Again and again we hear the
flimsy argument from Obama and his top advisors that he wants to look forward
and not backward. This is tortured
logic when it comes to delivering justice in a nation supposedly cherishing the
rule of law.
The fundamental logic of honoring
and applying the rule of law fairly to absolutely everyone is that people who
have broken the law in the past must be held accountable and placed into the
justice system after they have misbehaved.
In other words, there is no actionable rule of law other than by looking
backward into past misdeeds. So how
can rational and intelligent people follow the logic of Obama and still believe
that he truly understands and honors the rule of law?
It is not believable when Obama
says he will honor the rule of law in the future. Why should we trust his rhetoric when he
refuses to enforce the rule of law for past actions by some of the most powerful
people in America?
There is warranted and massive
public disapproval of government as evidenced in the tea parties held across the
nation last week. How can Americans
respect government when it is so evident that the president stubbornly refuses
to seek justice and punishment for those that have violated the public
trust? Obama’s reluctance to seek
justice for those that have damaged the nation undermines his credibility as an
honest public servant.
All of this has taken on new
importance as official documents from the Bush administration totally support
the view that the US tortured prisoners in violation of
international and domestic laws.
President George W. Bush lied to us. And even before the latest events there
were surely incredible amounts of evidence that high Bush administration
officials savaged our Constitution.
The constitutional balance of powers among the three branches of
government has become a fiction.
What Americans have every right
to see is a large number of former elected and appointed officials in the Bush
administration as well as many in the financial sector being arrested, indicted
and confronted with criminal trials.
Americans want to see aggressive prosecution and punishment. They want and deserve revenge and
retribution, considering the astounding pain and suffering the vast majority of
Americans now experience.
We have every right to see in the
public limelight what the world saw after World War II when Nazi criminals were
tried and punished on the world stage.
This is not happening because
Obama seems to have more allegiance to the plutocracy that brought him to the
presidency than to the public that has seen thousands of Americans killed in the
unjust war in Iraq and now see their families,
friends and neighbors suffering loss of jobs, retirement nest eggs, financial
security, personal health and homes.
When any politician does not enforce the rule of law then I worry that he
or she may fear having the rule of law applied to them.
We have witnessed crimes against
humanity. We want President Obama
to show complete commitment to the rule of law so that the many lying, corrupt
and criminal Americans from both the public and private sectors that have caused
so much harm are punished. That
includes Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld and many, many others in the Bush
administration, including those that were supposed to regulate the financial
sector.
Obama and his underlings seem to
say that doing this would be a distraction and a waste of time. Nuts! It is exactly what the nation needs to
rebuild confidence in government and the justice system. On the positive side, there are some in
Congress showing interest in prosecuting many culprits. But the White House may be exerting
pressure behind the scenes to limit their actions.
Applying the rule of law: If not
now, then when? Yes, we can and
should.
[Contact Joel S. Hirschhorn
through delusionaldemocracy.com.]