You may have a point.

on the money.

thanks for the new cite.

If it comes down, or will come down, to a choice between obtaining convictions of clearly-complicit actors in the Executive Branch now or after they leave office and re-establishing the balance of powers between our Legislative and Executive Branches of government by moving very soon to impeach those who have earned it regardless of future pardons, my choice is absolutely the latter. Because the balance of powers between the branches affects our liberty as citizens and as a nation, whereas the former – without the latter – simply affects the liberty of a handful of individuals.

I hope we can do both. We ought to be able to do both, if we plan carefully and execute competently. But first Congress has to overcome its reluctance to fight off the inertia of the status quo and the apparently overwhelming desire by its Members to continue taking the path of least resistance to the bullies in the Executive Branch. So I see the effort to convince Congress to act as battle one – if they agree to act, then other options open to us and to them.

Without that Congressional willingness to act beyond their committee oversight function (which is supposed to be connected with a legislative purpose, by and large), we are left to the discretion of Executive Branch prosecutors who may pick up on compelling discoveries unearthed by Congressional oversight hearings and related investigations at some point, or to the willingness of other countries to try to hold us to account, as regards punishment for the complicit individuals involved. But neither of those options can directly rebalance our federal government for us, as is desperately needed. Congress alone (with an occasional assist from the Judicial Branch) has the ability to effect that vital rebalancing, and committee oversight activity is very unlikely to accomplish that objective on its own. [Nevermind that we should not let a precedent be established that such committee activity is the only “power” Congress now wields against the Executive Branch in any meaningful way - which Pelosi’s “off the table” dictate along with her refusal to acknowledge the power of the House not to fund (beyond a date certain or otherwise) and refusal to speak of or use the war powers of Congress to end the Iraq conflict, have all now effectively managed to tell the nation and the world is the case.]

In short, there are profound positives for our nation, its Constitution, and its future that would directly result from the assertion of inherent Congressional powers to impeach, and to unilaterally vote to end the occupation of Iraq, that go beyond whether or not Bush, Cheney, Gonzales or anybody else also ends up in prison as a result of that assertion of power. If the complicit actors do escape jail time, it will in no small part be a result of the Legislative Branch’s failure to effectively act during the Iran-Contra era and before and since. So although we obviously cannot now prevent the Bush/Cheney regime or maybe even ever effectively punish it (though we must try), we can learn from our mistakes and rebalance the Constitutional powers so as to prevent a future repeat of the grave damage done to our nation and its Constitution by other bad actors trying to assert Cheney’s doctrine of unlimited Executive Branch power without challenge from the Legislative Branch. Those lessons must be learned, and acted upon, by Congress on our behalf.

TeddySanFran @ 4

No Pardons for War Crimes. It’s really that simple.

Are you proposing a constitutional amendment?

Exactly. We can chant the slogan as much as we like — and BTW I’m in complete agreement with it — but none of us is going to wielding the pen on 1/19/09 as the clock ticks down to midnight. The Constitution gives the president unrestricted pardon powers, and when an outgoing president has lost his last election, he can do as he pleases without fearing another “accountability moment,” in Bush’s deathless phrase.

What we need to think about is how to persuade or pressure him to hold off. Here’s a question for the constitutional lawyers in residence: can an outgoing president pardon himself? If yes, we’re fucked. If no, how about sending this message: Go ahead, do as you like, pardon Cheney and Gonzalez and Condi and Rummy and all the rest, but if you do, YOU’RE going to personally take the fall for all of them. We’re talking prison time, Dubya baby.

Think that would get his attention?

http://www.firedoglake.com/200…..r-america/