2010: A progressive strategy to win
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By Brent Budowsky | The Hill
Progressives throughout the nation should rally around a strategy that could bring a surprise victory in the 2010 elections with a clear electoral plan and a program that is patriotic, …

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Home » 111th Congress, 2008 Presidential Race, 2010, Activism, Afghanistan

What to do with the enablers?

Submitted by Jayne Stahl on 7-12-2009 – 9:54 pmComments

By Jayne Lyn Stahl

Senator Feinstein was right when she told Fox News, on Sunday, that we have a “problem” with a vice president who orders the head of the Central Intelligence Agency not to disclose details of a secret “counterterrorism” program in violation of federal law. Yes, indeed we do, but the larger problem is what to do with those who enabled Dick Cheney, and continue to do so.

Say, for the sake of argument, that an indictment is issued against Dick Cheney and he gets to have his day in court and, say that the former vice president is convicted. This still doesn’t solve the problem of what to do with those in the Bush administration who aided and abetted such egregious acts as torture, and warrantless eavesdropping, as well as the decimation of 5 million White House e-mails in violation of the Presidential Records Acts.

A new post could be created to just to keep track of all the laws that were bent, or outright broken, under George W. Bush starting with FISA, the eighth amendment proscription against cruel and unusual punishment, the Geneva Conventions, the 1947national security provisions which required that Congress be briefed, and that’s just for starters.

But, even if Dick Cheney gets to join the likes of Bernie Madoff, and spend what’s left of his life in jail, we’re still going to have to live with the aftershocks of the Bush years, the USA Patriot Act which, you’ll recall, was finalized with Bush’s reelection in 2004, as was the understated, but everpresent, police state which we have come to equate with the “new normal.” Government hit squads a la Cheney, waterboarding, and indefinite detention are practices that have been outed, but only the most naive among us would believe they’ve been ruled out.. One newspaper has already been made to recant a report it did on a story it did, and that same newspaper’s publisher just hosted a networking mixer for 350 former elected officials who have just been enlisted to lobby for the private health care industry.

Yes, the enablers are alive and well when environmental activists can be chained and handcuffed for hanging a banner warning about climate change on Mount Everest. The enablers are thriving when a veteran of Iraq has his flag taken down by Wisconsin police for hanging it upside down as a lawful means of protest.

In the end, it’s not only about what commands the vice president gave to the CIA about what not to tell Congress in the Bush years, it’s about what commands are being given now.

Vigilance is required with respect to President Obama’s stand on state secrets, his jockeying to legally bolster the Bush administration in their refusal to turn over hundreds of thousands of White House e-mails miraculously discovered, his aiding and abetting a legal black hole of unlimited detention for those we pick up on the ever expanding fields of battle. These policies must be come under the same scrutiny as those of Dick Cheney or, in the end, the enablers will prevail, and Dick Cheney will get a perennial get out of jail card.

I join those who call for Mr. Cheney’s day in court, But, we must also be convinced that the name on the door to the Oval Office isn’t the only thing that has changed, in the past six months, and that Mr. Cheney’s enablers have, once and for all, left town.

  • How interesting that Congress finally threatens to get involved and prosecute Cheney&Bush for their well-documented abuses of power -- but only after it's revealed that they didn't allow Congress to OK these newly-discovered programs. Does Congress have to be slighted before it will pursue justice for the American people?
  • chrislowe
    We need to be critical of the enablers in the DP ranks too -- much of what the Bush admin did was known by key DP leaders and either supported by them or given a pass. Many people think that an important reason Nancy Pelosi put impeachment "off the table" in 2007 is that Democratic leaders faced impeachment exposure themselves on some of the grounds promoted by impeachment advocates.
  • Name
    They all Need to be impeached ,if your going to find a reason to impeach cheney,bush ,Im sure you can go back thru History and find a Reason or two to impeach every single president and Vice President if you were inclined to do so,Obama,Biden has done nothing but lie and cover up since he set foot in office,There doing more Damage to this country in the first 3 months,than Bush Cheney did in 8 years,Geesh ,In three months he has increased our troops presence overseas in Afganistan tremendously,we recently had the Most deadly month in the History of this War there,Bearly a word has been said ,why no Obama war witch hunt?God Forbid had Bush Cheney had a Month that bad,We now are the prould owners of two of Detroits ,and the Worlds worst run unprofitable bussinesses,GM and Chrysler,after granting them billions of Dollars in taxpayer moneybailouts,they just turned around and went bankrupt anyway,what a waste,instead of complaining about defence spending ,you should be complaining about govt bailouts and takeovers of private bussiness by the govt,All the taxpayers money that was given to the crooks at Wallstreet,Aig and the rest of the crooks combined with the auto bailouts etc could have bought a substancial chunk or all of a good healthcare plan for us all.And we could keep Defence spending and other programs at there current levels,Maybe had our current politicans taken the time to read the laws Obama Biden were telling everyone it was such an emergency that we get them passed,or the whole country and world economy will collapse if we dont,our politicans would have taken the time to read a few pagesof the thousands of pages of that bill instead of just sign off and forget about it ,on a Bill they had no idea of what they were approveing of in it.Would you buy a car or house without reading the paperwork?if so your a damn fool,just like these idiots were to sign off on any of Obamas legislation,Dont worrie just trust me ,lol.And now the country is in an even bigger mess and Obama has no one to point the finger at now except himself.By the way he was a senator before he was president ,if Bush ,Cheny were so bad then while he was in office,what did he do to curb that problem,nothing,for the last what year or two we have had a democratic majority,And all that got done in congress was the approval rateings went to the lowest point in history,Because the Democratic controled congress would not cooperate with the republican president in an election year,or vise versa,seems if the congressional rateings were so much worse than Bush Cheneys,id say thats where the actual blame lies in the majority of the publics view.So quit bashing those two and go after real deadbeats ,the Democratic majority with the lowest rateing in Historys,congressmen and Senators that ran this country into the ground in the last years of the Bush Cheney presidency,then when they were gone laid all the blame they could along with Obama and Biden on Bush cheney as they left office,to me as quiet as Bush and Cheney have been about the no integrity,dirty lowlife comments,Obama and Biden have said while taking office has done nothing but hurt there own integrity,oh did i say integrity,you have to have some before you can damage it,Had they taken office in a dignified manner,without all the finger pointing,laying blame anywhere else they could other than themselves on some issues,maybe they would not have the dropping approval rateing soon to be in the cellar rateings they have now,Obviously these two idiots did not learn a thing from what has happened to there democratic controlled congresses rateings,or pelosis,Boxer and good old Barney Frank and a few others nose diving popularity lately,I give Obama about 2 years as president if he makes it that long before he is impeached for some illeagle activity such as selling off he senate seat ,of course he dident know anything about that ,as long as someone like his buddy would take the fall,the gov of illinoisThen there is ACORN,lol And the Tony Reveco land financeing scandles,Geesh If it looks like a Crook,Quacks like one ,Walks and Talks like a slick flim flammer,thats exactly what it is,Thank God I can say I never voted for the two most Dishonest Presidential and Vice presidential canidates in History!!
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