Justice, Mr. Russert, is not "payback"

[welshTerrier2]

"Payback" is defined (dictionary.com) as: "something done in retaliation" ... Tim Russert, on today's Imus show, explained that Americans are tired of all the partisanship and just want Congress to start acting like grown-ups ... i've heard that exact same message from numerous Democrats when they're asked about whether a Democratically-controlled Congress will be obsessed with investigations of republicans and maybe even impeachment hearings against bush ...

but this theme badly, very badly, misses the point!

when Democrats regain control, and they will, the mission should not be "retaliation" ... it should NOT be "they did it to us so why shouldn't we do it to them?"

The issue of good governance and justice DEMANDS that crimes be prosecuted and it demands that restitution be made for ill-gotten gains ...

bush et al have tried to indemnify their conduct by pushing the new Military Commissions act through the rubberstamp republican Congress ... but justice will nevertheless be served ... this is not some childish dispute about cutting ahead in the lunch line in school; torture and holding prisoners without a right to counsel and violating constitutionally-guaranteed habeas corpus and waging war for oil are among the most serious crimes there are ... as i watched bush sign the new law into effect, surrounded by his cronies, a chill ran through me ... i thought to myself "my god, they're actually doing this" ... i couldn't help but reflect on the Nazis rise to power ... in my view, these are evil men who should be brought to justice ... they'll have their day in court ... to sweep all this under the rug of bi-partisanship is nonsense ... people far more clear-seeing than Tim Russert prosecuted war criminals at Nuremburg ... they didn't say "gee Mr. Hitler, you really shouldn't have done all that bad stuff but let's put all that behind us so we can start addressing the many problems we face."

again, this is NOT about revenge; it's about justice ... the defendants will be given every opportunity to make their case on their own behalf ...

we've all heard the anti-war slogan "bush lied and soldiers died" ... lying to Congress and the American people, as bush did about Iraq, is a very serious crime ... what exactly is Mr. Russert suggesting with his "the American people just want Congress to get on with the nation's business?" ... Democrats have been unable to call hearings and subpoena witnesses ... republicans have completely aborted the process of checks and balances since bush took office ... things that should have been examined when laws were broken have been completely ignored ... there is no statute of limitations on these crimes ... the American people demand to know the truth and we demand justice ... we can never allow crimes against our country, and that's what has happened under bush's corrupt regime, to go uninvestigated and unprosecuted ... the innocent will be set free; the guilty will be punished ... you have a problem with that, Timmy?

Why was the 9/11 commission unable to get all the testimony it needed from bush government officials? ... many who were called to testify were muzzled by the adminstration ... the American people demand to know what really happened ... whether LIHOP, MIHOP or anything else, it is inexcusable to have blocked open access by the 9/11 commission to anyone who had information ... when Democrats return to power, they owe the American people the truth about this unimaginable national tragedy ... this is not "revenge"; this is an examination of whether high crimes and misdemeanors were committed by the bush administration ... either they were or they were not ... only a full investigation will reveal the truth ...

and finally, we had the very disturbing energy meetings with Halliburton Dick Cheney and his close friends in the oil industry ... the American people demand to know what was said in those meetings ... any reasonable examination will quickly lead to the conclusion that it was all about planning for the Iraq war ... "no blood for oil" our signs read as we marched through the streets ... worldwide, 10 million people demonstrated against this imperial war for oil ... 10 million people!! that's a whole lot of people ... since the US invasion of Iraq, oil companies have experienced all time record profits year after year after year ... whwen the facts prove that the invasion of Iraq was for their sole, greedy benefit, the American people demand that every penny they stole, while Americans died for a lie, gets returned to the national treasury ...

and Timmy wants to "get on with the nation's business and put all this "partisanship" behind us" ... well, that's fine with me ... when Democrats return to power, they should invite republicans to fully participate in all the badly needed investigations ... and the punishment and restitution demanded from those found guilty should also be supported in a bi-partisan manner ... Mr. Russert's call to bury the truths of the past 6 years is very strange indeed coming from someone in the news business ... when no daylight has been allowed to shine into the people's halls of government, investigations are necessary ... we must send a loud and clear signal to future governments that the American people will not allow crimes against our country and our Constitution and the American people themselves and international law to go unpunished ...

examining the conduct of the government and revealing the truth to the American people is the most important function our government can perform ... to view a thorough investigation and prosecution and punishment of what has occurred during these years of one-party rule as "payback" is incredibly naive ... Justice, Mr. Russert, is not payback ...

i'm wt2 and i approved this message ...

[meegbear]

1. Sounds like Norah O'Donnell ...

Norah: So Congresswoman, let me put you on record here because we see Bill Clinton talking about the politics of "Common Good" and the need for that to take place and you say the Democrats have a positive agenda—Can you promise then that when Democrats–if they retake the House of Representatives and Senate will not issue tens or hundreds of subpoenas to the White House when it comes to Katrina, Iraq and a number of other issues and essentially make the President's final two years in office a living hell if you will and mean that nothing gets done in Washington?

