrative of what it means to the average voter in concrete terms. "Anti capitalist" is a similar term to "anti American," and it suffers from the same defect that the "skulls full of mush" do not instinctively relate to capitalism. The Democrats talk about "free health care" and Hillary in particular talked about "quality" health care - but socialism is in fact a war on quality.
Socialism promises free goodies. But while the socialists are busy grabbing all the credit for the work of the doctors &c who are expected to continue providing the goodies, the people whose labor is expropriated naturally do less of it, land stop trying to improve their work. It is not even necessary for them to actively try to do worse than previously; once people stop trying to improve the inevitable result is deterioration.
Nobody likes to pay more than they have to, since nobody thinks they have too much money to begin with. And for that very reason, money is a very sincere form of giving people credit for what they do for you. When you give up the ability to pay people for their services, you are giving up the ability to reward good work. So if you get something for free, your opinion about the quality of whatever you got is of no real significance to the provider thereof.
And since the socialist promotes equality, the only way to prevent you from getting better than the next guy is to prevent you from paying more than the next guy - assuring that you get no better than he does even if you have a specific need or desire for quality that the other fellow simply doesn't care one way or the other about.
[Trying To Prosecute The Bush Administration For “Torture” Would Be Extremely Dangerous ]
Perhaps down the road the Obama Administration could be prosecuted for treason. Ya think?
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