The crowd cheers.
Why anyone should care what Fred Thompson thinks about President Obama's first hundred days (hint: he isn't pleased) is beyond me, but this is the kind of Quality Programming brought to us by the good folks at CNN. Fred thinks that the president is wrong to be pushed toward considering investigation and possible prosecution of those who tortured, ordered torture, authorized torture, or advised that torture was a pretty darn good idea. See, they were only trying to protect the country.
Thompson said that prosecuting members of a prior administration would make us like "third world countries."
I wonder, which countries does he mean? Iraq? What does Thompson think of Saddam Hussein's trial?
Let's be clear: what Obama may finally (and correctly) consider, and what "the left" is clamoring for, is not kangaroo trials and executions of prior officials for differences in political philosophies. This isn't a question of whether a Democratic administration would have made other decisions. This is a case of Rule of Law. We have laws in this country, and people are expected to obey them or face the consequences. And when those people are operating in the public trust, that is even more important.
We have a new administration. We don't have a new government, much less system of government. Obama did not come to power in a third world coup. And his job as chief executive is to enforce the law. Because if he doesn't, if individuals in our government can trample the law and the rights of citizens and ignore our international agreements and commitments, then what are we? Not a nation of laws. We are series of eight year dictatorships, each immune to accountability to the next. Each will start out knowing they can get away with anything. All they have to do is cover up and hold out until the next dictator takes over. All they have to do is not prosecute themselves.
These are three very silly arguments. Why do we need to move on? Where are we moving on to? If we just leave this behind us, it will bite us in the collective ass. I wonder if McCain would give the same advice to rape victims - move on, prosecution of the rapist will be hard and painful; better to forget about it and let the healing begin. And if one of the victim's family members insisted, would McCain brush that off by accusing him of having a personal score to settle?
So was it simply "bad advice" or was it criminal? It seems to me that the courtroom is the best place to determine this. That's what prosecution is for. McCain wants to dispense with that part, and find everyone innocent. Which is odd, considering the way he went on and on about how the torture violated the Geneva Convention and U.S. Law - he himself helped pass the Detainee Treatment Act.
Personally, I'm not so worried about how we get people into public service - I worry more about how to keep the kind of people who would authorize torture OUT of public service. If there is no accountability, what is stopping them? McCain says that he believes that no other administration will ever do this again. I wonder if he would have believed in 2000 that the last administration would do so in the first place? I wonder what he thinks is going to keep them from doing it again? Was he opposed to prosecuting Madoff on the grounds that it would keep other people from offering financial advice?
The people who did the torture were just following orders. The people who gave the orders were following the advice they were given. And the people who gave the advice - well, they were just lawyers giving bad opinions. So no one was at fault.
McCain says and apparently believes that the Geneva Convention is very important to follow. That our enemies will follow the convention rules if they "know there will be retribution." And yet, there should be no retribution to our own people for breaking those rules. Did Saddam ask his advisers if torture was OK? Did they give him advice? Did he them order his evil Republican Guard to carry out that advice?
I wonder under what scenario McCain would ever approve of punishment of the punishers? Perhaps if they had a big black "D" after their names.
As much as I despise Dick Cheney, at least he is sticking to his horribly flawed view of the world. In his mind, the torture was a fun way to ensure a needed result, and therefore justified. But McCain is just a weak-kneed weasel. I can only hope that the good people of Arizona watched his pitiful performance and will do the right thing next time they have the chance.
