Sunday, February 15, 2009
Finally, Some Movement... And From Inside BushWorld, Surprisingly
There's a bowl of hot, steaming stuff waiting for new Attorney General Eric Holder Jr., left over from some of the few decent Americans who actually existed and attempted to work within the Bush White House.3 comments
Isikoff: A Torture Report Could Spell Big Trouble For Bush LawyersAn internal Justice Department report on the conduct of senior lawyers who approved waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics is causing anxiety among former Bush administration officials.
Side question: Shouldn't all Bush-era officials—lawyers, or not—be suffering anxiety while waiting for all the various shoes to start falling? With two-thirds of the nation already on-board with either outright prosecution or investigation-then-prosecution-if-warranted, it would seem that the swelling tide of justice is heading in the GOP's direction, despite Barack Obama's footdragging. [One would think that a new, Recession/Depression-proof industry is emerging in selling clean undies to Republican former officials.]
The fact that the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) within the Department of Justice submitted their report damning the torture memos written by former White House counsel John Yoo and [former head of the White House Office of Legal Counsel (OLC)] Jay Bybee just as the Bushies were getting ready to take one final walk out the door appears to be classic Greek-tragedy justice. "Oh, by the way, John and Jay, thanks for all your help during the Bush years, and BTW, you're screwed. Have a nice day."Another nugget in Michael Isikoff's piece:
If Holder accepts the OPR findings, the report could be forwarded to state bar associations for possible disciplinary action.
Question: Would Boalt Hall, the law school of UC-Berkeley, still stand steadfastly by their employment of John Yoo, if that meant they were employing a law professor who'd just been disbarred? Can't see many young wannabe lawyers signing up for THAT class... Just sayin'.
I love this bit from Isikoff's story:[Former Attorney General Michael] Mukasey, in speeches before he left, decried the second-guessing of Justice lawyers who, acting under "almost unimaginable pressure" after 9/11, offered "their best judgment of what the law required."
That Mukasey—he's such a kidder.
Of course, it can be safely assumed that the "almost unimaginable pressure" after 9/11 came directly from Vice President Dick Cheney for them to give "their best judgment of what the [VP] required."OPR investigators focused on whether the memo's authors deliberately slanted their legal advice to provide the White House with the conclusions it wanted, according to three former Bush lawyers who asked not to be identified discussing an ongoing probe.
Another interesting tidbit we just spotted:...according to three former Bush lawyers who asked not to be identified discussing an ongoing probe
I wonder how the Right's going to react to anonymously sourced material headed in their direction for a change. This coming, of course, after we've suffered through eight years of "according to a Senior Administration Official" and other high-level leakers among the Bushies and their toadies on the Hill and in the military running almost daily to selected pre-approved reporters to offer that day's smears and talking points.
We continue to be surprised by the number of actual professionals who got past the Bush radar, and tried to do the best job they could for the nation, while spending every workday ass-deep in Bush apparatchiks.But the OPR probe began after Jack Goldsmith, a Bush appointee who took over OLC in 2003, protested the legal arguments made in the memos. Goldsmith resigned the following year after withdrawing the memos, and later wrote that he was "astonished" by the "deeply flawed" and "sloppily reasoned" legal analysis in the memos by Yoo and Bybee, including their assertion (challenged by many scholars) that the president could unilaterally disregard a law passed by Congress banning torture.
America thanks you, Mr. Goldsmith.
posted by Gotham 10:17 AM
3 Comments:
"Shouldn't all Bush-era officials—lawyers, or not—be suffering anxiety while waiting for all the various shoes to start falling? With two-thirds of the nation already on-board with either outright prosecution or investigation-then-prosecution-if-warranted, it would seem that the swelling tide of justice is heading in the GOP's direction, despite Barack Obama's footdragging."
I'm gonna give this admn the benefit of the doubt and assume they want to get the country back on track economically before fully embarking on a cleanup of Bush 43's corruption, malfeasance, and disregard for the rule of law.
You see, the magnitude and scope of what these people perpetrated would take the duration of three admns to process. And with both a full-blown economic recession threatening to go supernova, as well as two wars to contend with--not to mention the Obama agenda itself--they'll have to choose wisely and efficiently when approaching these matters.
At least, I hope so.
By 
Kiko Jones, at
February 19, 2009 3:59 AM
Selectivity is key, yes.
However, the areas of governmemtal purview are many, and while those entrusted with the economic turnaround must focus tightly on that nightmare, the hundreds of other federal offices are free to fumigate, investigate and prosecute any manner of malfeasance from Bushies past.
By Gotham, at
February 21, 2009 5:29 PM
As usual, you make a good point. Let's hope there's enough time and effort to accomplish both.
By Kiko Jones, at
February 23, 2009 8:01 AM
