Hopefully, the Bush administration will prove just as wrong on this issue as they've proved on so many others.The White House isn't inclined to grant sweeping pardons for former administration officials involved in harsh interrogations and detentions of terror suspects, according to people familiar with the situation.
Some Republicans have been pushing for President George W. Bush to grant pre-emptive clemency to officials who fear being investigated . . . . White House officials have countered that such pardons are unnecessary, these people say. The officials point to Justice Department legal opinions that supported the administration's methods of detaining and interrogating terror suspects.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Wrong Again? There's a report out that the Bush administration is not going to give pre-emptive torture pardons because it doesn't think such pardons are necessary.
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4 comments:
I can't say that bush pardoning criminals would be a good thing at this point. The illuminati hates him so much that any opportunity to criticize him more at the end of his term might be what sticks with him the most and carries over to be blamed for Obama's mistakes
Who are the "illuminati?" Is that the latest name right-wingers have developed for Obama supporters?
But the point about who is going to be blamed is interesting.
The issue can be broken down into three questions?
1. Who caused the problem?
2. Did they address the problem competently?
3. Did they succeed in solving the problem?
Personally, I think Obama is going to skate on most issues and rightfully so.
Difficult problems like the Iraq War, Guantamo, torture, the financial meltdown, and soaring budget deficits are rightfully associated with the Bush administration.
Likewise, the Bush administration was incompetent in dealing with these issues. Likewise, much of their incompetence owed to their conservative ideology.
All the Obama administration needs to show is that its addressing the issues in a competent manner.
If the issues can be resolved great through competent action, great. If they can't, then people are going to blame Bush.
I'm not sure how Bush could really grant pre-emptive clemency. He'd either have to absolve officials for every crime conceivable or explicitly detail what crimes were actually being absolved. The Bush administration is all about appearances and they don't want to sully their reputations. They still deny officially sanctioned torture has taken place despite overwhelming evidence that it has.
Also, once granted, pardons would serve the same purpose as immunity and a pardoned official would lose the ability to remain silent on the grounds to prevent self-incrimination. They couldn't refuse to testify about the crimes they'd been pardoned for, under penalty of perjury. That could implicate Bush and Cheney and I doubt they'll leave themselves open to legal jeopardy.
We in Kentucky found out that the pardon could be used pre-emptively when the last Republican governor pardoned everybody connected to a hiring scandal.
But the point about immunity is well taken.
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