Leahy: Investigate Bush Now

[BlueJessamine]

Source: The Huffington Post

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy insisted on Monday in firm and passionate terms that a comprehensive investigation be launched into the conduct of the Bush administration, saying anything less would prevent the country from moving forward.

Speaking at a forum at Georgetown University, the Vermont Democrat suggested the creation of a truth and reconciliation commission to uncover the "misdeeds" of the past eight years.

"Many Americans feel we need to get to the bottom of what went wrong," said Leahy. "I agree. We need to be able to read the page before we turn the page."

The Senator also stated that Attorney General Eric Holder never gave assurances to Republican Senators that he would not prosecute Bush administration officials who may have been involved in illegalities such as authorizing torture or warrantless wiretapping.

There are some who resist any effort to investigate the misdeeds of the recent past," he said. "Indeed, during the nomination hearing of Eric Holder, some of my fellow Senators on the other side of the aisle tried to extract a devil's bargain from him in exchange for the votes -- a commitment that he would not make... That is a pledge no prosecutor should give and Eric Holder did not give it. But because he did not it accounts for some of the votes against him."


Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/02/09/leahy-investig...

[Solly Mack]

1. as long as the page reads: They went to prison

[merh]

3. and political prisoners were freed and exonerated.

[Solly Mack]

4. Definitely

[LakeSamish706]

2. Good to hear Senator Leahy, lets investigate now... We can start with 911...

where it all began and one would probably not even have to go much beyond that to find very interesting findings.

[sattahipdeep]

9. The Securities and Exchange Commission

"New SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro is under pressure to restore the agency's reputation as a tough policeman on Wall Street."



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

[LakeSamish706]

10. I tell ya, when Mr. Holder gets around to these investigations he is going to find...

so much corruption it will be mind boggling. There is no end to it from one Department to another. If the public is made aware of the magnitude of the crimes Bush and cronies better find somewhere very safe to hide, cause the Justice Department won't have to do the job.

[merh]

16. Holder could boast the economy just by hiring all the support

staff and associates necessary to investigate and prosecute the various abuses and crimes of the GWB admin.

Talk about a stimulus package.

[Titonwan]

22. Ha! You are sooo right!

We could probably guarantee a half a million jobs just researching the damned crimes that Bush and Crew committed! Stimulus you can believe in!
We really do have to hold them accountable, you know. Holler at Patrick and let him know. His secretary is nice!

[merh]

25. I'll try to remember to do that in the morning.

Thanks for the suggestion and welcome to DU.

[Baby Snooks]

17. I guess so. She just "settled" with Bernie Madoff...

It was just announced that the SEC settled with Bernie Madoff. He will pay a fine. And pay everyone back. Probably pay everyone back what wasn't already paid back through interest. It gets fuzzy around the edges. Particularly around the edges of the SEC and Obama's new head of the SEC. The fix, as they say, is in.

[Titonwan]

23. What's up with the threadjack?

That's more important than seeing Bush pay for fucking this country for eight god damned years? Don't have nothing to say about the Leahy news, huh? NOT important, huh?

[Lint Head]

5. When I read things like:

"Gitmo Detainee’s ‘Genitals Were Sliced With A Scalpel,’ Waterboarding ‘Far Down The List Of Things" which is on the DU home page I can't believe I'm living in the United States of America. I can't believe I was born in a country that had the promises and dreams instilled in me has become a haven for powerful criminals and no one does a damn thing about it.

Where are our protectors? Where is justice? Is someone holding justice hostage or do we now live in a state run by cowards?

I am so pissed I can no longer carry on a meaningful conversation with anyone that supported or voted for the criminals that have done this to our nation! I can only conceive of these people as accessories to a mega crime.

[americanmutt]

20. Big time agreement there...

I have true shame towards the people who stand by the actions of the former goverment, and all the unbelievable things that they have got away with. If i meet any of those people,(and i have not met nor do i know any of them, thank gods) iwould truly have to leave right away, cause theres gonna be a fight. I am really pissed off right along with you.

Somthing has got to be fuckin done!!!

[dgibby]

6. Personally, I think it's a mistake to close GITMO.

After all, we're going to need somewhere to keep these jerks!

[earthboundmisfit]

7. Ding-Ding - We have a WINNER

And Inhofe can go on a "fact finding" trip there...

