Never post after 1AM. To the readers who noticed Obama was not mentioned in my "Obama's Jerry Ford Moment" post, my apologies, I left off the last half of the post. The complete article is below.
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Jerry Ford assumed the presidency in the wake of the Watergate scandal that forced President Richard Nixon from office. Ford enjoyed public good will for the class he showed in the transition. But the Nixon haters were not satisfied with the indictments and convictions of several top Nixon aides. They wanted "Tricky Dick" humiliated by a trial and a jail cell. President Ford believed it would be a long drawn out extremely divisive political saga that would paralyze his administration's ability to deal with the post Viet Nam and economic issues facing the United States in the late 1970s. Taking his own counsel, he issued a full pardon for any illegal acts Nixon may have committed while President. It was a politically courageous call and it cost him the 1976 election.
Today it is the Bush haters, almost exclusively from the Left, who lust for blood. There are calls for indictments of the attorneys whose legal opinions justifying limited forms of coercion (torture to some) sends the ACLU and their ilk into spasms of outrage. But the real targets are Bush and Cheney.
President Obama gives a mixed message on the issue. One day he wants to move forward and not look back and the next he's open to investigating the alleged sins of the Bush administration. Obama has a very ambitious agenda and he cannot afford major distractions on his way to the 2012 elections. He has a decision to make. If he does not control the baying from the vengeance crowd, he will face his Jerry Ford moment.
Posted by warrenpeterson at April 25, 2009 12:33 AM | Email ThisYes, that's called "being tough on crime". Have you a problem with lawbreakers landing behind bars?
Taking his own counsel, he issued a full pardon for any illegal acts Nixon may have committed while President.
Ford has the distinction of being the only person who ever ascended to the Presidency without being elected to either it or to the Vice-Presidency. (Nixon's felonious understudy, culture warrior Sprio Agnew, had been forced from office already.) Nixon thus had his hand-picked successor pardon him, an arrangement which was blatantly corrupt -- not courageous.
Oh, by the way -- what's the modern situation? Which filthy felon does the author desperately want President Obama to pardon?
Posted by: tensor on April 25, 2009 01:00 AMPick a tax cheat, any tax cheat in the present Obama administration...
"I call on all governments to join with the United States and the community of law-abiding nations in prohibiting, investigating, and prosecuting all acts of torture..."
- Official proclamation by President Bush, June 26, 2003.
Posted by: Robert on April 25, 2009 06:31 AMFord's actions required a courage that leftists like ten cents simply can't fathom.
Hypocrite.
Posted by: Hinton on April 25, 2009 07:54 AMFord's actions required a courage that leftists like ten cents simply can't fathom.
Hypocrite.
Posted by: Hinton on April 25, 2009 07:55 AMThe first hearings will be sub-committee hearings in the next couple of months where the Dems will decide that all people who gave indirect support to govt. officials that begat the 'torture' must be investigated. This will lead to a congressional subpeona of the phone, e-mail and mailing lists of all Republican donors to be promptly given to the DNC.
Full blown congressional hearings will occur during the summer of 2010 in order to fully show to the American mid-term election voter how evil George Bush was and that they should definitely vote against Bush, yet again, by voting democrat in the upcoming election.
Posted by: Doug on April 25, 2009 09:17 AMFord really did want to "moveon", and did so.
Posted by: SouthernRoots on April 25, 2009 09:22 AMSince the American People have found out that Obama, aka Barry Soetoro, has been lying to us regarding his citizenship status, and is not a "natural born citizen", which our Constitution requires, he has resigned in disgrace. And to prevent any "long drawn out extremely divisive political saga" and to prevent any criminal action which would politically embarrass individuals & deter any necessary actions to run the government efficiently, President Biden has issued a full pardon for himself & all persons involved in the 2008 election
Posted by: susu on April 25, 2009 09:33 AMI think that would qualify as "checkmate"...:)
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on April 25, 2009 10:48 AMAnd as for "dead enders" who better to know than a fringe-left whack job such as yourself?
Posted by: hinton on April 25, 2009 01:27 PMNearly 6 in ten say the whole thing is purely a political witch hunt, and should be dropped immediately.
I guess you like being part of the angry Left?
And when will you call for the resignation and trial of Nancy Pelosi who not only knew of the supposed "torture", but just two days ago lied through her teeth about her knowledge?
Or is your indignation only directed at the GOP?
So much for uniting the country...
HOPE AND CHANGE!
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on April 25, 2009 01:48 PMBesides Pelosi will get dragged down if they even try and have a witch hunt trail about enhanced interogations....she is a BOLD FACED LIAR...well all dems are what else is new...Comrade Obama lied to get elected and ran as a liberal on the dem ticket...
Posted by: hellpig on April 25, 2009 01:54 PMAnd as for "dead enders" who better to know than a fringe-left whack job such as yourself?
Posted by: hinton on April 25, 2009 02:02 PMWhy is it I can't help thinking of Obama and his far left buddies when I see Henry The Eighth and Thomas Cromwell hacking off the heads of those English who refused to renounce the Catholic faith?
