Apr 22 2009
Do the crime, do the time
President Obama’s pronouncement today that he may be open to the prosecution of the officials in the Bush administration who drafted the legal justifications rationalizations for “harsh interrogation methods” (the latest euphemism for torture) has sent Karl Rove and Dick Cheney running for the nearest microphones and television cameras as quickly as their chubby little legs would carry them. Expect Condoleezza Rice to be joining them soon.
I, like most of my liberal brethren, am of the opinion that anybody who had anything to do with illegal activities should be open to prosecution — from those who authorized the activities to those who carried them out. I find it difficult to believe that there was anybody in that chain who was not aware that what they were doing was not legal. It is a truly frightful thought that anyone that clueless would be in a position where they are in any way responsible for the safety and security of our country.
If you don’t want to do the time, don’t do the crime. It really is just that simple.
13 Responses to “Do the crime, do the time”
Alright, I doubt your interested, but I gave you an award anyway. I’ve really appreciated your blog over the last eight months or so.
You’re absolutely correct. The idea of overlooking these things to focus on the future always irked me. If we had stayed on that path even after the UN started inquiries it would have been a dangerous gaff.
Crimes, especially violent crimes against humanity, need to be addressed, even if it’s sometimes easier to sweep them under the carpet.
You are so right, these people that were water boarded did the crime, and their punishment has not been severe enough. I think that they should at least be water boarded once for every American Life they took. After that, just hang their tails in a tall tree and let them swing until the sun goes down. I have no sympathy for these individuals.
For the life of me I cannot understand why so many people want to give in and take the side of these terrorist. The only thing they are doing is laughing at the ones that are defending them and planning their next attack so that they can kill more. That is right, they want to kill Americans, always have, always will.
That is my opinion, thanks for allowing me to share that. I know that there are a few that disagree with me, but there are many that agree. Have a great day!
Love the defination of a liberal….”they” like to make people think it’s a cuss word or something.
Thanks for posting this
Sandy
I guess my post of all the indicted democrats had to be deleted – that dissent and opinion stuff is OK, just “not in my back yard,” huh?
You talk a good game.
I hope Obama ensures hearings and everybody jumps in. Nevermind that members of Congress knew what was going on and said nothing. Hearings will have to take EVERYTHING into account to be fair… who knew what, when they knew it, why if they disagreed they didn’t speak up, whether information was gained which accomplished anything, etc. These will only be political smears and they will backfire badly on the Democrats. Everybody’s attention will be focused on this and, as when the AIG bonus situation boiled over, whatever really needs to get done will be shoved aside.
It will be like Pearl Harbor for Obama and his administration will not recover from it:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124052295101949907.html
Bring it on! It will do terrible damage to the country and to the Democrats but if they want to sleep in the bed that they made… let ‘em.
@catswiththumbs : No, it was fine. Blog posts belong on your own blog, though. This is a comments section. It isn’t really meant for dissertations. (Or for blog posts copied from other bloggers.) Besides, your post really had nothing to do with the topic of mine. You may want to take a moment and peruse the comment “rules” at the bottom of this page. Thanks.
(For those who may be interested, catswiththumbs posted a lengthy list of Democrats who have been accused of illegal or unethical activities along with every activity they were accused of. There were no Republicans on his/her list. It was that favorite right wing defense – “Well, you did it first!”)
@Harrison : That’s a nice WSJ article you linked to. (Who owns the WSJ? I forget.) Here’s one from The Washington Post in which you may also be interested:
Defense Secretary Gates Says He Approved of Release of CIA Memos
Or maybe you’d enjoy this one from The New York Times:
My Tortured Decision
Talk to Obama:
President Barack Obama’s top intelligence official sent a memo to his staff saying “high value information” was obtained during interrogations using controversial techniques.
Adml Blair’s original note to his staff last Thursday said “high value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al-Qaeda organisation that was attacking this country”.
The memo is an embarrassment for Mr Obama because the conclusion reached by Adml Blair, who oversees the CIA and 15 other US intelligence agencies or departments, undermines a central plank of the White House argument – that the harsh techniques did not work.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/barackobama/5202356/Obama-intelligence-official-says-interrogation-provided-high-value-information.html
Wonder why a memo saying it worked wasn’t released? Hmm..
Here are my thoughts on this…. And I agree they deserve to go to jail for running their little MINI CONCENTRATION CAMPS
http://life-accordingtochristopher.blogspot.com/2009/04/every-republican-in-america-deserves-to.html
— Christopher
Does that mean you are in favor of punishing the House and Senate Intelligence Committee members as well?
Punish them under what law?
@U.S. Common Sense : As I believe that all citizens are entitled to equal rights and equal protection under our laws, I also believe that no citizen is above the law.
If the right wing conservative noise machine (whose mantra these days is “He did it first, Mommy”) can prove that the members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees were complicit in breaking the laws of this nation, then yes, I would be in favor of seeing them face justice.