You can see the video at the link below:

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2006/10/18/norah-odonnell-sells-the-gop-line-is-she-kidding-me/

[welshTerrier2]

2. i saw that interview in real time ...

thanks for posting about it ... O'Donnell is an absolute disgrace ...

[nickinSTL]

3. "mean that nothing gets done in Washington"

WRONG!

If hundreds of subpoenas are issued, then FINALLY some good will get done in Washington...as we hold these traitors accountable.

[welshTerrier2]

4. the first function of good governance ...

is to have government police itself through a system of checks and balances ...

when crimes are ignored to "move on", good governance is no longer possible ...

[KoKo]

5. I caught Russert on with that slime Imus this morning and it ruined

my day. Imus and Russert on there whoreing for the GOP and it was really "in your face." They don't even "pretend" anymore what there goals are and the arrogance and hypocracy just blew me away once again. I should know better.

At least Christy Harden Smith from FDL was on C-Span and she did great against the InstaPundit RW Idiot.

Thanks for your rant...it was what I was thinking when I heard Russert sounding like he got the big kickback from Rove.

[welshTerrier2]

6. i love your .sig line ...

haven't heard that one before ...

[blm]

7. ABSOLUTELY, welsh....it's HORRENDOUS the way we're being propagandized

already to not investigate and expose their CRIMES OF OFFICE.

I am SICK of being referred to as if we're driven ONLY by hate when it's ACTUALLY just JUSTICE and FULL DISCLOSURE that we want.

We are CITIZENS who get treated like crap for acting as INVOLVED CITIZENS who want INFORMATION and FACTS, not SPIN and Move along manipulations. That mental manipulation of the public is what got us Bush2 in the first place.

[Cosmocat]

9. It is the next evolution of the double standard ...

Did Tim Russert EVER ... ONCE ... Bemoan how heavy handed and partisan the Rs are ???

It just is their set meme ... They have backed the republicans 100 percent, and now that is BEYOND obvious that 1) the conservative "philosophy" is far to limited and concrete to operate a government from 2) that republicans have no suitability for governance, that they range from morallly bankrupt to being criminally insane ... With it CLEAR that the sheeple have woken up, and that change is going to occur, the best they can do is find another means of marginalizing the democrats ...

IF things go was they SHOULD, and their is change, there are going to be some BIZARRE mental gymnastics while these WHORES figure out how to spin against the Ds ...

[nashville_brook]

18. fuckin' A -- you're on fire, blm!

[gratuitous]

8. After all, the victim is dead

Nothing can be done to bring that horribly murdered person back to life. Let's all just shake our heads sadly. Cluck your tongue if you feel like it. But identifying the killer, proving him guilty, and locking him up for the crime would just be pointless payback. Nothing to be gained by it. We have other things to attend to. Why dwell on the past. What's done is done. Move on.

That about sum it up for you, Mr. Russert? Of course, I understand your eagerness to sweep all this unpleasantness under the rug, what with your fingerprints all over so many damning pieces of evidence. Your connivance and support for this international crime against humanity probably hurts a teeny-tiny little spot deep inside your head. You used to know this as your conscience. But you wouldn't be drawing that big fat salary check and getting all those fat speaking fees if you let your conscience guide you. So let's just pretend that all this unpleasantness of the last four years or so never happened. No sense crying over spilt milk. Besides, it's supposed to be the last good weekend this year for sailing out on the Vineyard. Oh yeah, that nice little place out on Martha's Vineyard.

[blm]

10. You mean the House that Jack Welch's checks bought?

You nailed it, gratuitous.

[Jack Rabbit]

11. Impeaching Bush and Cheney will have nothing to do with Ken Starr

Ken Starr is yesterday's news. He is only cited as an example of contemporary GOP perfidy. He is back in the private sector, presumably minding his own business instead of demonstrating an unheathly interest in other people's sex lives.

The crimes of Bush and Cheney stand on their own without reference to the the Clinton impeachment. If the Democrats had no better reason to impeach and remove Bush or Cheney than a tacky tryst Oval Office, then I would tell the Democrats to find something constructive to do.

Of course, lying to start what was really an unjustified imperialist misadventure in Iraq, the wholesale disregard of the Geneva Conventions and other international treaties to which the US is a party, the unmasking of an undercover agent of the CIA for purely political purposes and domestic spying without warrants are very good reasons to impeach a chief executive and some of them are also good reasons to charge Bush and Cheney, three of four top cabinet officers, many other past and present officials of the Bush regime and even two or three generals with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

[blm]

12. I'm kicking this, welsh.... I am pretty damn sick of the FORCED bipartisan

feeding fenzy that the media and jerks like Baker and Hamilton and Lieberman have been giving us.

