The Political Corruption Plaguing America Goes A Lot Deeper Than Torture
Bill Lindner
April 27, 2009
President Obama's recent release of more sadistic Bush administration torture memos -- detailing among other things how to slam prisoners against walls, how many days he/she can be kept awake without sleep and what to tell him/her before locking them up in a box with an insect -- as noted by the New York Times, takes us on a journey into depravity. The political corruption plaguing America goes a lot deeper than torture.
The torture memos were written by politically corrupt Bush administration Justice Department lawyers as an attempt to justify illegal, immoral acts with the blessings of former Bush administration officials, including Bush, Cheney, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and the Director of Intelligence.
Despite passages on the memos being written by Jay Bybee -- who went from being an assistant Attorney General to being appointed as a federal judge by Bush after providing the 'legal,' albeit it delusional, basis for justifying torture -- about a waterboarding contraption that lurches a prisoner upright if he stops breathing while being waterboarded and having doctors working for the CIA, many people died at the hands of Bush administration torturers.
Americans are still far too unaware of the levels of Bush's delusional dictatorship. Until more is known about who set the rules for torturing and illegally spying on Americans, sanctioned by a corrupt Congress, and who approved them -- as well as Bush's delusional justification of such abuses -- America's system of justice will remain profoundly broken and the risk of these abuses reoccuring will remain high. More on the torturers' manifesto can be found in this article from the New York Times. Bush wasn't protecting America. Bush was on a personal, illegal power trip that had nothing to do with keeping America safe and everything to do with making him and his buddies richer at the cost of every American.
Bush's Politicization of the Justice Department
Three of the released memos from May 2005, as noted by Robert Parry, may be more significant in destroying the 'legal' cover used by President Bush and his cabinet to hide behind while claiming they were operating within legal parameters set by lawyers at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Professional lawyers provided skewered objective legal advice and the Bush administration followed it.
Those claims collide with the fact that other Justice Department lawyers, from 2003 to 2005, overturned the initial 2002 memo authorizing torture and the 2005 memos indicate that Bush went shopping for lawyers who would craft opinions beneficial to the White House after the the other lawyers were ousted for not going along with Bush's plans.
Politicized Justice Department lawyers whose double speak twisted words around to be interpreted any way the president wanted -- backed by like-minded Presidentially appointed judges both in federa courts and the U.S. Supreme court, as evidenced by the 2000 election that was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court -- has continuously resulted in negated laws that protect no one.
Justice Department prosecutions are supposed to be made independent of all political considerations, including the White House and the President. Some of the most recent scandals of the past several decades that have erupted from politicized Justice can be found in this article by Glenn Greenwald.
It is the duty of the Justice Department, and ultimately the Attorney General, to make decisions to prosecute crimes based on the law, not politics. It's irrelevent whether or not Obama favors prosecutions. Also noted by Mr. Greenwald is the fact that honest DoJ lawyers have a tendency to safeguard their apolitical independence and having a White House trying to influence those decisions is a form or corruption.
Old Crimes Written Off While New Crimes Continue
President Obama should be applauded for releasing more of the Bush torture memos. However, Obama's decision not to hold those accountable for 'just following orders' is deplorable, not to mention a direct violation of American and International law -- and not his decision to make. The Nazis tried using the 'they were just following orders' defense during the Nuremberg trials but it didn't work. Legally, Obama cannot make the decision to prosecute or not prosecute those who committed the torture either.
As noted by Glenn Greenwald, Obama perpetuated what has become the most destructive premise in America's political culture: namely, that impunity is only for high government officials who are caught committing serious crimes. That mindset has destroyed the rule of law in the U.S. and spawned massive criminality in our elite class.
For the past several decades, holding political leaders accountable for their crimes has been scorned as 'retribution' and 'laying blame for the past' and those who believe the rule of law applies to everyone have been demonized. The old crimes keep being written off while the new crimes keep going on. It's time to change that. Citizens should be demanding accountability for the political leaders who have authorized these egregious crimes against humanity. Either the rule of law applies to everyone, or it applies to no one.
