FISA Obermann and Obama

Really. this is a "must watch" set of videos. Usually, I don't have patience for corporate media, but Obermann has done his homework on this. The "key" point is what he says about "criminal" prosecution of telecom companies, which apparently isn't closed by the FISA legislation. We can make change if we push on this issue collecitvely.

Part 1

Part 2

Keith Olbermann discusses Sen. Barack Obama's second chance to vote on the FISA bill & still show voters that he can stand on principle through the advantage of a loophole within the bill.

Mukasey: We Cannot Indict Ourselves for Waterboarding

Orwell would say, "I told you so."

Attorney General Mukasey explains why his department cannot initiate a criminal probe of waterboarding:

Waterboarding, because it was authorized to be part of a program ... cannot possibly be the subject of a Justice Department investigation,

OK, then we need a higher authority than the Department of Justice to do the investigation. Now we know another reason the dark side doesn't want to be part of the international court.

We've heard of "Justice delayed is justice denied." In this case, it's simply "justice denied."

Sources:

Washingon Post, Mukasey Rejects Criminal Probe into Waterboarding, February 7, 2008.
W

Preserve Right to Criminal Prosecution of Bush

For the next three weeks the blog takes to the road. Last time I did this I was exposed to the NYC Mentality.

OK. So there's a debate about the wisdom of impeaching Bush. I side with those who say Impeach Bush and Cheney to set the record straight for history, and to deter future Presidents from abusing power.

Despite Pelosi's "off-the-table" proclamation, the impeachment process is happening; that's because it is an organic process that unravels on it's own, just like the GOP support for the Iraq war is unraveling.

Politics is the art of the possible. The US House of Representatives should impeach Bush and Cheney with an explicit provision that the Senate need not act on the impeachment. This would avoid the question of double-jeopardy, thereby preserving the right to criminally prosecute Bush for capital offenses (See Update).

This is a win-win compromise for the progressive camps on both sides of the impeachment debate. It addresses the concerns of people like Senator Sherrod Brown who think Rove and others will exploit the situation by having the press say, "Give Democrats power, and see what they do with it? Spend time on vindictive acts rather than solving problems of the people."

The talk needs to turn to criminal prosecution of Bush Administration officials. Once we get Bush over the barrel, with capital punishment in play, then we can start talking about a grand compromise that will redistribute some of our stolen wealth.