[HopeHoops]

8. I agree completely - get Ken Starr on the case - no wait, scratch that.

[kirby]

11. Leahy is full of hot air...

I listened to him call refer to this as a '9/11 Truth and Reconciliation'. I don't want reconciliation, I want accountability. Not only that, but I do believe, listening to Eric Holder's confirmation, the Republicans did extract a 'devils bargain'.

[Baby Snooks]

18. Talk is cheap....

And that is all we have. Talk. And that is all we will ever have. Talk.

[The Stranger]

12. But Traitor Pelosi won't allow it.

[Kolesar]

15. Uh, she is not the Attorney General, ... eom

[The Stranger]

19. Holy shit.

You're right.

This must be the first time anyone has ever raised this issue.

[Kolesar]

24. yawn

[mentalslavery]

13. This is bullshit

So, basically the repuks tried to bribe yall not to investigate bushco and you want a truth and reconciliation committee?

What a bunch of assholes we have on our side sometimes.

Earth to leahy, we already know the truth, so your offering us reconciliation?

[Gregorian]

14. Bush/Cheney made sure key Dems knew early on. This won't be easy.

I forget the name of the committee that was made fully aware of the Bush goings ons. But they are witnesses at the very least. And knowing that torture, and other things, is illegal, they are complicit. So there's the hurdle we've got to jump.

There are a hell of a lot of attorneys around the country who are digesting this mess. We'll get there, but it may be tomorrow, and not today.

[Enthusiast]

21. I'm all for it. Why should

criminals go free? He's all set up to flee to South America.

[Art_from_Ark]

26. Here's a hint to Senator Leahy about what went wrong:

The first thing that went wrong was when the Senate just rolled over and accepted, with nary a whimper, the highly flawed and partisan Supreme Court decision that stole the 2000 election from the rightful winner.

[midnight]

46. When that happened, it was like the lights went out.

[FailureToCommunicate]

48. I agree that Bush v Gore is THE place to start, but what should the Senate have

done? As Gore has said on occasion about the Supreme Court's 2000 decision: What's left after that? Open rebellion in the streets?

(If we knew then what we know now rebellion might have been likely. And a lot of soldiers and Iraqis would still be alive...)

[UpInArms]

27. Senator (Leahy) seeks Bush-era "truth commission" (investigate war in Iraq, etc)

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. "truth commission" should investigate Bush administration policies including the promotion of war in Iraq, detainee treatment and wiretapping without a warrant, an influential senator proposed on Monday.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy, chairman of the Judiciary Committee, urged a commission as a way to heal what he called sharp political divides under former President George W. Bush and to prevent future abuses.

<snip>

Some Republicans and intelligence officials have resisted any suggestion of broad inquiries into accusations against the Bush administration, saying it would be a distraction or weaken morale in the fight against terrorism.

<snip>

This included the war in Iraq, he said. "There were lies told to the American people all the way through."

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSTRE5186...

[Ian David]

28. Go fuck yourself, Mr. Cheney! n/t

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

29. More than a year ago...well more...

I was advocating, to a good lawyer Democrat friend of mine, that we needed a Truth and Reconciliation Commission, but one with subpoena and prosecutorial powers, once the blight had passed.

He told me I was waaaaaayyyy of the mental reservation.

Today? He agrees.

It's time to clean up the pigpen that is bounded by I-495.

[SpiralHawk]

30. "We don't do truth. Smirk." - X-Commander AWOL & Republicon Homelander cronies

[Cirque du So-What]

31. There were lies told to the American people all the way through

Absolutely goddamn right. Talk of 'healing wounds' is fuck-all. These past eight years must NEVER be repeated!



Oh, yeah...almost forgot...HEY, DICK OF DEATH! GO FUCK YOURSELF!

[JDPriestly]

32. Good way to start, but the ultimate goal has to be prosecutions

if crimes were committed.

[jtrockville]

33. I'll say it again: COMMISSIONS = WHITEWASH

We need a special prosecutor. NOT a commission (truth or otherwise).

[burrowowl]

43. AMEN!

The guilty must be prosecuted!

[radfringe]

34. forgive the skepticism

I'll believe it when I see it.

[barbtries]

35. it needs to happen

justice.