Despite former Vice President Cheney's bloviating on Faux News that the torture worked and the Wall Street Journal's assinine claims that the released memos prove we didn't torture, we did. It's pathetically evident when major 'News' sources start lying and spreading propaganda to keep Bush cabal crimes covered up. Both 'News' sources are owned by Rupert Murdoch, the chief propagandist for the Bush administration and both sources should be recognized for what they are, not to mentions put out of business.
Anyone who actually believes the CIA is going to tell the truth about torture will inevitably be sadly mistaken. The CIA is a secret, oftentimes not too bright, spy agency that specializes in lies and deception, regularly using that deception against Americans as well as intentionally spreading propaganda. Waterboarding a patsy the government alleges is responsible for 9/11 183 times in one month has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with sadistic war crimes and is nothing more than one majorly blatant lie. Once again Cheney and the CIA are spreading the West Coast 9/11 lie that has been repeatedly debunked.
Cheney is right about one thing: Obama and the CIA should release the remaining torture memos and everything else that has to do with Bush administration torture, including the tapes. It would be interesting to see one of the prefabricated Bush administration reports that Cheney says proves torture works -- if for nothing else than putting the final nail in the Bush administration's coffin. Obama needs to make sure ALL of the evidence is preserved and not shredded or otherwise destroyed.
Bush Administration Crimes Involve A Lot More Than Torture
One other thing that makes Bush's torture policy so disgusting is how Bush officials tried to shift the blame for detainee abuse to low-ranking soldiers while trying to weasel their way out of it. This article from the New York Times details a series of high-level meetings in 2002 where the United States -- with no dissent whatsoever from cabinet members or lawmakers -- officially embraced Bush's brutal methods of interrogation and torture. Another report from the New York Times offers more details on the approval of interrogation techniques.
As noted by Richard Blair, don't just follow the shiny torture object -- look deeper -- one of the many egregious crimes was using torture as a tool to establish a false connection between al Qaida and Saddam Hussein. And don't forget, Bush and his cabal used at least 935 lies to justify attacking Iraq. You have 8 years -- again, courtesy of a corrupt, politicized U.S. Supreme Court -- of blatant deceptions and lies utilized by Bush for personal gain and to fuel his fantasies. Don't forget the fact that Bush administration complicity allowed attacks -- evidence points to another infamous false flag attack -- on September 11, 2001 to happen. Thousands of people died to advance an egregious, treasonous presidential agenda and it's time to hold the Bush administration accountable for those treasonous actions.
9/11 was an inside job. Al Qaeda wasn't involved in the attacks. Treasonous insiders of the Bush administration were and it goes all the way to the top. The government has a history of repeatedly capturing, killing -- or saying they never existed -- and re-capturing alleged Al Qaeda leaders, the most recent being Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. In fact, the CIA has a history of posing as Al Qaeda.
Congress has repeatedly proven to be the perfect example of the need for term limits. The past 8 years under an egregiously corrupted presidential administration serve as the perfect example of why there need to be limits on how long people can serve in politics -- Cheney goes back to the Nixon administration -- and how long politically appointed judges can be given free reign to spread political beliefs as well as the damage that can be incurred by having felonious politicians in charge of running what was once the greatest Democracy in the world into the ground.
People of the World Have Earned the Right to Know the Truth
Senator McCain seems to think a torture probe would be a witch hunt. He seems to have conveniently forgotten about the witch hunt started by the Bush administration to find justification for illegally invading Iraq and Afghanistan and the many people killed and tortured because of it. A torture probe would be a mistake though if it's conducted by politicians since it would inevitably end up being used by them to keep information covered up. McCain -- like the vast majority of those involved in Bush's crimes -- does not want any investigations since it would reveal the truth about how many politicians were complicit in the Bush cabal crimes. It's comical, in a sad way, listening to the excuses being bloviated by those who don't want a probe or any investigation. The stupidity is astounding.
