[url=http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/16095]Bush Will Issue a Mass Pardon
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Before leaving office George W. Bush will issue a mass pardon, the largest collection of presidential pardons in American history. Bush will pardon himself, Vice President Cheney, and a long list of officials involved in torture, eavesdropping, destruction of evidence, the CIA leak case and a range of potential crimes.

As George Bush signs the pardons and boards the helicopter to depart Washington as his presidency finally ends, even then, he and those pardoned will worry about the statute of limitations.

There is an important point to this, often not recognized in official Washington during the Bush years, where the unthinkable becomes a way of life, and acts have been done that have never been done by an American president or administration.

Torture violates international law, domestic law, statutory law, customary law, American law, European law — the list goes on.

Eavesdropping without court order violates a statute, FISA, that includes severe criminal penalties. If the courts ultimately conclude that these laws were broken, as I predict they ultimately will, considering the number of individual violations, and the penalties for each violation, the potential sentencing liability for anyone convicted would be huge.

On the destruction of evidence, disappearing e-mails, claims of executive privilege that I predict will be clearly rejected by the Supreme Court after Bush has departed, arguably false testimony to Congress, attempts to cover up actions that violate the law, the list, again, goes on.

There will be a huge legal debate about the ability of a president to issue pardons so sweeping in their language that they cover all these potential areas of legal liability, and very possibly, it cannot be done.

As we approach the election, leaks will increase as they did prior to the 2006 election, from within the administration, about these matters and others. Legal scholars will debate the legality of a mass pardon.

Congress should pursue every pending and possible legal challenge to claims of executive privilege so completely untenable under the law that even some conservative Supreme Court justices will refuse to uphold them, as conservative justices joined liberals ruling against Richard M. Nixon.


MORE AT THE LINK.

One could argue that we now have a criminal government as it has condoned, to date, a criminal executive branch.

AND, in my opinion, the Legislative Branch is complicit if they don't begin an impeachment inquiry!

[url=http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/16116]Why George W. Bush and Friends should be prosecuted by the next administration.
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This country is founded upon some really radical ideology. Even by 21st century standards the idea of liberty, enfranchisement and privacy are shared by very few on this planet, regardless of coca cola commercials. That these ideals were enshrined upon parchment over 230 years ago is a testament to their strength, universality and truth. But lately, these ideals have been encroached upon. Not by outside forces bent upon our destruction. (Although those people do exist.)


The writer is jomo666, who blogs at the Smirking Chimp.