Comments on: Cloaking The Government’s Crimes

By: My First Foray into Federalism « Upturned Earth || John Schwenkler

Mon, 17 Nov 2008 23:18:57 +0000

[...] of executive power “[in a time of crisis such as we now have“, Mr. Wall, referring to another of Daniel’s posts, suggests a third option, to wit, prosecuting members of the Bush [...]

By: JoeMax93

JoeMax93 — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 16:52:14 +0000

You know, when Glenn Greenwald and Daniel Larison agree on something, that something should be considered very seriously.

As a liberal observer, l must say that the cries of “no one is above the law!” from loud, self-righteous conservatives – regarding Bill Clinton’s inconsequential lying about his sex life – still ring in my ears to this day.

And the worst part is that the frivolous application of the maximum penalty against a sitting president by Congress has not just cheapened impeachment, it has made politicians gun-shy about using it even when it is really called for.

By: ahistoricality

ahistoricality — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 19:20:01 +0000

In the event that the officials responsible for these decisions were arrested or found guilty of crimes, that would not be a dark day, but rather the day when the sun has finally started to peak through the clouds of arbitrary and illegal government actions.

Absolutely.

My fear at the moment is the blanket pardon, though it would have the advantage (long-term) of eliminating the fifth amendment dodge.

By: wufnik

wufnik — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 09:59:34 +0000

Excellent post. And while I am aware of your concerns about Obama, it’s interesting to consider how a professor (or whatever his academic rank) of Constitutional Law will apporach all of this.

By: A-gu

A-gu — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 05:52:22 +0000

Thanks for your note comparing and contrasting Taiwan’s situation with the US. I think your second sentence in that paragraph had the most resonance:

“Most Americans cannot conceive of executive branch officials, much less the President himself, having to answer for their crimes, which is one of the reasons why so many members of different administrations, but particularly the current one, have held the law in such contemptâ€“because they know they will not have to answer, much less pay, for what they have done.”

By: David Tomlin

David Tomlin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:35:11 +0000

Aaron Burr presided over the Senate as Vice President while he was wanted for murder in at least one state. If I remember correctly he was wanted in both New York (residence of both Burr and Hamilton at the time of the duel) and New Jersey (where the duel took place).

By: Francis

Francis — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 20:41:05 +0000

So start with a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Make it bi-partisan or preferably non-partisan (include people other than politicians), give it subpoena power and have it start taking testimony from the most junior military and CIA officials, then work up the chain of command.