Andrew Cohen raises 10 issues related to the CIA’s bad week. Here’s the one that interests me:
5. The aforementioned [Eric] Holder now is truly caught between legal and political pincers—to prosecute or not, to look backward or forward– and how he handles that tension will go a long way in determining the rest of his tenure as Attorney General as well as his long-term legacy. Will he point to the new policies as political cover for legal inaction? And if he does will the Administration’s allies on the left ever forgive them?
Well, will we?
Well, will we?
No!! If he doesn’t prosecute Yoo and the rest, it shows there are two sets of laws in the US. One for the peons and one for the rich and connected. It basically makes a sham of what this country was founded upon.
No, not for a second.
As attorney general, his job/duty is to be above politics.
He knows it as you do.
Anything less than that, is hypocrisy of the highest order.
He has a job to do, or a road to walk away on, in shame.
No. New policies have no impact on whether or not a crime was committed in the past. If crimes were committed, then they need to be prosecuted if we are going to maintain our status as a nation ruled by laws and not by tyrants. It may be sufficient for Obama to only want to look forward, but not for Holder. His job is to see that situations like this are investigated properly and, if necessary, accused individuals are brought to trial. (Unless, of course, we use the Yoo rationales and just round them all up and rendition them to Libya and then hold them indefinitely without even charging them. If it was good enough for detainees they never could prove had done anything wrong, it should certainly be OK for Yoo and Abu Al and Darth Cheney.)
.
You’ve got my vote. I would add a bit of SERE training for additional flavoring before their flights at the courtesy of Boeing.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."You have a very good memory, Oui!
I agree with you.
I won’t forgive them if they look the other way. Not after all these years of the Bush regime and how it destroyed this country.
It doesn’t matter whether we forgive him. Future generations in this nation will not. He will be seen as one of Weimariners of his time.
No, I will not forgive them. Holder won’t be shouldering my blame all by himself. Obama, Biden and the whole crew who promised “change” will deserve my scorn if political considerations outweigh the moral imperative to enforce the Rule of Law. If Holder’s Special Prosecutor puts on some show trials of interrogators while leaving Yoo, Bybee, Rumsfeld, Cheney and Bush beyond accountability, I will respond with… my usual futile expressions of outrage.
I think we all thought we’d made a difference in the last election. Now, we’re feeling fooled by the Kabuki show once again…
It doesn’t matter whether we forgive him. The world will not. Nor should it, nor should we.
NO ! !
Regardless of the separation of the WH and DoJ, Obama could let it be known that he is willing to take the political heat if Holder goes after those in the Bush admin that trampled and shredded the Constitution.
Obama’s job as POTUS is to be a Leader. No triangulation. Just do what is morally and legally right.
Holder’s investigating, a process that may take another two years or more before any charges are brought. Even then it’s a very long way from ‘j’accuse’ to the guillotine. Cohen’s original question is bullshit distraction.
The article does not say that Holder is investigating. The article only says that the Justice Department’s Office of Personal Responsibility has recommended that the matters be further investigated.
The article also makes clear that the “final call” rests with Holder.
And we do not have to wait two years, as you state to know what this admin’s position is. His decision I suspect will occur in the near future. In other words, he shortly says yes or no. If he says no, it’s unforgivable in my book.