Obama Is Obligated

[tonyc]

Obama is obligated when he took the oath as president, to pursue investigations into the war crimes committed by Bush and Chenney.
He must according to law, investigate and prosecute any international laws that where broken by the Bush administration, this isn't a personal choice, it’s his duty.
He can either be a president of integrity and live up to the oath or become a "coconspirator" by failing to uphold the law, it's his choice.
We the people of the United States deserve and demand justice.
If Obama fails or neglects to pursue the Bush administration for the war crimes that costs millions of innocent lives and the reputation of this country, I'll begin a campaign for his impeachment.
The millions of innocent victims and the thousands of dead troops deserve justice...
No one should be above the law...
Spread the word, write your congressman, don’t be silent…pursue the real evildoers, Bush and Chenney

[mtmynd]

Tonyc -

"He (Obama) must according to law, investigate and prosecute any international laws that where broken by the Bush administration, this isn't a personal choice, it’s his duty. "

Curious... can you direct me to the law that insists on this?

Don't you think that President Obama has enough on his plate right now without loading it up with Bush, a man who the country would soon not hear from or about for awhile?

[tonyc]

He recently repealed authority for “water boarding” acknowledging that under international law it’s defined as torture.
By his own admission, he acknowledges that the Bush administration was breaking international law.
He took the oath to uphold our constitution..you know the one Bush pissed on.
I don't get this mindset about as long as Bush stays low, everything is cool, is this some kind of new amnesty program?

[Lightning Rod]

I'm with cecil on this one
and I'm with Obama

we don't gain by recriminations. Bush is gone and his neo-con cadre. Good riddance. Let's don't waste our time and valuable energy and attention by dragging these crooks though the mud. The satisfaction wouldn't be worth the expense.

You might say it's a matter of justice, but it's really a matter of revenge.

Our nation would gain nothing by wasting a moment of airtime prosecuting these crooks. Let them retire to their dachas and live on their fat.

I'm with Obama. Let's move forward

[mtmynd]

There is doubt, tonyc, that Bush is guilty of many things, him and many of his administrators. But the problem in these extraordinarily difficult times (and seemingly not getting better), leaves the taste of revenge behind the necessity for jobs, health care, the environment, two wars in the Middle East, improving the education system, improving our city infrastructures, updating our energy uses and sources, taking care or the banking system and the mortgage debacle.... I think you get the idea - in order of importance, Bush is about as low as his approval rating. It may be unfortunate, but that's the way I sincerely believe the general public would view any attempt at criminalizing Bush at this point in our time.

[tonyc]

Maybe it was no accident Bush left the country in a disasterous state, to take the heat off of himself.
So the message we're giving other countries is....
It's cool to torture our troops, break international law, then just elect a new leader and move on..no biggy.
By this standard, we should lay off of Bin Laden, hell let by gones be by gones..he's laying low, let's move on.
Bush has just as much innocent blood on his hands as Bin Laden or Saddam...just because he was our leader doen't change the facts.
The U.S is famous for double standards, do as we say, not as we do..

[mtmynd]

tonyc, Obama would wreck is train if he attempted to do what you think he should. I personally don't think that it would be worth the revenge you seek. Think a bit deeper into the overall outcome if, by some quirk, Obama did what you think he should. Seriously. He may make you happy as a 4 year old on Christmas, but there are over 300+ million other folks, and I'd bet that a majority may disagree with that attack at this time.

[Lightning Rod]

I see the moral force of your argument, tonyc
they are rascals and rats and they should rot in hell and I'm sure they will
but it's not my job, and it's not our job to exact vengeance
our job is to move forward and fix what they fucked up

[tonyc]

True, as time goes on and people realize what the Bush adminstration did to this country and the world, I'll bet attitudes will change.
It just dawned on me though, since when is upholding the oath "optional" ?
It seems to me Obama is obligated to uphold the laws of this land, he could risk becoming a coconspirator..time will tell.

[tonyc]

This was the thread I meant to bump....it's fianlly is going down!!
The sweet smell of success!!!

The ACLU called on Monday for Obama to appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate those who took part in "horrific acts of torture," as the political row deepened over Bush-era legal memos justifying the tactics released by the White House last week.
It seized on the memos and a new Senate report suggesting top Bush administration officials were behind interrogation practices that spread from Guantanamo Bay to Afghanistan to Iraq.
New evidence "makes frighteningly clear that some of the darkest moments in our country's recent past were choreographed at the highest levels of government," ACLU counsel Christopher Anders said.
"The people who were at the very top of the Bush administration and those at the top of the chain of command must be held accountable."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090422/pl ... vJe9t34T0D

[Barry]

I said this years ago to someone at another website...before it actually happened...now it has...Bush has supplanted Nixon as the worst , most heinous president in history. To do what you suggest, Tonyc, only further "glorifies" him in his own mind. Best to just let him whimper and die quietly, in my opinion.

[tonyc]

If that theory where true, then.... should we let Bin Laden " whimper and die quietly"...why "glorify" him?
There's a difference between "glorifying" and bringing to justice.
If we do that for Bush then we should open the prisons and let every murderer, crook and con man in the world go free.
WE would have no further need for the justice system..why glorify anyone?

[Barry]

Ford pardoned Nixon, allowing him to whimper and die quietly, going to his grave unable to shake the knowledge of who he was and is to history.

What other punishment could be worse, from the standpoint of the perpetrator?

Or by "justice" do you really mean vengeance?

[the mingo]

Vengeance hell. How about some good old coldblooded revenge, served up in the same manner the injury & death was served to us? The world watches what we do. The world watches our moves. So do our enemies. Not to mention our so-called allies. What our enemies & allies have learned watching us these past 40 years is that we are paralyzed by bold actions. The world is not a utopia or a religious retreat. As it is we cannot sit solidly in the company of our father's fathers. Not with our heads held up. It's past time for Bin Laden's death. It won't mean much now. Still, it needs to be done. Those that mean to do us harm have long since come to the conclusion that we are a nation of swallowers. Our enemies have no belief in "justice". They believe only in death. We are well positioned to give it to them and to all those who would offer them sanctuary.

[Nazz]

Yes. Eye for an eye. Simple enough.