While 18 Groups Have Signed On To Leahy's Whitewash Commission, Over 100 Groups Want Prosecutions

[garybeck]

Ratner said he has been unexpectedly pleased with the public support for criminal prosecutions in the country.

More than 100 organizations large and small have signed on to calls ... for a special prosecutor to look into Bush administration abuses while at least 18 groups have already affirmed their support of Leahy’s Truth Commission proposal.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Leahy_accused_of_whitewash_by_critic_0311.html

[redqueen]

1. Have people finally had enough of two justice systems?

One for the rich and powerful, and one for the rest?

[garybeck]

2. Whatever happened to separation of powers?

Executive = enforce the laws
Legislative = make laws

why is leahy trying to undermine our democracy and justice system by overstepping his powers and attempting to get tangled up in enforcement (or preventing it).

[redqueen]

3. Threats? Complicity?

I don't see any other reason.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. Turth commissions are only successful AFTER the criminals have

been removed from power.

In South Africa, apartheid had been defeated and dismantled BEFORE they set up their truth commission. The reason for the commission was to fully explore the crimes they already knew about - punishment was not the object because there was so much abuse over so long a time that there was no practical way to prosecute every crime.

In Argentina, they avoided a truth commission for years after the junta fell but the people insisted on it because it became the only way to get to the truth - even after defeat, the junta's supporters were powerful enough to block criminal prosecutions. It was a last resort.

To jump to a truth commission here, now, before ANY prosecutions, before any ATTEMPT at prosecutions would be a deliberate subverting of justice.

[garybeck]

5. Well they are out of office now, but....

any attempt to give immunity to people just for testifying, without any evaluation of the value of what they have to say, is completely insane and it should be against the law. the legislative branch is supposed to MAKE LAWS not enforce them!