On one hand, I gotta express support, yet again, for Rep. Waxman, as he is one of a shrinking number of Congressional officials that dare to investigate, ask tough questions and follow up to a large extent.
On the other hand, I can’t help but feel that we have been down this road more than once over the past few years and still are in the same crappy place we were had no subpoenas been issued in the first place.
And when it comes to Attorney General (in name only) Mukasey – the recipient of the latest Congressional subpoenas, his track record is nothing short of abhorrent when it comes to views and disdain for the rule of law.
This round of subpoenas relates to Scotty McClellan’s revelations about Dick Cheney and the CIA leak investigation, and maybe it could uncover what many of us thought all along about Cheney’s role in selling a war based on lies and bullying. And yes, it is something, just as so many of the other subpoena and investigation and impeachment worthy actions, lies, crimes, stolen elections, illegal voter suppression as well as other offenses and cover ups are, that is necessary as part of moving this country forward.
To ignore or “let slide” the myriad of atrocities committed over the past 8 years will be a stain on this nation forever. To not hold these criminals accountable to the fullest extent of the law will not only be a travesty of justice of the highest order but will also set a dangerous precedent whereby subpoenas can be ignored without consequence, where crimes can be committed and covered up only to not be investigated further, where governmental officials can be held in contempt of Congress with absolutely no punishment and where wars can be waged based on admitted and proven lies and laws can be disregarded based on a signing statement with no fear of retribution.
Bravo to Rep. Waxman for continuing to push back and look for answers. But as with so many other “strongly worded letters”, ignored subpoenas, cases that should be prosecuted, pursued or investigated by the Justice Department but aren’t, abuses of power, crimes, destroyed evidence and other impeachable offenses that are so blatant yet not discussed for fear of “sounding partisan” – what happens when Mukasey decides to ignore these subpoenas?
As much as a dereliction of duty it is to not investigate or not issue subpoenas, it may actually be worse to investigate or issue subpoenas only to not follow all the way through if the investigations lead to potential crimes or cover ups to which there are no consequences or ramification, or if the subpoenas are ignored with no consequence.
“…and What Happens When Mukasey Ignores These Subpoenas?”
I dunno, ask Charles Schumer and Diane Feinstein.
Good luck with chuckles, last time he posted at daily kos, he ran away after 1 mukasey question.
and this was my near-real time reply to Schumer when he posted that diary.
Seems like there were “a few” who agreed with me….
🙂
protocol, but still, it feels as if the dems are playing on both sides allowing the clock to run out. And no sign that they are going to restore the constitution after the Bush dogs are gone and the kennel has to be cleaned out. The only hope I have for that Aegean stable cleaning is the fact, that even with the dysfunctional DoJ, there are still corruption trials ongoing with the Abramoff manure.
sorry to rain on your parade clammy, but l’ve resigned myself that “no consequences” is what we’re going to get.
in the interest of “healing the nation”.
the only recourse is probably through the international courts, who’s authority BushCo™ does not acknowledge.
preemptive pardons will be handed out like candy on halloween on jan 19-20, 2009.
as AG says: bet on it!
I don’t know about the legality of “preemptive” pardons, and maybe some of our ‘lawyerly’ members can answer that question, e.g., BooMan, Clammy, et al.
It would seem that there is a good justification for waiting until after Bush is out of office, since he obviously can’t issue pardons at that point –(although I don’t have much faith in Congress’ resolve after he’s left office).
The question would seem to be whether the legal action would need to morph into something else at that point. Congress can still investigate and bring legal action at that point, and the issue itself only changes slightly. I can think of some legal actions elsewhere that we can use as a model, such as the investigations of Fujimori in Peru, although that may be a slight stretch.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Fujimori
seemed to work out pretty well for poppy bush…like father, like son.
whatever justice comes to these miscreants will be karmic, because the demoRATs sure as hell aren’t going to bring it.
And what happened to Tami Baldwin? She stood behind Dennis Kucinich when he brought Articles of Impeachment against Cheney, along with Rep. Wexler.
The Congress is spineless. They also only have a Sargent at Arms, they don’t have a police force to call their own. Who’s supposed to send these contempt of Congress criminals in jail? I guess such impudence against authority was unthinkable when the Constitution was written. Unfortunately, we’ve devolved, and our gentlemen and gentlewomen are no longer gentle.
Yup. The Sargent At Arms can deputize others — however. I think the only solution is to arrest Meiers, Rove, et al, and keep them under armed guard in the Capital basement. I’d love to see CSPAN provide some coverage, too. Inherent Contempt should have meaning, and Mukasey should be brought before Congress to explain why he isn’t executing the law. The House can do this on its own with a simple majority vote.
And no habeas either! Take THAT, neo-fascist warmongers!
Hey, aren’t we FOR habeas? Let’s not become them. BTW — I’m always reminded of Rod Serling’s “A Quality of Mercy,” since the Twilight Zone episode envisions when you do become one of them.
The criminals will not only all go free, they will go on to have highly lucrative careers in think tanks, or as speakers and talking heads on TV. This is the way of the world.