Chris Floyd: In 2009, expect "healing national wounds", "coming together again", "moving on."

[seafan]

And it is damned depressing.



By Chris Floyd
November 9, 2007

.....At his Harper's blog, Scott Horton demonstrates how the architects of George W. Bush's filthy torture regimen are now holding positions that allow them to protect themselves and their masters from the legal consequences of their actions. ..... And yet these sinister wretches -- blood caked all over their thousand-dollar suits -- are still treated, even respected, as the legitimate custodians of the constitutional Republic they have brutally defiled. .....the only honorable and self-respecting thing an legislator could do in these degraded times is simply to say of every single nominee offered up by the blood-caked suits: "Anyone who would agree to work with this criminal enterprise is automatically unfit to hold office, whatever other qualifications they may have."


Oh, but the Democrats are being cagey, we are told; they're being savvy, being tactical. They're holding their fire, playing it cool, not wanting to appear divisive or partisan, just waiting for the presidency to fall back into their hands in 2008. And then, and then....
Then what? The Democratic nominee looks certain to be Hillary Clinton -- whose husband buried a whole boatload of previous Bush crimes after he took office in 1993, as Robert Parry reports in his book, Secrecy and Privilege. If Clinton I had allowed justice to pursue the various Bush I scandals to the end, we would have been spared the hideous, murderous farce of Bush II's reign. The name of Bush would have been so rightly tainted that L'il Pretzel would never have gotten anywhere near close enough to steal the 2000 election. Is there anyone who believes that Clinton II would pursue Bush II's manifold crimes any more diligently than her husband?

.....

No mainstream Democrat will ever allow full-fledged criminal investigations and prosecutions of Bush II officials for torture and the war crime of military aggression. You know and I know that's not going to happen. We will get, at most, some soaring rhetoric about "healing national wounds" and "coming together again" and "moving on." (With the outside possibility of a few small fry being offered up as sacrifices, to let the Dem president preen as the "restorer of the rule of law" -- and also purge the Republicans, and Bush, of the worst taint: "Hey, it was a few bad apples, and now they're gone. We've got a clean slate!")

.....

And let us at last be done with the fatal pretense that what we are witnessing today in the war of aggression and the torture program are some kind of aberration, the result of "bad apples" in the White House and Pentagon. .....
It's not just Mukasey. It's not just Haynes. It's not just Bush or Cheney or Rumsfeld or Rove (or Hillary or Bill). It is the all-pervasive system that is crushing us. Or as another writer once put it:

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

[WillyT]

1. Yep... And Even If We Win, We Lose, If This Comes To Pass...

Depressing it is!

:banghead:

[DCKit]

2. I don't want to "move on"

I want prosecutions with penalties harsh enough that no politician or political appointee will EVER try to pull this shit again in the USA. Anyone else?

[Vincardog]

3. I am with DCKit

[John Q. Citizen]

8. I'm opposed to the death penalty, but the guillotine sure put the French monarchy in

their place...they never returned.

[tritsofme]

11. I can think of 2-3 times the French monarchy did return in some form

actually, after that particular revolution.

[redqueen]

16. Me neither. That's why I'm voting for Kucinich. (nt)

[rucky]

28. It's not possible to move on without justice first. n/t

[Horse with no Name]

35. I wish the Democrats were visionaries and could see this

they will ultimately harvest what the Bush regime has sown.
It's a scary thought indeed.

[Cha]

33. What a Concept! Cut out the cancer!

Don't propagate it with your neglect!

[derby378]

4. I'll introduce a resolution at the county party to repudiate any such calls for "unity"

Anyone in our party who promotes reconciliation with neo-fascists should be blackballed, IMHO.

[Old and In the Way]

5. I'm not ready to make nice....

I'm afraid that our country is being run by the defense industry. They've hired the Republicans to legislate their agenda and blessed their politics of decisiveness to diffuse our ability to stop it. It will take a very brave President to change this....the last one who tried got assassinated.

[OKDem08]

9. very well stated

I agree

:applause:

[ConsAreLiars]

6. The first priority of this ruling class is to maintain the illusion of Democracy.

It's cheaper to operate than a police state, which is the next best alternative. After the Nixon crimes became a bit too much and the great masses of people began to smell something very foul, the Democrats agreed to just shut up and the Ford pardon was celebrated by the corporate masters as a way to put it all behind us, or under the covers, whatever. Again with Clinton ignoring the Bush-Reagan treasons. And the same gang of monsters are more powerful than ever.

"When will we ever learn."

Chris Floyd is briliant in his insights and a powerful writer. Wish we had a candidate with half the will and ability to tell the truth.

[Usrename]

7. I want justice.

Even if we can't have economic justice, at least let us have criminal justice for these monsters.

[Senator]

10. Only Impeachment Can Avoid This "Worst Result."

Unless that formal "objection" is voiced, there will be no basis for further actions as it will all have been "tacitly approved."

Which is why it's time to stop being "Anti-War," and start being "Pro-Impeachment."

No, you can't ride two horses with the same behind.

===

[redqueen]

17. Good point. (nt)

[Perry Logan]

12. There will be no healing. America is in a state of civil war.

[Solly Mack]

13. I've said it for years now

[yodermon]

14. HRC will Pardon Dubya on Jan 20th

Right after Dubya pardons his entire cabal on Jan 19th.

We will have "moved on".