The left would chop our heads off with glee if they could get away with it. If you don't believe me take a peek sometime at HA, Kos, or the Huffington Post. These people would be right at home burning witches in Salem.
For the moment they must content themselves with brainwashing our children, lying to us about who they are, taking our liberty from us, and banishing conservatives from the airwaves.
HELL yes if they go forward I say in 2012 we have trials for them all.
and actually it wont be political to go after Pelosi Reid and Comrade Obama for treason...treason isnt a policy
Posted by: hellpig on April 25, 2009 02:24 PMWhich filthy felon does the author desperately want President Obama to pardon?
Clinton?
But if the fascist go after Bush and the administration that has kept our country safe in wartime, it will end up as civil war. And the fascists will lose this one....
Posted by: iconoclast on April 25, 2009 09:10 PMThey wanted "Tricky Dick" humiliated by a trial and a jail cell.
Their motivations do not matter. Only the evidence matters.
President Ford believed it would be a long drawn out extremely divisive political saga that would paralyze his administration's ability to deal with the post Viet Nam and economic issues facing the United States in the late 1970s.
If he honestly thought he wasn't up to the task of seeing the laws properly enforced, then he should not have taken a job with that description.
Today it is the Bush haters, almost exclusively from the Left, who lust for blood.
The identity of the citizens who demand justice does not matter. Only the evidence matters.
There are calls for indictments of the attorneys whose legal opinions justifying limited forms of coercion (torture to some) sends the ACLU and their ilk into spasms of outrage.
Torture is illegal. If they told others it was legal to torture, then they aided and abetted crimes. They should be investigated. The ACLU is not relevant; only the evidence matters. (I thought conservatives criticized the ACLU for being soft on crime, not hard on it?)
But the real targets are Bush and Cheney.
The President's job description requires him to see our laws faithfully executed. If he ordered lawbreaking, that would be both a justification to have removed him from office, and now to investigate his possible crimes. (I thought conservatives admired Presidential sentiments of the form, "The Buck Stops Here"?)
One day he wants to move forward and not look back and the next he's open to investigating the alleged sins of the Bush administration.
He can do both, as our Attorney General actually investigates and prosecutes; the President merely needs to ensure the Attorney General has means and motivation to do so. Remember a key moment in the criminal Nixon's downfall came when he fired the Attorney General for investigating lawbreaking.
He has a decision to make. If he does not control the baying from the vengeance crowd, he will face his Jerry Ford moment.
Are you advocating President Obama politically interfere in a criminal investigation? That would be obstruction of justice, itself a crime.
Posted by: tensor on April 26, 2009 01:19 AMAnd finally, is it just two of you that the WSDCC are paying to troll on this blog all day long? What a waste of your union members' hard-earned money that you forcibly take from them.
And I wonder, do forced union dues qualify as torture under your definition?
Posted by: cryptometaphor on April 26, 2009 06:34 AMFunny isn't it that leftists feel compelled to lie and deceive on a very regular basis. Maybe it isn't as much funny as it is downright creepy.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on April 26, 2009 08:20 AMWe have credible evidence that a crime has been committed. Therefore, we investigate. This is called "the rule of law." ...
...Torture is illegal. If they told others it was legal to torture, then they aided and abetted crimes.
And here is the problem. What was used on those three individuals (yes, only 3 were waterboarded) is not considered torture by the US. So again, what law was broken? Can you point to it? What as the "controlling legal authority" so demanded by Algore?
What we have IS a witch hunt, because the Obama regime needs to score political points. It will change the definitions that had stood for decades. And he is more than willing to destroy any and all just to maintain his overall polling numbers.
And why doesn't the Obamassiah answer Cheney's call and release the documents showing the information gained by such interrogation techniques? Afraid to turn that 60%+ who oppose the Obamassiah in his actions regarding these techniques into a 90%+ against?
And we still have not seen you or your Slavery Party Marxist friends call for the resignation and trial of Nancy Pelosi who knew of these techniques in 2002, acquiesced to their use, and now has PROVABLY LIED in trying to cover her own bony rear...
Or is prosecution only good for your political opponents? After all, uncle Joe or father Mao would be proud of that move!
Go ahead, CALL HER OUT BY NAME...
But you won't, because she's part of your triune god - Obama/Pelosi/Reid - in front of whom your prostrate and genuflect.
HOPE AND CHANGE!
#12 southernroots is exactly right. If going after Bush is the best thing for America Obama will. If getting us health care we can afford, and an energy policy where someone other than Exxon has a say can't get done while prosecuting Bush's crimes, then the Bush Gang will get away for now.
#13 susu you are a lunatic.
#17 = hinton = dead ender. Sorry buddy. Reality is on the other side...
#18 you are right Crusader. Many don't care if our president lies us into war. Makes up fake threats like mushroom clouds to terrorize our own citizens. Boo!!!
