George W. Bush Belongs In Prison

[status quo buster]

George W. Bush Belongs in Prison

Joel S. Hirschhorn

Electing Barack Obama president was the first step in redeeming American democracy. The second step must be indicting ex-president George W. Bush, giving him a fair trial, finding him guilty of many criminal acts and putting him in prison. Forget revenge. Think rule of law and justice.

I want President Obama soon after taking office to go on television and announce the formation of a special group of outstanding jurists and attorneys to make a recommendation whether or not the US Justice Department should bring criminal charges against George W. Bush. Based on earlier analyses, including work by the American Bar Association, I have no doubt they will recommend indictment.

If moral honesty and courage have any meaning, then the nation must take seriously the concept that no president can ever be allowed to be above the law. How can President Obama not strongly support this? Surely no president must be allowed to disrespect and dishonor the US Constitution. George W. Bush broke his oath of office. His behavior was treasonous. Instead of defending the Constitution he disgraced it. Instead of protecting constitutional rights, including privacy, he sullied them. He asserted his right to ignore or not enforce laws so he could break them. Respect for the office of the presidency must never be allowed to trump truth and justice.

Millions and millions of Americans and people worldwide know that George W. Bush made 9/11 the trigger for initiating an illegal war in Iraq that has killed and maimed so many thousands of people. What Vincent Bugliosi, author of “The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" called “the most serious crime ever committed in American history.” I say convict Bush of myriad counts of criminally negligent homicide related to both Iraq and the Katrina disaster and put him in prison. A former president in prison would not disgrace the presidency. It would restore honor to the office and the Constitution.

Surely millions more people now understand that George W. Bush bears responsibility for creating the conditions that encouraged greed-driven capitalism to rape and murder the middle class and push us into the current global economic meltdown. By removing government oversight and regulation he committed the greatest acts of fraud in the history of mankind. After he made American democracy delusional he made prosperity delusional.

We the people are paying the price for George W. Bush’s criminal acts and so must he. When George W. Bush is sent to prison everyone will see that American democracy has earned the respect of the world. Everyone will better understand that evil comes in many forms and that even an elected president of the United States of America can and must be recognized as a perpetrator of horrendous criminal acts.

Please President-elect Obama, make it so. Be the principled person we want you to be. Make the USA the nation it is supposed to be. Have the courage to do what Congress refused to do when it did not impeach George W. Bush. Change history by showing the world that American justice applies as equally to the president as it does to anyone else. Do not let George W. Bush escape the justice and prison sentence he deserves. Do not let respect for the presidency trump respect for justice. If we do not bring George W. Bush to justice that probably only you can make happen, then surely we do not restore respect for the office that you worked so hard to achieve.

To ensure that no future president behaves like George W. Bush we must punish him. Not merely through the words of historians, but through the physical punishment that he has inflicted on so many millions of people. In previous eras citizens would have demanded “off with his head.” Now we must demand “lock him up.” How poetic for a pro-torture ex-president. As summed up at www.imprisonbush.com: “Bush must be made accountable to the law, to serve as a lesson to all those who would attempt to destroy the American system of laws and liberty for the sake of their own power.” This is a test for both President Obama and American democracy.

If there is any kind of God in the universe, then George W. Bush must go to prison. When he does, then and only then should God bless America.

[Laelth]

1. Hear, hear! n/t k&r

The United States is a LIBERAL Country.

:dem:

-Laelth

[mopinko]

2. imho, the promised review of all executive orders and signing statements

will create a roadmap to what was done "legally" and what wasn't. although obama has promised to rescind all those that were unconstitutional, i think that they are also looking to what they can prosecute and what was "papered over".
i just can't imagine that he is not planning to prosecute. but it would be stupid to go in there, guns blazing, making pronouncements before the case is made.

[political_Dem]

3. I just hope that there is a commission that will investigate the wrongdoing that has happened.

It needs to be headed by an independent prosecutor who will leave no stone unturned. The world is watching us. We need to display some action to make sure that such rampant corruption does not go unpunished.

However, all I can say is that the rightist and centrists voices in the Obama Administration might be a little perturbed. But that's the price they'd paid to be part of a "team of rivals".

[FormerDittoHead]

4. Our country was hijacked and sold out and now we have the bill to pay...

If we were to ever use capital punishment for treason, that we were fucking lied into a war should be good for starters.

And there are some "troops" I DON'T support. Like all of the people in the military, both higher ups and in the intelligence services who didn't see a single picture or any real proof whatsoever of Iraq WMD production and stayed QUIET.

That you could have so many (thousands?) remain virtually silent (there were a couple, sure) while we were being told over and over that there was proof, but it was too sensitive to be revealed, etc., etc. while we were tooling up to go to a trillion dollar war over LIES.

And that was just the beginning...

[bvar22]

5. Don't count on Obama & The Democrats.

They are going to close ranks with The Republicans to protect the Duopoly.

We are going to have to do this ourselves....through a Global Private effort.

I will donate $500 to ANY organization that will place a Bounty on Bush/Cheney to be paid to anyone who provides evidence or testimony that leads to their indictment, arrest, or the issuing of an International Arrest Warrant.

A small, transparent trust located in a neutral country like Switzerland could administer the fund. If the BOUNTY is promoted internationally, it would quickly grow to Mega-Millions.

The fund would also be tasked with running full page Wanted For War Crimes ads in major Global newspapers every 3 months until the Bounty is awarded or depleted.

I believe that such a fund would be wildly popular worldwide, and provide the administrators an opportunity to make a little money.
I have neither the resources or skills to institute such a fund, but like I said above, I am willing to donate $500. I also believe that there are at least a million more worldwide (extreme minimum) who would also be willing to donate....that adds up to some serious money.

Wanted
for
WAR CRIMES


A $500 Million Dollar Reward will be paid to any individual, organization, or country that provides concrete information leading to the arrest, or the issuance of an Internal Arrest Warrant for War Crimes committed by George Bush, Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, or Donald Rumsfeld.

It is clear that the Opposition Party (Democratic Party) and the US Justice Department will do NOTHING to hold the criminals accountable.
A private organization representing Citizens of the World would have better results.

Even if Bush/Cheney are never arrested, a Mega-Million Dollar International Bounty would certainly keep them looking over their shoulders, curtail retirement travel plans, AND serve as a warning to future "Unitary Executives".

It would also put a nice ribbon around the Bush Legacy.

[BeFree]

6. Great idea

It may not bring the justice the world needs, but the only reason it wouldn't is because we Americans don't want justice. We shall see.

[acmavm]

7. No one will ever be prosecuted in this country. All we can hope for is

these neocon thugs travel outside the US and somebody does a 'secret rendition' on their asses.