Scooter Libby got convicted of a crime that Dick Cheney committed. Libby deserved to go to prison, but Cheney and his enforcer David Addington were far more guilty. If our government has an iota of self-respect, it will prosecute Cheney and Addington for myriad crimes, including violations of the National Security Act of 1947.
Yes, I know that it is totally unprecedented to prosecute a former vice-president, but it really is the job of the Justice Department to enforce the laws. Compare the culpability of Dick Cheney to Spiro Agnew, for example. There is no comparison. Compare the crimes of Attorney General John Mitchell to those of David Addington. This is a no-brainer.
Scott Horton:
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Sen. John McCain said “no” when asked if he favored a potential Justice Department investigation into torture.
“No. I fought against waterboarding,” the Arizona Republican said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “I have spoken out as forcibly as possible everywhere against what went on. It harms our image so much around the world when photographs come out. We all know bad things were done. We all know the operators were under orders to do so…
Hell, no accountability. Let’s move on … sure place trust in AG Holder’s pledge to uphold the U.S. Constitution and have no concern for poor PR and poll ratings.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."It’s a “no-brainer”.
Does Obama have the balls to do it?
If even a fraction of what they’re accused of is true, they don’t belong in jail. They belong on the gallows.
In general, I’m opposed to the death penalty. But when the number of people killed can be best represented by using exponential notation, I think it’s appropriate.
with each new revelation of the crimes of the previous administration, it occurs to me that there are people in the intelligence community, in positions of power/influence, who would very much like to see dick “dick” cheney & co. take a great fall and are diligently working behind the scences to acheve that end.
call it a vendetta, or whatever, cheney hung them out to dry on more than one occasion…and paybacks are hell.
as more and more of this kind of information finds it’s way, via persons ” with direct knowledge of the matter” into the sunlight, mottled as it may be, it’s beginning to look like we’re seeing the overton window, vis-a-vis prosecution of the parties responsible, move from the unthinkable to to the radical…to wit, holder’s dilemma
it’s now one small step away from acceptable, eh.
well, the CIA’s affirmative defense is that Cheney forced them to do it. But that doesn’t mean they want a prosecutor poking around.
l have every confidence in their ability to control any access that a special prosecutor might require while giving up just enough to hang cheney & co.
s/he’ll find what they want them to find. it’s what the spooks do best.
indeed. Some of the lines Cheney crossed, seems to me intelligence community wouldn’t permit him to get away with it in the long term (not to mention a real admin and real DOJ). Read somewhere recently that secret service protection of Darth Cheney has been extended. Is this an objective or subjective genitive? protecting Cheney or protecting us from him?
correct. but regardless the genetive, who are they protecting him from? l think it very unlikely he still wields any significant powers that would be threatening to “us”, even though he may enjoy indulging in that particular fantasy.
l have the distinct impression that the spooks don’t much care for ex-vp cheney. but given the circumstances, would you not agree that it would be bad form for the spooks to off him? that could cause a lot of needless problems. plus, it’s so much more enjoyable to implicate him in an increasing number of misdeeds…high crimes and misdemeanors, if you will….and the attendant humiliation, and with some luck, prosecution, will serve their purposes quite nicely. not to mention making an example of him to those who may harbour similar aspirations.
my 2¢ ymmv
completely agree – don’t think the spooks would off him, and don’t think they want to for many many reasons; think they want him to take the well deserved fall. I think it’s more a matter of keeping a close eye on him, or, a kind of pre arrest house arrest.
Obama doesn’t want this. The question is, does Holder have the balls to do it?
Bet he caves the minute old Rhm starts cussing and yelling at him.
Anyone care to make a friendly wager? lol
excuse me RAHM
I agree with you completely, BooMan. If the Republic is to continue, then, the fascist boil must be pricked and Cheney, Bush and all the other perpetrators of this national disgrace must be ferreted out and suffer due punishment whatever the courts deem that to be.
This may be our last time to measure up to the challenges that these evil people leveled at our Constitution. Funny, how everything seems to be in the balance of what we live by. Sure hope that Holder and Obama stand up for our core values.
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Firedoglake’s Emptywheel: Holder v. Rahm: The Torture Fight and the protection of John Brennan.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."If what I think I know is half true, then the whole bunch ought to be serving time. Let’s not forget the outing of a covert agent and the network she had help put together. I believe if you asked a typical American adult who Valeri Plame is, and what the Plame affair was about, they would not be able to answer the question.
Well of course technically, Fitz never closed the books on Cheney & Addington. Of any of us, Fitz first hand observed the frustration of going after Cheney, have to believe he would be perking up his ears at all this.
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(WaPo) – A list of what Cheney and Fitzgerald discussed appears in a declaration to the court by Acting Assistant Attorney General David J. Barron, who oversees the department’s Office of Legal Counsel. Barron said he thinks substantial portions of the chat are covered by “the deliberative process privilege,” protecting advice, recommendations and other “deliberative communications” between government officials.
He mentioned in particular Cheney’s discussion of his conversation with then-CIA Director George J. Tenet about “the decision to send Ambassador Joseph Wilson on a fact-finding mission to Niger in 2002.” Wilson is the former CIA operative’s husband, and a report he filed after the trip cast doubt on claims that Iraq had purchased uranium from Niger for a nuclear weapons program. President George W. Bush cited those claims as part of the justification for the Iraq war.
Barron also listed as exempt from disclosure Cheney’s account of his requests for information from the CIA about the purported purchase; Cheney’s discussions with top officials about the controversy over Bush’s mention of the uranium allegations in his 2003 State of the Union speech; and Cheney’s discussions with deputy I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, press spokesman Ari Fleischer, and Chief of Staff Andrew H. Card Jr. “regarding the appropriate response to media inquiries about the source of the disclosure” of Valerie Plame Wilson‘s identity.
U.S. District Court Judge Emmet G. Sullivan
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."Most of the uppermost levels of the Cheney administration belong in jail. Most of them belong in the Hague.
At the very least Cheney, Addington, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, probably Bush, and others too numerous to mention.
Thank you for the unambiguous statement!!! A real thrill. EVERYONE knows this, including Cheney and all his friends, but since “rule of law” has no meaning to his Unitary Executive administration, they all hope to go unpunished. Please be prepared to make clear statements of this type many times. Justice is going to take awhile.
“fourth-branch” Cheney could care less about the unitary executive, he’s his own branch of gov
So where, exactly, in Article II of the United States Constitution is the Vice President granted authority over anything other than his personal staff? Where does his authority to “order” any agency within the executive branch to do anything come from? No really. I cannot find it.
It should be interesting to see how this probable war criminal justifies a potentially illegal “order” he had no constitutional authority to issue – yet somehow the said order was followed, apparently, by the affected agency. Or am I missing something? (Seriously, if I’m off-base, please tell me.)
UGH! Fuck truth commissions. Bring on the criminal investigations.