#29 Bush has kept us safe? So Al Qaeda really did try to attack us after we pulled out of Saudi Arabia like Bin Laden demanded? I don't mean the pizza guys but real Al Qaeda. So iconclast. How many warnings did Bush ignore before 9-11? Hundreds? Thousands?
#30 tensor. Put me down as a Bush hater!
#32 Bill. Lefties lie? We don't have to lie. Go to Dailykos.com and read about what the Dems really knew, and what they could have done about torture. Turn your radio off Rush and onto reality. My biggest problem with the dems is the fact that they never went after the crimes of the Bush Gang, and still may not. And to think they spent 66 million tax payers dollars on the White Water investigation. Sick.
If Nixon went to jail, Bush would never have terrorized America.
I mean that racist bigot, anti-American empty suit that you and the rest of your posse supported for President.
There. Glad I could clarify this to a denominator that even YOU could understand.
Since you asked, moron.
Posted by: Hinton on April 26, 2009 09:23 AMThen why do you do it so much?
That's the most bizarre aspect of the fringe left. Whack jobs like you CLAIM you don't have to lie, but I, personally, have busted you twice on this very board for doing that very thing.
Odd and rather hypocritical that, factless. You stand as living proof that there's no lie you won't tell, no fact you won't twist, no effort you won't make, no matter how false, to support your bitch.
Posted by: Hinton on April 26, 2009 09:27 AMWhere's your statement calling for the arrest and prosecution of Pelosi for the very same actions you're accusing President Bush of doing?
Where's your statement calling for the arrest and prosecution of Feinstein, or Rangel, or Geithner, or Sebelius, or Sims, or any of the Obama cabal for their admitted breaking of the law?
Your selective outrage marks you as a tool of the left, a good little Slave dancing to the tune his masters call!
How's that HOPE AND CHANGE working out for you?
Posted by: Shanghai Dan on April 26, 2009 09:54 AMDoes being on the left cause a person to lie? Or does leftist ideology simply attract the kind of individuals who lie?
One of their lies (which they've told since the 2004 Kerry Campaign) was that we are in "the worst economy since the Great Depression". Funny isn't it that we don't hear that from the Democrats or their media enablers now that Obama is President.
We don't hear much about all that oil the left said we went to war for in Iraq ,either. And does anyone remember before the Iraq war how the left lied about how the "Bush Sanctions" (actually UN sanctions), were starving Iraqi children?
Then there is the biggest lie of all, that the world is teetering on the precipice of catastrophe from man-made "global warming". Brought to you by leftist liars that live in huge mansions and fly in private carbon spewing jets.
You aren't going to get the truth from people that are so mixed up that they idolize murderous cop killers and thugs like Che Guevarra.
I had my own gotcha moment just this week. An old leftist friend was "offended" when I opined that he was a liberal in an e-mail conversation a couple years ago. He was all worked up that I would dare to try and "pigeonhole" his political perspective. On his Facebook page he lists his politics as "progressive". Gee, what a surprise!
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on April 26, 2009 10:11 AMHmmm, which Bush administration official or Bush himself actually said that Saddam had something to do with 9-11?
We do know that the party of the Seditious & Sleazy believed that Saddam had WMDs and weren't shy about saying so...
So who was fabricating what tensor?
Then we have all facts support his/her/its stupidity whining witlessly: "Turn your radio off Rush and onto reality. My biggest problem with the dems is the fact that they never went after the crimes of the Bush Gang, and still may not"...
This of course means that since all facts support his/her/its stupidity has NO facts on these alledged Bush administration crimes then whining will do...
Hey all facts support his/her/its stupidity, maybe the STUTTER MONKEY wants pardon the Clinton administration since to date it was the most scandalous and crime ridden one in history...
"I think that would qualify as 'checkmate'...:)'...
Well Shanghai Dan, I have to wonder if these libtards are smart enough to understand the word, 'checkmate'?...:-)
Posted by: juandos on April 27, 2009 05:53 AMI have many friends that were waterborded, in their military training.
Is it scary? Yes. Does it cause physical harm? No.
This entire episode is about scoring political points. Too bad all the publicity has rendered the technique useless.
Why not round up all those responsible for the thousands of service men and women who have been subjected to this "torture", over the last few decades?
Posted by: the Sasquatch on April 28, 2009 05:36 PMExcept the US government and the Geneva convention have already defined waterboarding as torture.
Yes, we instruct our soldiers how to avoid torture by the bad guys. That doesn't mean we should torture people and act just like the bad guys.
Waterboarding is against the law, period. The only moral relativists are the people who try to excuse torture (the torture apologists on this thread).
We have something called the constitution (you should try reading it sometime) and George Washington said that we should never do what the British did to us. Ben Franklin said that those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.
I guess you don't really care about the constitution or the people who founded our country.
They waterboarded one guy 183 times in a month - over 6 times a day.
Bush and his fellow criminals lied about waterboarding - they said it was used judiciously. They claimed they got information from a single waterboard of this guy - but then why did they have to do it 183 times?
Just a bunch of lies. These people broke the law -they should be prosecuted for breaking the law. anyone who defends them is a torture apologist and not a true patriot.