Lapdogs To The Drop
Much of the evidence for our government's complicity when we actually acknowledged war crimes as being illegal, has been forever destroyed. Cheney, Rumsfeld, Bush I, and many others likely feel more and more like they have gotten away with providing Saddam with WMD's for use against Iran and his own dissidents. I like to think that most of our country was disgusted by the execution. If it had been done without good old Texas style mockery of the condemned, (Google on Bush and "Karla Faye Tucker" and you'll see that mocking those about to die is a standing tradition with w.) it wouldn't have been so egregious to many, though the whole kangaroo court should be shameful to anybody with even a modicum of integrity or courage.
Let's take a quick look at our vicious little neocons. They'd jail drug abusers (except for the Rushes), and as for drug dealer? Well, they are targeted for much harsher punishment, both by law enforcement and legislation. Should we let arms dealers off the hook? Let's insist that we be consistent, and go after the arms dealers who supplied, enabled, and encouraged Saddam. Wouldn't leave many people in the white house, and only a craven coward would say we should let war criminals off the hook for the good of the country. If that sort of acceptance of atrocities is good for the country, we have a lot more fixing to do.
I didn't support Ford's pardon of Nixon. He did not do it heal the country, that's what neo-con historians (fiction writers) would have you believe. Look at the actual interviews, where Gerald Ford stated his reason for pardoning Nixon was because he considered Tricky Dick a great friend and warm human being. I don't recall him ever qualifying his reason. Not to run down Ford any more than he did to himself by elevating amoral people like Cheney and Rumsfeld. He had the appearance of a nice man, and was less of an entity in the oval office than Carter. Letting Nixon off the hook was wrong. If he'd been held accountable maybe the current crop of corruption would have been a little more circumspect. Our leadership is so damaged, dishonest, self-deluded, and arrogant I don't think they would have been curtailed, but the specter of accountability would surely have been enough to disillusion some of their accomplices. But, the blatant abuse of power was never prosecuted, and became to many conservatives an admirable goal reflecting the good days.
For the good of the world we cannot let w's crimes go unanswered. We didn't have the courage to stop his headlong rush into an illegal and unjustified war that has killed over 3000 US troops, and tens, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. It would take more courage and integrity to bring w and company to task now. Will we as a nation rediscover the courage needed?
If there are any chickenshits out there who want to pardon President gw bush, I'll compromise. My idea is let's drop one charge against w for every questionable death sentence he commuted while governor of Texas. Oops, he signed more death warrants than any governor in the history of Texas. Too bad a really fair and appropriate clemency program would not even get a parking ticket overturned for w.
Let's take a quick look at our vicious little neocons. They'd jail drug abusers (except for the Rushes), and as for drug dealer? Well, they are targeted for much harsher punishment, both by law enforcement and legislation. Should we let arms dealers off the hook? Let's insist that we be consistent, and go after the arms dealers who supplied, enabled, and encouraged Saddam. Wouldn't leave many people in the white house, and only a craven coward would say we should let war criminals off the hook for the good of the country. If that sort of acceptance of atrocities is good for the country, we have a lot more fixing to do.
I didn't support Ford's pardon of Nixon. He did not do it heal the country, that's what neo-con historians (fiction writers) would have you believe. Look at the actual interviews, where Gerald Ford stated his reason for pardoning Nixon was because he considered Tricky Dick a great friend and warm human being. I don't recall him ever qualifying his reason. Not to run down Ford any more than he did to himself by elevating amoral people like Cheney and Rumsfeld. He had the appearance of a nice man, and was less of an entity in the oval office than Carter. Letting Nixon off the hook was wrong. If he'd been held accountable maybe the current crop of corruption would have been a little more circumspect. Our leadership is so damaged, dishonest, self-deluded, and arrogant I don't think they would have been curtailed, but the specter of accountability would surely have been enough to disillusion some of their accomplices. But, the blatant abuse of power was never prosecuted, and became to many conservatives an admirable goal reflecting the good days.
For the good of the world we cannot let w's crimes go unanswered. We didn't have the courage to stop his headlong rush into an illegal and unjustified war that has killed over 3000 US troops, and tens, if not hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians. It would take more courage and integrity to bring w and company to task now. Will we as a nation rediscover the courage needed?
If there are any chickenshits out there who want to pardon President gw bush, I'll compromise. My idea is let's drop one charge against w for every questionable death sentence he commuted while governor of Texas. Oops, he signed more death warrants than any governor in the history of Texas. Too bad a really fair and appropriate clemency program would not even get a parking ticket overturned for w.
1 Comments:
Here, here! It was constitutionally questionable for Ford to pardon Nixon anyhow. Impeachment is not a pardonable crime. However, that would have left it up to Congress to pursue and they dropped the matter. Ford was constitutionally correct to pardon Nixon for crimes punishable by the Federal, state, and municipal courts, but not the process by Congress.
I don't think Ford did this country any favors by pardoning Nixon. Pardoning Nixon accomplished a few things. It aided the belief (and in practice, it's true) that some people in this country are above prosecution, such as presidents. That undermines the so-called "rule of law" principles on which we're supposedly founded. This added to the cynicism already present regarding our politicians (much of the public knew Nixon was guilty of crimes before Congress got serious about pursuing it). My parents, originally Nixon supporters, used to curse Nixon up a storm long before Congress got to consider impeachment. By the time that they did consider it, my mother had tried and convicted Tricky Dick based on the news reports and cursed Congress for interrupting her soap operas when it was obvious what had happened.
Finally, pardoning Nixon denied us closure in the situation. It undermined democracy, allowing a crook to get away with such blatant crimes really did more damage to our national psyche than anything Carter or Reagan dreamed up. As someone who didn't like Reagan, that's saying something.
A customer asked me if our store had Ford's funeral off. I suggested that as state employees we weren't far enough down the ladder of incompetence to gain a holiday for that man. Then I asked rhetorically what Gerald Ford ever did for me? I was happy to not have the day off. Now, if they wanted to give me a day off for James Brown, someone who uplifted and gifted my life in so many ways and who was also a flawed human being, then I'd gladly accept.
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