[redqueen]

15. Don't like it? Vote for Kucinich!

:bounce:

[mmonk]

18. Moving on is not possible for some of us.

Justice cries out. It never is silenced.

[seafan]

20. I stopped *moving on* December 12, 2000. n/t

[RainDog]

22. no one can move on. others can just pretend, that's all. n/t

[leftchick]

19. 'And who is William J. Haynes II? As Horton notes, Haynes was:'

An excellent piece from Chris as always.........


Marine Lt. Col. Stuart Crouch, a former military prosecutor, was due to testify to a Congressional subcommittee about the Administration's attempt to suppress evidence of torture in "Military Commission" trials of alleged terrorists. But at the last minute, he was blocked from testifying by the Pentagon's general counsel, William J. Haynes II, on specious grounds that Horton blows out of the water.

And who is William J. Haynes II? As Horton notes, Haynes was:

Donald Rumsfeld’s lawyer, who continues to serve as general counsel after the Senate Judiciary Committee gave a thumbs-down to his nomination for a federal judgeship in the Fourth Circuit (“Over my dead body,” in the words of one Fourth Circuit Republican). Mr. Haynes is one of the prime torture conspirators, and the author of a December 2002 memorandum endorsed by Rumsfeld that has already provided the basis for two criminal indictments of the former Defense Secretary. Haynes is one of the Bush Administration officials most likely to be indicted for his role in the torture scandal when he steps down from office. Mr. Haynes has a strong reason to prevent Col. Couch from testifying, since almost anything he would have to say would be embarrassing to, and might even incriminate, Mr. Haynes.

Horton continues:

But then let’s consider the other side of this. The Constitution, federal law and three rulings of the Supreme Court all make clear that oversight of the Military Commissions process is vested in Congress. So on what basis do Pentagon officials obstruct Congress’s exercise of its oversight function? Mr. Whitman evidently feels under no compunction to explain that. Perhaps because he has no explanation.

[redqueen]

21. Kick for more comments...

:kick:

[redqueen]

23. Kicking again

for even more comments.

[seemslikeadream]

24. whose husband buried a whole boatload of previous Bush crimes after he took office in 1993,

[KoKo]

25. and then there's....."Hillary's Unspoken Vulnerability" ....Robert Parry reports...

http://www.consortiumnews.com/2007/110507.html

[Cha]

34. Just a little nest of

radioactive vipers..

"Showing what a small world political Washington can be, DiGenova is married to Republican lawyer Victoria Toensing, a key figure in the public attacks on former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson and his wife, CIA officer Valerie Plame, over Wilson’s criticism of the WMD intelligence that George W. Bush used to justify invading Iraq.)"

[KoKo]

26. "these sinister wretches -- blood caked all over their thousand-dollar suits"

And yet these sinister wretches -- blood caked all over their thousand-dollar suits -- are still treated, even respected, as the legitimate custodians of the constitutional Republic they have brutally defiled. Witness the ersatz-Hamlet pose of "progressive" champion Russ Feingold, agonizing in public over the vexing question of whether he should vote against the torture-enabling, tyranny-approving Mukasey as attorney general. In the end he did cast a meaningless vote against the nominee -- albeit reluctantly, larding his statement with praise. As we have noted before, the only honorable and self-respecting thing an legislator could do in these degraded times is simply to say of every single nominee offered up by the blood-caked suits: "Anyone who would agree to work with this criminal enterprise is automatically unfit to hold office, whatever other qualifications they may have."

Oh, but the Democrats are being cagey, we are told; they're being savvy, being tactical. They're holding their fire, playing it cool, not wanting to appear divisive or partisan, just waiting for the presidency to fall back into their hands in 2008. And then, and then....

Exerpt from Floyd's article.........

[lutefisk]

27. Well duh- of course they will get continue to get away their crimes

Just like their cronies and and young Republican trainees that looted our billions in US tax dollars in Iraq. These fuckers will never pay.

[flashl]

29. sounds about right. n/t

[Generator]

30. I know and this is why

I will never look at the Democratic party or America the same way again. I cannot forgive and I cannot forget. And I EXPECT if this comes to pass-the endless pass and pardon of the guilty that some day sooner than later someone with true evil intentions will take over this country.

Bush-think about it-is just a test case. He's not rounding anyone up, and only a few "foreigners" have been tortured so far-but he sure as hell as the laws ready- THERE IS NO HABEAS CORPUS-ho de fucking hum say the Dems-let's censure that damn MOVE ON-that's what's important.

The laws are all in place for the real horror years. The press is bought and pacified. The "opposition" is terrified and corrupted.

There will be no protests, only blood and the missing. They didn't speak up when they came for (READ took away all rights) the guilty terrorists, then just the not guilty arabs (they looked guilty though!) then, and then-so you know the drill.

[scarletwoman]

32. "...someone with true evil intentions will take over this country." There's plenty of people with

"evil intentions" already infiltrated throughout our government, methinks. This has been going on for decades. We lost our Replubic with the post-WWII rise of the National Security State and the MIC that Ike warned us about.

The JFK assassination sealed the arrangements.

We have a longterm work ahead of us; we have to stop putting all our energies into electoral politics and start building up our own civil society.

sw

[scarletwoman]

31. k & r for Chris Floyd! (now I'll read the rest of the thread) (nt)

[Richard Steele]

36. K&R