A lot of Republicans in Congress are too busy imploding, trying to keep their complicity in aiding Bush's delusional dictatorship hidden and definitely don't want any investigations. McCain is playing Cheney's game of trying to portray having an investigation as a witch hunt. Moving forward and not looking back after pardoning Nixon, as noted by Talking Points Memo, set the stage for Iran-Contra and the the Bush administration's myriad law breaking. Not doing anything about it will inevitably end up costing this country even more that it cannot afford to pay when the next president who comes along wanting to intentionally destroy many parts of the world with their dangerous egotistical fantasies will do so knowing they can do it with impunity since they'll know that no one will do anything about it. As noted by Paul Krugman, the only way America can regain its moral compass is to investigate what happened the past 8 years, and if necessary, to prosecute those responsible.
As I've written many times in the past, top Democrats are vehemently opposed to an independent inquiry because they were complicit in allowing and covering up Bush's torture. President Obama is also opposed to a truth panel. Investigating Bush's torture crimes has nothing to do with being afraid of political repercussions. It has everything to do with trying to keep Democratic leaders out of trouble. Congress has repeatedly passed egregious, unconstitutional 'legislation' Ex Post Facto to cover up and attempt to legalize Bush's crimes.
The only people objecting to an investigation are those with something to hide. If you were innocent you would want an investigation to prove your innocence. Entirely too much secrecy has been utilized by the U.S. Government in order to keep treasonous torture information as well as egregious, illegal wiretapping conducted under the orders of Bush covered up. Excuses of 'states secrets' and 'national security' are smoke screens designed to keep the treasonous violations of law covered up. It's time to put an end to the secrecy and it's time for accountability.
Large corrupt corporations have controlled the U.S. Government long enough too. It's time to change lobbying laws and the control large corporations have over the government.
Unfortunately, it's gotten to the point of not being able to trust politicians -- let alone any federal agency, especially those concocted during the past 8 years -- in Washington. If they're not being blackmailed -- which under the Bush administration would come as no surprise -- into submission, they're being bought off for their corruption, until of course the plans they've supported being used against other Americans are suddenly used against them. Letting politicians investigate themselves is a waste of time and money, usually used to keep their crimes covered up. The 9/11 commission reminded us of that. It's time for independent, reliable third-party investigations to get to the truth about 9/11, torture, the many politically enabled Wall Street frauds and many of the other pandemics plaguing America. We the People of America and the rest of the world deserve the truth and have the right to know after everything we've been subject to.
The torture memos were written by politically corrupt Bush administration Justice Department lawyers as an attempt to justify illegal, immoral acts with the blessings of former Bush administration officials, including Bush, Cheney, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of State, the Attorney General and the Director of Intelligence.
Despite passages on the memos being written by Jay Bybee -- who went from being an assistant Attorney General to being appointed as a federal judge by Bush after providing the 'legal,' albeit it delusional, basis for justifying torture -- about a waterboarding contraption that lurches a prisoner upright if he stops breathing while being waterboarded and having doctors working for the CIA, many people died at the hands of Bush administration torturers.
Americans are still far too unaware of the levels of Bush's delusional dictatorship. Until more is known about who set the rules for torturing and illegally spying on Americans, sanctioned by a corrupt Congress, and who approved them -- as well as Bush's delusional justification of such abuses -- America's system of justice will remain profoundly broken and the risk of these abuses reoccuring will remain high. More on the torturers' manifesto can be found in this article from the New York Times. Bush wasn't protecting America. Bush was on a personal, illegal power trip that had nothing to do with keeping America safe and everything to do with making him and his buddies richer at the cost of every American.
Bush's Politicization of the Justice Department
Three of the released memos from May 2005, as noted by Robert Parry, may be more significant in destroying the 'legal' cover used by President Bush and his cabinet to hide behind while claiming they were operating within legal parameters set by lawyers at the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel. Professional lawyers provided skewered objective legal advice and the Bush administration followed it.
Those claims collide with the fact that other Justice Department lawyers, from 2003 to 2005, overturned the initial 2002 memo authorizing torture and the 2005 memos indicate that Bush went shopping for lawyers who would craft opinions beneficial to the White House after the the other lawyers were ousted for not going along with Bush's plans.
