SERIOUS QUESTION: Should President Kerry investigate BushCo corruption?

[UdoKier]

Should President Kerry investigate BushCo corruption?

I'm a bit torn, personally. It would do little to help move his agenda foward in a GOP congress, but many of BushCo's crimes have been SO heinous.

[killbotfactory]

1. And declassify as much stuff on the Bushes as possible.

Their whole family is a bunch of elitist crooks.

[Born Free]

12. allowing them to go free send the wrong message

just as it is wrong to leave terrorist to dictate policy, it is wrong to let criminal activity pass because they are no longer in power. It sends a message they can do anything they want and all is well afterwords, you would not let a murderer on the street go free and one in the white house should not be allowed to go free either

[aquart]

2. This nation never recovered from Nixon's pardon.

Wrong is not right and fiat doesn't make it so.

[IMSA]

23. Thats just plain not true.

No one wanted to see that son of a bitch Nixon burn for what he did than more than I did and I hated Ford at the time for pardoning him. Now that I'm older, I see that Ford did the right thing. Putting Nixon on trial would have divided the country even more than it was already divided. Pardoning Nixon was the first giant step in putting Vietnam behind us and the start of national healing.

IMSA

[Xipe Totec]

3. After the party is over,

the first thing you should do is take out the garbage.

[intheflow]

4. Ex-officio impeachment

I'm sure it's a viable legal option. And one lawsuit that I would relish.

[sisenor]

5. Here's my dream scenario

Rumsfeld and Cheney go to federal prison after Bush gets immunity while testifying against them. Then, Bush gets tried for war crimes at the World Criminal Court in The Hague, and goes down!
Then my faith in human kind and its potential would be restored.

[OneBlueSky]

6. see this thread . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2564350&mesg_id=2564350

Question: should BushCo be prosecuted under a Kerry administration? . . .

My Answer: I think they should . . .

Kerry's inclination will be not to pursue the many areas of obvious illegality engaged in by BushCo, everything from Halliburton to the Plame incident to Cheney's energy meetings . . . like Gerald Ford with Nixon, he'll be inclined to put our "great national nightmare" behind us and look to the future . . . further, bringing to light just how fucked up things are, especially fiscally, could dramatically weaken the US in the world community, perhaps with devasating results . . . this is precisely why Clinton didn't reveal just how bad the mess he inherited from the first Bush was . . .

however . . .

just because Kerry wins doesn't mean that the fundie right wing is going away . . . they're organized, they're well funded, and they'll waste little time going after Kerry just the way they went after Clinton . . . particularly if Congress remains Republican (or even just the House) . . . they'll put the Kerry administration on the defensive from Day 1 . . .

which is why Kerry should go on offense (something Democrats haven't been good at) and put THEM on the defensive from Day 1 . . . they'll yell and holler and scream bloody murder about how Kerry is persecuting Bush and his cronies, but better they should spend their time and their fortune defending themselves rather than undermining Kerry initiatives . . . which they're going try to do anyhow . . . so he should at least force them to split their focus . . .

further -- and perhaps most important -- the American people (particularly Bush supporters) have a right to know just exactly what BushCo was all about . . . and how much of the nation's wealth shifted into the pockets of their cronies during the past four years . . .

bottom line is that they'll be coming after Kerry with both barrels, and he'll be a lot better off if the battle is conducted on HIS terms rather than theirs . . .

lots of responses . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2564350&mesg_id=2564350

[feistydem]

7. YES! No more the party to 'turn the other cheek'. Nail the bastards!

Dems have been too nice for too long.

I want Daschle to win SD, but I think he's a weak Senate leader and needs to be replaced.

[Cyrix]

8. He can't

Bush will pardon everyone before he leaves office.

[UdoKier]

9. Can people be pardoned for crimes that have not even been investigated?

I thought pardons were only for investigations/litigation already under way.

[Cyrix]

10. Nope

For example, those who escaped the vietnam draft were pardoned. Many of them had no pending charges against them, nor were being investigated (obviously).

Read the constitution. The power to pardon is limitless EXCEPT for impeachment.

[mountainvue]

18. I thought that was Amnesty. n/t

[Cyrix]

26. Yes

and amnesty is defined as "To grant a general pardon to"

It is the same power whether or not you call it a pardon or amnesty. The only difference between the two words is pardon = one person / amensty = pardon to group of people.

[TahitiNut]

13. If pardoned, turn them over to the Hague ICC

That's what an international "court of last resort" is for: when the felons' country refuses to punish them.

[Nite Owl]

11. Yes, it is a must

Most people are totally in the dark as what has been happening. They must be discredited so they are no longer credible and able to come back into power. It's not a matter of being vindictive it's for the education of the country who has been kept in the dark for four years.

[Zorra]

14. If a genuine investigation into republican activities over the past 4 yrs

was undertaken, a whole lot of republicans will be voluntarily drinking cyanide kool-aid ala Nuremberg.

They all need to be prosecuted.

Bu$h would go to prison for life.

No President would ever pardon him.

[LizW]

15. We must have learned something from Iran Contra

If you let these people go unpunished, they will regroup and come back again. They are a cancer in the Democratic body of our nation.

