Should President Obama Pardon Bush/Cheney for War Crimes?

Image found at TrueActivist

Every so often, in politics, there is a really interesting play on the table. Something you didn't expect. Something that may accomplish part of a long-held goal, but possibly in a roundabout way. That's happening right now, though the odds are long that it would ever happen.

Just about everybody agrees that the George W. Bush-Dick Cheney administration authorized "enhanced interrogation techniques" in the years following September 11, 2001, and that they were. . .extra-legal. Most people agree that these techniques went over the line, and I'd be willing to guess that a majority consider them outright torture. Where a partisan divide appears is in whether or not we care that we tortured people.

One could argue that a patriot should care. The United States of America is not supposed to commit war crimes with impunity, torture with no oversight, or imprison without due process. Especially at times when we're burning for vengeance, or just plain scared. Those are the times when our laws, our treaties, our moral compasses, our humanity and our Constitution need to be vigorously defended and adhered to. If not, exactly what are we defending?

Image from the (hopefully ironically titled)
WeMeantWell.com

So, while we quibble about how much over the line GWB & Co. went, we know they crossed it. Many of us think of them as outright war criminals. But we're also aware that--even though the other side can impeach a sitting president for lying about a trifle--there is no political stomach for trying and convicting any of those involved for said crimes. Which gives zero incentive for future presidents to follow even the most serious of laws. And the clock is running. Can we really expect the next president, or the next, to act on something so far in the rear view?

And act how? No way there's a trial or trials. It's just not going to happen. But someone has come up with a novel solution: Have President Obama pardon them all. It's a radical solution. It lets everyone off the hook. There might even be international blowback just for that. But it also brands them all as war criminals. Exonerated, but criminals, nonetheless. It's an asterisk that will be in every history book. And it would potentially act as a deterrent from a future president from crossing that line. Every person who wants to be president has an outsized ego. They do not want to be branded a war criminal, no matter how power-hungry they are.

All of that said, I think there's close to a zero chance that Obama would do it. I think personally, he'd love to. But I'm not sure the political will of the party apparatus is even there for that. Which is a pity. But think about this: should the GOP follow through with their "Operation: Kill Obama's Legacy" plan in the next two years, this could be in his back pocket.

[Excerpt]
 

Maddow: Pardon Bush for Torture To "Make It Clear Crimes Were Committed"



RACHEL MADDOW, MSNBC: Tonight, the head of the national ACLU has just published this op-ed in the New York Times. It calls for President Obama to issue a pardon to former President George W. Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney and other senior Bush administration officials for overseeing torture as the U.S. policy for years. . .

Read more at: Real Clear Politics

Pardon Me! Who's Looking for Favors from Bush?

Photo of Randy "Duke (Duchess?)" Cunningham from source, Washington Post

George W. Bush has 56ish days left as the very lame duck President. As such, everybody expects that he's got a briefcase full of pardons ready to go. Maybe several. But who is actively seeking them?

[Excerpt]

As Bush's Term Ends, Some Big Names Seek Pardons

With a backlog of applications piled up at the Justice Department, high-profile criminals and their well-connected lawyers increasingly are appealing directly to President Bush for special consideration on pardons and clemency, according to people involved in the process. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

The Young Turks on Bush Blanket Pardons

If it isn't bad enough that there are no apparent plans to investigate the Bush Administration's myriad abuses, now the buzz is that George W. Bush might issue blanket pardons that excuse everybody of everything. Great.

Olbermann & Turley on Presidential Pardons

Here's a sobering view about what may be forthcoming from George W. Bush before he leaves office: pre-emptive pardons of administration officials. From Countdown with Keith Olbermann, with Jonathan Turley.

Bush to Pre-emptively Pardon Administration Officials?

Photo from source, Think Progress

For years, liberals like myself have been annoyed with Congress' inaction on the many, many illegal actions we believe the Bush administration has committed. As the months wear on, time is running out for any hope that they will. Many have speculated as to whether or not a potential Barack Obama administration might finally go after Bush, Rove, Cheney, and the rest. And while I don't hold out much hope for that, now the question may be moot. I guess all we have to hope for is Karma.

[Excerpt]

Conservative Lawyers Urge Bush To Issue ‘Pre-Emptive Pardons’ To Officials Involved In Illegal Programs

The New York Times reported this weekend that “[f]elons are asking President Bush for pardons and commutations at historic levels as he nears his final months in office, a time when many other presidents have granted a flurry of clemency requests.” However the Times noted that despite commuting Scooter Libby’s prison sentence, applicants “should expect to be disappointed” because Bush “has made little use of his clemency power” compared to past presidents. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

Pardon Me: Scooter Libby Drops Appeal

Photo from source, Reuters

Hmmm. My cynical left-leaning suspicions lead me to think that if Scooter is giving up on appealing his case, he just might have some sort of Presidential Pardon in his future. My prognostication has been flawed before, but I think I could be on to something. OK, sure, it's obvious, but gimme one, OK?

[Excerpt] "Scooter" Libby drops appeal in CIA leak case

A former top aide to Vice President Dick Cheney, Lewis "Scooter" Libby, has dropped his appeal in a perjury case that fueled debate over the Iraq war, his attorney said on Monday.

Libby was found guilty in March of lying and obstructing an investigation into who blew the cover of a CIA officer, Valerie Plame, whose husband had criticized the Iraq war. . .

Read more at: Reuters