BY TAYLOR MARSH
As everyone around here knows, I have great affection for Truman, but he sure
set
Bush up on this one.
“If the doctrine of separation of powers and the independence of the
presidency is to have any validity at all, it must be equally applicable to
a president after his term of office has expired,” Truman wrote to the
committee.Congress backed down, establishing a precedent suggesting that former presidents wield lingering powers to keep matters from their administration secret. [...]
So it’s not Harry’s fault. When speaking of blanket pardons, we have a history of it. Washington forgave in the aftermath of the Whiskey Rebellion. Andrew Johnson forgave after the Civil War. While Carter forgave draft dodgers, circa Vietnam. Bush would no doubt do the same, citing the “war on terror” imperative.
Today, as this article on Salon.com delineates, there’s a chance Obama would delve into what’s gone down under Bush-Cheney. But does anyone truly believe that
Barack Obama is going to go any further on torture than “fact-finding” during the Bush era?
With growing talk in Washington that President Bush may be considering an
unprecedented “blanket pardon” for people involved in his administration’s
brutal interrogation policies, advisors to Barack Obama are pressing ahead
with plans for a nonpartisan commission to investigate alleged abuses under
Bush.[...] Instead, a commission empowered by Congress would have the authority
to compel witnesses to testify and even to grant immunity in exchange for
information. Should a particularly ugly picture emerge, the option of prosecutions
would still theoretically be on the table later, however unlikely.… But few think prosecutions are realistic, given the formidable legal
hurdles and the huge policy problems competing for Obama’s attention. Among
them is the complicated task of closing down the military prison at Guantánamo
Bay, which Obama advisors say is a priority. Some observers outside the Obama
camp are also questioning how much Democrats really want exposed with regard
to interrogation, since top Democrats in Congress were briefed in secret on
some of the harshest tactics used by the CIA and appear to have done little,
or perhaps nothing, to stop them.
Out of the gate, Barack Obama isn’t going to get in the middle of a partisan
war that pits Bush era prosecutions against the hope of moving forward. Not
going to happen.
Kumbaya is here. Just ask traitor Joe. It’s more important for Obama not to
let Joe become the partisan martyr on which Obama’s first year is pitted. So
be it. Predictable, too.
Consider the nonpartisan commission idea just another way to get Congress out
of doing its job, which hasn’t been done for 8 years. Oversight. Nonpartisan commissions are in, congressional power is out. Too petty, I guess. We must move along for the sake of the American people. What we don’t know won’t hurt us, instead it will just become enshrined at the executive level of government.
As Obama takes over 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue what he actually wants to see
is where he stands now, taking over for Bush, and what came before, especially on those murky issues of torture, executive signing orders, and the other things done in the dark. Prosecutions and blanket pardons won’t have anything to do with it. Consider it presidential education.
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