[Jefferson23]

36. At least it would be a start, so good for Leahy. Bush's spokesman,

Rob Saliterman was the one back in the Bush administration.

"On Sept. 6, the day Bush proposed his plan for military trials of terrorism suspects, the White House sent at least seven missives. They included two "fact sheets" explaining the program, a list detailing myths and facts about the CIA's interrogations of these suspects, and another entitled "setting the record straight" addressed to critics of the plan." http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-10-29-bush...

He was known as the White House director of rapid response through e-mails, aka the bullshitter for Bush. How nice he is still on the job, so who is paying him now? He is stating that Bush will not respond to every call for an inquiry. So if Saliterman is making that statement, does that mean that Bush has hired an attorney already I wonder.

[Old Codger]

37. I will say it again

LOL, another freeking commission, we can all be grateful again, they are going to appoint a commission and we will all hear the results in 10 or 15 or so years, if we live that long after laughing so hard.... Fuck a bunch of commissions, appoint prosecutors get the assholes in court and prosecute them and sentence them to Pelican Bay prison.. with all the rest of the murderers and rapists where they belong.

[MasonJar]

38. Not a Commission

; we need a Special Prosecutor.

[Zhade]

39. The b*s* criminals must not be allowed to get away with their crimes.

Otherwise, we've learned nothing, and this will happen again.

[Jefferson23]

40. I'm going to give Obama a chance on this. Obama said in response

to a reporter from the Huffington Post tonight who asked about Leahy's proposal. Obama said yes he was looking forward and also added that "no one" is above the law, and that he will be looking at the proposal.

[ima_sinnic]

44. I've gotten too cynical to do that--he made sure to reiterate, as his final statement,

"but I'm really mainly interested in looking ahead" (paraphrase). talk is cheap. he could have been adamant about the fact that he would leave no stone unturned to bring the traitors to justice.

There is a case right now where the "change" adminstration is denying justice to a blatantly tortured and illegally detained Guantanmo prisoner
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...

a "commission" will be handy way for him to avoid any real justice. it can all be whitewashed and we can all live happily ever after in kumbaya land.

[santamargarita]

41. If it was good enough for Louis XVI, it's good enough for this bunch

[defendandprotect]

42. Could be a very workable idea . . .

[Rhiannon12866]

45. K&R. But Obama talked about "looking forward" instead of "looking back,"

when the subject was raised, so I hope that they don't let this drop. Bush* deserves more than one asterisk... Leahy's just the best!

[Blaze Diem]

47. Hope it leads all the way back to Poppy Bush's crimes.

As well as his buds. Cheney, Rummy etc.
The Bush crime family.
Leahy Takes on the Mob.

[L. Coyote]

51. I hope it leads to convictions for the Death Squads. Viva Ben Linder!

I'm still waiting for the police to do something about the assassination of one of my fellow researchers in 1981.

This has to go way back to John Kennedy's assassination, or it will not be a Truth commission!

[Blaze Diem]

52. Generations of Bush Mofia have NEVER been held to account for their crimes.

I agree that it could and should be traced to day one of their crime spree and held to account, where able, but above all else they should be exposed for the self-serving damage they have done throughout the years.
The Bush family has loyalty to no one but themselves.
Time to bring that to the light of day.

[windoe]

49. And don't forget to liquify all their assets-that $$ belongs to the American people

and countless others overseas they have killed and destroyed for....nothing, greed, lies, power.

TAKE BACK THE MONEY!! IT IS STOLEN!! And they will be NOTHING without it.

[BanTheGOP]

50. The ENTIRE rEPUIBLICAN PARTY...

...must be investigated as well. They are NOT a political party when they promote torture and vast amounts of destruction to the world's citizens in the guise of "ideological discourse."

RICO statutes should EASILY be proven, effectively making it illegal for the organization to solicit contributions. Law departments in the universities should take this up. Once Obama appoints our progressive judges, it will be easier to get decisions supporting the destruction of the republican party.

[Blaze Diem]

53. Absolutely. GW didn't secretly repeal RICO statutes did he?

..somewhere in the last eight years, during the middle of the night, signing statement, just he and Dick in an undisclosed location plotting the 'saving of their sorry criminal asses'.
Better check if RICO is still around.

What a bunch of thugs.