No surprise that the Washington Post happily published this piece of Establishment CYA by David B. Rivkin Jr. and Lee A. Casey. I swear that for the people that live inside the Beltway there is no crime abhorrent enough to warrant investigation, let alone prosecution, so long as the president is responsible for it. Issue orders to rape prisoners by instrumentation? No problem. Politicize the Justice Department and falsely imprison your political opponents? Big Deal. Use federal resources to spy on peaceful war protesters and on journalists and other American citizens without court-approved warrants? Who cares? Blatant perjury before Congress? Is that something to complain about? It’s as if nothing could ever cross the line. Look at this bullshit…
Attempting to prosecute political opponents at home or facilitating their prosecution abroad, however much one disagrees with their policy choices while in office, is like pouring acid into our democratic machinery. As the history of the late, unlamented independent counsel statute taught, once a Pandora’s box is opened, its contents can wreak havoc equally across the political and party spectrum. If, for example, al-Qaeda is nothing more than a criminal conspiracy — as some have claimed for many years — President Obama’s charge sheet has already been started. By authorizing continued Predator missile attacks against al-Qaeda leaders in Afghanistan and Pakistan, he has directly targeted those “civilians” with deadly force. That is a war crime.
Obama and the Democratic Congress are entitled to revise and reject any or all of the Bush administration’s policies. But no one is entitled to hound political opponents with criminal prosecution, whether directly or through the device of a commission, and those who support such efforts now may someday regret the precedent it sets. Claims that the Bush administration abused presidential powers have been thoroughly reviewed by several congressional committees, and the Justice Department is capable of considering whether any criminal charges are appropriate. If H.R. 104 or a similar bill is passed by Congress, Obama should nip in the bud this recipe for a continuing political vendetta and veto the legislation.
How about this? Instead of pretending that the Bush administration obeyed the law and respected the Constitution, why don’t we face facts and have a full accounting. And how about the Obama administration just respects the law and the Constitution so we don’t have to worry about prosecuting them when they leave office? Is that really so hard?