Politicized Justice Department lawyers whose double speak twisted words around to be interpreted any way the president wanted -- backed by like-minded Presidentially appointed judges both in federa courts and the U.S. Supreme court, as evidenced by the 2000 election that was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court -- has continuously resulted in negated laws that protect no one.
Justice Department prosecutions are supposed to be made independent of all political considerations, including the White House and the President. Some of the most recent scandals of the past several decades that have erupted from politicized Justice can be found in this article by Glenn Greenwald.
It is the duty of the Justice Department, and ultimately the Attorney General, to make decisions to prosecute crimes based on the law, not politics. It's irrelevent whether or not Obama favors prosecutions. Also noted by Mr. Greenwald is the fact that honest DoJ lawyers have a tendency to safeguard their apolitical independence and having a White House trying to influence those decisions is a form or corruption.
Old Crimes Written Off While New Crimes Continue
President Obama should be applauded for releasing more of the Bush torture memos. However, Obama's decision not to hold those accountable for 'just following orders' is deplorable, not to mention a direct violation of American and International law -- and not his decision to make. The Nazis tried using the 'they were just following orders' defense during the Nuremberg trials but it didn't work. Legally, Obama cannot make the decision to prosecute or not prosecute those who committed the torture either.
As noted by Glenn Greenwald, Obama perpetuated what has become the most destructive premise in America's political culture: namely, that impunity is only for high government officials who are caught committing serious crimes. That mindset has destroyed the rule of law in the U.S. and spawned massive criminality in our elite class.
For the past several decades, holding political leaders accountable for their crimes has been scorned as 'retribution' and 'laying blame for the past' and those who believe the rule of law applies to everyone have been demonized. The old crimes keep being written off while the new crimes keep going on. It's time to change that. Citizens should be demanding accountability for the political leaders who have authorized these egregious crimes against humanity. Either the rule of law applies to everyone, or it applies to no one.
Despite former Vice President Cheney's bloviating on Faux News that the torture worked and the Wall Street Journal's assinine claims that the released memos prove we didn't torture, we did. It's pathetically evident when major 'News' sources start lying and spreading propaganda to keep Bush cabal crimes covered up. Both 'News' sources are owned by Rupert Murdoch, the chief propagandist for the Bush administration and both sources should be recognized for what they are, not to mentions put out of business.
Anyone who actually believes the CIA is going to tell the truth about torture will inevitably be sadly mistaken. The CIA is a secret, oftentimes not too bright, spy agency that specializes in lies and deception, regularly using that deception against Americans as well as intentionally spreading propaganda. Waterboarding a patsy the government alleges is responsible for 9/11 183 times in one month has nothing to do with national security and everything to do with sadistic war crimes and is nothing more than one majorly blatant lie. Once again Cheney and the CIA are spreading the West Coast 9/11 lie that has been repeatedly debunked.
Cheney is right about one thing: Obama and the CIA should release the remaining torture memos and everything else that has to do with Bush administration torture, including the tapes. It would be interesting to see one of the prefabricated Bush administration reports that Cheney says proves torture works -- if for nothing else than putting the final nail in the Bush administration's coffin. Obama needs to make sure ALL of the evidence is preserved and not shredded or otherwise destroyed.
Bush Administration Crimes Involve A Lot More Than Torture
One other thing that makes Bush's torture policy so disgusting is how Bush officials tried to shift the blame for detainee abuse to low-ranking soldiers while trying to weasel their way out of it. This article from the New York Times details a series of high-level meetings in 2002 where the United States -- with no dissent whatsoever from cabinet members or lawmakers -- officially embraced Bush's brutal methods of interrogation and torture. Another report from the New York Times offers more details on the approval of interrogation techniques.
As noted by Richard Blair, don't just follow the shiny torture object -- look deeper -- one of the many egregious crimes was using torture as a tool to establish a false connection between al Qaida and Saddam Hussein. And don't forget, Bush and his cabal used at least 935 lies to justify attacking Iraq. You have 8 years -- again, courtesy of a corrupt, politicized U.S. Supreme Court -- of blatant deceptions and lies utilized by Bush for personal gain and to fuel his fantasies. Don't forget the fact that Bush administration complicity allowed attacks -- evidence points to another infamous false flag attack -- on September 11, 2001 to happen. Thousands of people died to advance an egregious, treasonous presidential agenda and it's time to hold the Bush administration accountable for those treasonous actions.
