Dick Cheney and former US AG Alberto Gonzalez Indicted

[bascule]

That's what's so evil about them!

 

I'm game if you are, bascule!

 

Okay, how about this: the loser must verbally dictate an SFN nutter (e.g. MotorDaddy, Graviphoton) post of the winner's choosing and post an MP3. Limit 1000 words, or something.

[Pangloss]

Lol, ok, I like that one too.

 

So I win if Obama pardons Bush for any reason, and you win if Bush is successfully prosecuted for any reason?

[bascule]

So I win if Obama pardons Bush for any reason, and you win if Bush is successfully prosecuted for any reason?

 

How about we set a deadline... say 1 year after Obama's inauguration... if Obama pardons Bush before then you win, if he doesn't I win

[Pangloss]

I'd be pretty foolish to take that bet. Obama won't pardon him unless he actually faces charges, for obvious reasons.

 

On further thought, though, I can't really think of a great way to stipulate it. It occurs to me that White House operatives could call presumably-Democratic-party prosecutors and let them know that dropping the charges would help them win a second term (avoiding Gerald Ford's fate), so you'd win under most scenarios even if Bush faced charges.

 

Oh well, it was an interesting idea.

[bascule]

Well, in other news, the Wall Street Journal reports that, according to Bush Administration insiders, Bush doesn't plan to grant clemency to officials involved in the administration's alleged crimes:

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122756675347954409.html

[bascule]

And the charges against Cheney and Gonzales were unsurprisingly dismissed:

 

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=6371489

[iNow]

If I read that article correctly, they got off because they never appeared in court, and on other technicalities like alternate jurors being inproperly substituted one day. That's our legal system for you. Guilty until dismissed by procedural nonsense.

 

 

[Administrative Judge]Banales withheld judgment on whether probable cause existed for the Cheney and Gonzales indictments because they were not represented in court and did not present any argument.

 

Banales dismissed all eight indictments because GEO Group attorney Tony Canales showed that two alternate jurors were part of the panel that day but had not been properly substituted.

[Pangloss]

This is almost as much of a yawner as that story going around about how Hillary's appointment as SecState is unconstitutional because of a pay raise during her tenure in office (explicitly forbidden under Article 1, Section 6).

 

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/11/25/1688640.aspx

 

Here's to four years of extremists having nothing effective to sink their teeth into. We should be so lucky.

[bascule]

Here's to four years of extremists having nothing effective to sink their teeth into. We should be so lucky.

 

While I'll happily admit these charges were bogus, they do nothing to dissuade me of my opinion that both these individuals, and Bush, have committed criminal acts and should be held accountable, regardless of if it's politically expedient or not.

 

I'd rather the political gridlock continue than setting a precedent that a President can give the middle finger to the Constitution, Geneva convention, federal law, etc. I guess I think justice is more important than politics, but perhaps you see this desire for justice as more "partisanship".

 

Clinton lying about a blowjob? Trying to impeach him for that is a brazenly partisan affair. Bush outing undercover CIA operatives because of a personal vendetta, authorizing the torture of prisoners, and spying on Americans without warrants? I find it hard to see how wanting to hold him accountable for those things is "partisan".

 

But I won't blame Obama if he prevents pursuit of criminal charges against Bush, Cheney, etc. We've been through two years of political gridlock. In the time the Democrats were sitting around getting the lowest approval ratings in Congressional history and not passing legislation, they could've been pursuing these charges instead. It would've been a more opportune time.

Edited December 3, 2008 by bascule

[D H]

If I read that article correctly, they got off because they never appeared in court, and on other technicalities like alternate jurors being inproperly substituted one day. That's our legal system for you. Guilty until dismissed by procedural nonsense.

You read it incorrectly.

 

The jurors in question were grand jurors, not petit trial jurors. Cheney and Gonzalez didn't have to appear in court; this was a pretrial dismissal hearing. The defense attorneys did not have to present the defense case; doing so is inappropriate at a dismissal hearing. I suspect that this was the opening salvo of a series of requests for dismissal. The next shot would surely have been a request for dismissal on the grounds that the prosecutor had no case. The defense did not have to make this second request because they hit the target with the first shot.

[iNow]

An informative and welcome correction. Thanks, DH.

[Pangloss]

While I'll happily admit these charges were bogus, they do nothing to dissuade me of my opinion that both these individuals, and Bush, have committed criminal acts and should be held accountable, regardless of if it's politically expedient or not.

 

I'd rather the political gridlock continue than setting a precedent that a President can give the middle finger to the Constitution, Geneva convention, federal law, etc. I guess I think justice is more important than politics, but perhaps you see this desire for justice as more "partisanship".

 

Clinton lying about a blowjob? Trying to impeach him for that is a brazenly partisan affair. Bush outing undercover CIA operatives because of a personal vendetta, authorizing the torture of prisoners, and spying on Americans without warrants? I find it hard to see how wanting to hold him accountable for those things is "partisan".

 

But I won't blame Obama if he prevents pursuit of criminal charges against Bush, Cheney, etc. We've been through two years of political gridlock. In the time the Democrats were sitting around getting the lowest approval ratings in Congressional history and not passing legislation, they could've been pursuing these charges instead. It would've been a more opportune time.

 

Great post.