It's ARTIFICIALLY CRAFTED so Democrats don't pursue the REAL CRIMES of Office. I am SICK of the whole Protect Bush at all costs crowd.

It costs this country WAY TOO MUCH. In treasure and in LIVES.

[The Count]

13. memo is out - all the tools are reading from it

beware of the vengeful democrats!

[nashville_brook]

17. ding ding ding

it's all they have -- they are going to toss it around for the next three weeks and thruoughout the investigations and the subpeonas....

bunch of whiners.

[blm]

19. Well there's a few Dems reading from that script for YEARS.

Guess what - I HATE GEORGE BUSH and his little dictatortot of a son, and his entire family and EVERY CRONY THEY ENRICH, including the Bin Ladens.

[The Backlash Cometh]

14. They're tired of the Republican partisan.

And Tim Russert isn't clean in all this. He's going to get his ass tanned for his role in the mess they created for us in the last six years.

[fooj]

15. Did you send this to him?

If you didn't, I think you might consider it. It's great.

[pat_k]

16. We need to nip the "bipartisanship" meme in the bud. . .

. . .the ONLY antidote to so-called "poisonous partisanship" is confronting truth and reality head on and taking the actions demanded by the facts.

The only way any elected official or candidate can prove commitment to our founding principles over party is to fight for those principles regardless of partisan concerns.

Instead of recognizing this and actually rising above partisanship by fighting for core principles, the so-called Democratic strategists think the antidote can be found in cynically "going along to get along" and saying they seek bipartisanship, which people across the spectrum assume is insincere (as demonstrated the assertion that Pelosi is just mouthing what the right wants to hear to mollify them -- something I have heard repeatedly from folks on our side.)

Nothing could be more wrong-headed than attempting to "rise above" poisonous partisanship by playing more partisan games.

There is NOTHING partisan about prosecuting war criminals. There is NOTHING partisan about rescuing our constitutional democracy.

Our common contract, the Constitution, is in breach. It has been nullified by Bush and Cheney, the Un-American authoritarians who have occupied the executive branch and are destroying the fabric of our nation to amass Unconstitutional power and wield it in the service of their tiny faction.

Members of Congress are sworn to protect the Constitution from such destruction from within. Impeachment is the weapon we gave them to fulfill their oath.

The oath is an individual oath. Each member who fails to take up the fight for impeachment (even if they think it will be a charge of the light brigade) is betraying their oath. They are betraying the nation.

For the sake of our national soul, we must save them from continuing on this tragic and destructive path.

[blm]

20. Kickin.....y'know, welsh....

If you formalized it a bit it would make one helluv an editorial to put up around the web.

[welshTerrier2]

21. around the web?

i can't even get a thread on DU's homepage ... the truth is, i don't want to play hardball with this issue until after the election ... if the Dems go cutesy at that point, let the games begin! btw, just to be clear, i am NOT calling for impeachment hearings ... we need to investigate first and then decide ... i expect impeachment will be necessary, however, once the facts are known ...

really appreciate your support, blm ...

[blm]

23. I understand that - but you hit so many exact notes.

Even here at DU, if you holler for TRUTH and JUSTICE or believe that books should be opened to the people, people will call you delusional as if they accept that government is THERE to keep secrets and direct us as needed.

I can't stand that type of authoritarianism from the right or Democrats who think it's OK as long as it's a Dem authoritarian figurehead government.

That's why your post hit me where I live.

[welshTerrier2]

24. "people will call you delusional"

"Well, I've wrestled with reality for 35 years, doctor, and I'm happy to state I finally won out over it." - Jimmy Stewart in the movie "Harvey"

[Uncle Joe]

22. I approve of your message too welshTerrier

,your not giving them hell, in the words of Harry Truman, your just telling the truth and it sounds like hell. Little Timmy is just trying to shift the focus from justice to spite because his own hands are bloody.

Kicked and recommended

:kick:

[blm]

26. Russert has been driving the newsmedia for BushInc since the mid90s.

.

[Uncle Joe]

27. Yes, he was one of the prime culprits in the War Against Gore,

enabling Bush to power. I believe much of the motivation for the old media to slander Al was precisely because he empowered us when he championed the internet. This was pay back, sort of like Prometheus, instead of Al having his liver eaten for all eternity, it was one slander after another for the better part of two years.

I also believe the witch hunt against Clinton beginning in the early 90's was in large measure a back door attempt to keep Al from coming to power. I would not be surprised to find out the television show Big Brother was inspired by this back door strategy.

Between the old media companies threatened by the internet and the oil companies threatened by an earnest attempt by a President who would change our energy policy to curb the impending catastrophe of global warming, it makes for powerful enemies.

[many a good man]

25. Congress is MORALLY OBLIGATED to defend

MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION MORAL OBLIGATION

[blm]

28. What does a mediawhore like Tim Russert know about moral obligation.?

.