9/11 was an inside job. Al Qaeda wasn't involved in the attacks. Treasonous insiders of the Bush administration were and it goes all the way to the top. The government has a history of repeatedly capturing, killing -- or saying they never existed -- and re-capturing alleged Al Qaeda leaders, the most recent being Abu Omar al-Baghdadi. In fact, the CIA has a history of posing as Al Qaeda.
Congress has repeatedly proven to be the perfect example of the need for term limits. The past 8 years under an egregiously corrupted presidential administration serve as the perfect example of why there need to be limits on how long people can serve in politics -- Cheney goes back to the Nixon administration -- and how long politically appointed judges can be given free reign to spread political beliefs as well as the damage that can be incurred by having felonious politicians in charge of running what was once the greatest Democracy in the world into the ground.
People of the World Have Earned the Right to Know the Truth
Senator McCain seems to think a torture probe would be a witch hunt. He seems to have conveniently forgotten about the witch hunt started by the Bush administration to find justification for illegally invading Iraq and Afghanistan and the many people killed and tortured because of it. A torture probe would be a mistake though if it's conducted by politicians since it would inevitably end up being used by them to keep information covered up. McCain -- like the vast majority of those involved in Bush's crimes -- does not want any investigations since it would reveal the truth about how many politicians were complicit in the Bush cabal crimes. It's comical, in a sad way, listening to the excuses being bloviated by those who don't want a probe or any investigation. The stupidity is astounding.
A lot of Republicans in Congress are too busy imploding, trying to keep their complicity in aiding Bush's delusional dictatorship hidden and definitely don't want any investigations. McCain is playing Cheney's game of trying to portray having an investigation as a witch hunt. Moving forward and not looking back after pardoning Nixon, as noted by Talking Points Memo, set the stage for Iran-Contra and the the Bush administration's myriad law breaking. Not doing anything about it will inevitably end up costing this country even more that it cannot afford to pay when the next president who comes along wanting to intentionally destroy many parts of the world with their dangerous egotistical fantasies will do so knowing they can do it with impunity since they'll know that no one will do anything about it. As noted by Paul Krugman, the only way America can regain its moral compass is to investigate what happened the past 8 years, and if necessary, to prosecute those responsible.
As I've written many times in the past, top Democrats are vehemently opposed to an independent inquiry because they were complicit in allowing and covering up Bush's torture. President Obama is also opposed to a truth panel. Investigating Bush's torture crimes has nothing to do with being afraid of political repercussions. It has everything to do with trying to keep Democratic leaders out of trouble. Congress has repeatedly passed egregious, unconstitutional 'legislation' Ex Post Facto to cover up and attempt to legalize Bush's crimes.
The only people objecting to an investigation are those with something to hide. If you were innocent you would want an investigation to prove your innocence. Entirely too much secrecy has been utilized by the U.S. Government in order to keep treasonous torture information as well as egregious, illegal wiretapping conducted under the orders of Bush covered up. Excuses of 'states secrets' and 'national security' are smoke screens designed to keep the treasonous violations of law covered up. It's time to put an end to the secrecy and it's time for accountability.
Large corrupt corporations have controlled the U.S. Government long enough too. It's time to change lobbying laws and the control large corporations have over the government.
Unfortunately, it's gotten to the point of not being able to trust politicians -- let alone any federal agency, especially those concocted during the past 8 years -- in Washington. If they're not being blackmailed -- which under the Bush administration would come as no surprise -- into submission, they're being bought off for their corruption, until of course the plans they've supported being used against other Americans are suddenly used against them. Letting politicians investigate themselves is a waste of time and money, usually used to keep their crimes covered up. The 9/11 commission reminded us of that. It's time for independent, reliable third-party investigations to get to the truth about 9/11, torture, the many politically enabled Wall Street frauds and many of the other pandemics plaguing America. We the People of America and the rest of the world deserve the truth and have the right to know after everything we've been subject to.
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