Readers of this blog will know that I am no fan of "still President Bush" as Jon Stewart so aptly puts it. I will likely be doing a big dance when the next president is sworn in, no matter WHICH of the candidates win. We'll finally have THAT man out of office. While that part of me will certainly be satisfied, there's another part of that won't be satisfied until Bush and Cheney pay a price for the crimes they've committed while in office.
I should be clear to state that I don't mean this as a personal vendetta. In many ways this actually has nothing to do with either of them personally, but everything to do with all future men and women who hold the offices of President and Vice-President of the United States of America. When you take an oath to protect and defend the constitution of that country, which both of these men did twice, then you have an obligation to keep that oath. When you don't keep that oath, and neither of these men did, you must pay a price and it must be severe. That concept should be clear as the full moon on a clear night. If future Presidents and Vice-President's DON'T know what will happen if they break that oath, then we will get the kind of government that we deserve. And eventually it won't be a democratic republic.
This isn't about me not agreeing with the Bush/Cheney politics or their policies. There have been lots of presidents that I've disagreed with, so what? It's about staying true to the American concept that the power that the government holds comes from those being governed - the people. If we, the people, don't use that power, then inevitably it will be taken away from us.
As an example, look at what happened with Richard Nixon. He broke a lot of laws as president and after he resigned Ford pardoned him. Its been fashionable since President Ford's death to call this pardon "visionary" and that it "healed the nation". Baloney. All that pardon did was convince future politicians that they can get away with anything, as long as they had a friend in office to pardon them afterwards. Remember, Cheney was President Ford's chief of staff. The pardon may have, in the short run, enabled the country to move past Watergate faster than it otherwise would have. But the price we paid for that was a generation of politicians who think that they can get away with anything, once they get in the White House. That's too high a price to pay.
Sometimes a wound has to be cauterized before real healing can begin. That's what should have happened in Watergate and what needs to happen now. In the short run it hurts more, but in the long run the infection is gone and true healing can happen. It's too late for impeachment now, even if Pelosi would agree to it. She'll allow the house judiciary committee to hold hearings on Kucinich's article of impeachment, but that's all. It will never come to the house floor; republicans will never allow it. And, in my opinion, there won't be any domestic legal options once Bush leaves office either, because the pardons Bush issues before he leaves office will make Clinton look like an amateur. He'll pardon himself and everyone who ever served in his cabinet during his two terms. Mark my word! There's nothing in the constitution that prevents a president from pardoning himself. And if he does do that, there won't be a thing anyone will be able to do about it within the American justice system.
That brings us to the Hague and trying him and Cheney for war crimes. I say, let's do it. Let's make examples of them for future generations that no man and no party are above the law.