It will be painful, but we have to face up to what can happen if we aren't diligent. We have to get rid of them AND we must ALL understand the evil they have done.

They can't ever be allowed to come back again.

[amandabeech]

16. I voted "other." Investigate and prosecute any and all Bushies

for anything and everything reprehensible that they've done that is actionable. Then expose their lying behinds in every other slimy, but not illegal, thing that they've done.

Then pull those "Great Flood Created the Grand Canyon" books out of the official tourist traps at the park. Let science reign! Let free enterprise cater to the religious right, since it is God's ordained economic system.

[Eye and Monkey]

29. I agree, there's so much that could be prosecuted.

[StupidFOX]

17. Bush is the new (and more evil) Nixon

Yes for both

[in_cog_ni_to]

19. Yes! If he doesn't, I will be VERY unhappy.

THAT should be a TOP priority. Health care, Iraq, jobs, Bushco investigation.

[Auntie Bush]

20. INVESTIGATE! It will not only make the public aware of what a crook

Bush is but also expose what a bunch of hypocrites Republicans are. This will help Democrats win in 2008. Show them no mercy!
NEVER FORGET what they did to CLINTON. Expose the CROOKS!

[The Magistrate]

21. Absolutely, Mr. Kier, There Should Be Investigations

Statutes on influence-peddling, bribery, and vote fraud, at the minimum have been clearly broken by these reptiles. It is necessary to demonstrate that there are consequences for these actions.

Further, such investigations will have a saluitory effect on political life, and particularly on relations with a Republican legislative body. The Justice Department is an arm of the Executive, and can be wielded without much Congressional interference. The revelation of results in determined investigations into Republican coruption and profiteering by the Justice Department will be immensely popular with the people, and will constitute a standing threat to the reactionary Republicans in Congress on several levels.

"Justice must not only be done, Justice must be seen to be done."

"LET'S GO GET THOSE BUSH BASTARDS!"

[ignatius 2]

22. Hell yes, investigate, try them and when they are found guilty of treason,

war crimes and mass murder, put their asses in jail for the rest of their natural, disgusting lives.

[WoodrowFan]

24. yes other (NT)

[welshTerrier2]

25. i'm sick of this "national healing" crap ...

if laws were (or might have been) broken, Kerry is obligated to investigate ...

it was crazy for Gerald Ford to pardon Nixon ... the guy tried to subvert the American electoral process ... he shouldn't have gotten a "get out of jail free" card just because the whole Watergate experience was traumatic for the nation ...

you do the crime; you do the time ...

so yes, Kerry should investigate BushCo crimes ...

[bvar22]

27. Should Kerry prosecute? YES!

Will Kerry prosecute or even investigate? Sadly, NO!

An investigation of bush* and Co for the many crimes and abuses will NEVER HAPPEN! Too many Democrats are complicit in the crimes to attempt any house cleaning. The Democrats will close ranks with the Republicans to protect the system! The Democrats WILL extend the olive branch to protect themselves and their corporate owners.

It will sound exactly like this:

JFK at his inauguration: Fellow Americans, a new era is upon us! Now is not the time to dwell on the mistakes of the past; now is the time to look to the future! We have many difficult tasks before us, and we need a unified America...One nation, Democrats and Republicans..under god....

And THAT WILL BE THE END OF IT!!!!
You heard it from me first.
I am accepting limited bets.

[Dogmudgeon]

28. Another limited bet to take

A huge section of the Lefter-Than-Thou Left will start attacking Kerry on Day One.

The Circular Firing Squad is still intact. Our rare moment of solidarity will pass when President Kerry raises his hand from the hated Bible to shake the hand of the Jusice swearing him in.

OR ... the prospective Kerry-haters could seize the opportunity to make their voice heard in any circumstance, and participate fully in the decision-making. They'd have to resist the temptation to demonize Kerry, though, and actually work at building a progressive movement. It won't be as much fun as "taking back the streets" and "speaking truth to power," but it will be more effective.

Which path will be taken?

No, you didn't hear it from me first, and I'd strongly urge you to not make a bet, but to contribute to coalition-building Progressive causes.

--bkl

[bvar22]

30. As in supporting Progressive Democrats like:

The Progressive Democrats of America

<snip>
"The occasion was a founding conference for a new organization, the Progressive Democrats of America (PDA) which, with a sister organization, Progressive Vote vows to build a sustained movement to transform the Democratic Party into a force for social justice and environmental sanity."
<end>

More here:
http://www.pdamerica.org/

I no longer donate to the DNC/DLC.
Liberal Democrats will get my money, sweat, and blood!

Vote for Kerry and ALL Dems on National Ticket on tues. It is an important start!

[number6]

31. Yes, for both.

:kick:

[mmonk]

32. Yes

lest it be repeated.

[camero]

33. Not just yes for both but Hell Yes!

The US government could lose credibility by not investigating since the lies are known.

[Benji]

34. Of course

Yes, investigate those corrupt SOBs!!!!!! CONServatives are untrustworthy. I just read where one Repugnant is already is planning on flip-flopping on the war on Iraq when Kerry becomes president. You can't trust CONServatives