The reckonning wait

There isn't much doubt that the Bush Administration made a mockery of law and process and public trust, leaving us a legacy of misrule. But what, if anything, will be done about that?

If you've been reading the Obama tea leaves recently, it's fairly obvious that the President has been bracing his supporters for a let-down. If you've been waiting for a Truth-and-Reconciliation Commission, don't hold your breath. That Bush didn't use his ability to pardon his team may be another tell. Perhaps he'd gotten the word that he need not worry.

From a pragmatic view, this is purely logical. Obama faces more instant crises than any president since FDR, and despite his current political capital he comes to this job without nearly enough juice to tromp his way to solutions. Investing time, energy and bandwidth in public prosecutions of Republicans isn't a post-partisan signal this president can send if he hopes to work serious reform through the Senate.

Yet the other side of the argument speaks plainly: To let actual crimes go unpunished is to make a public mockery of our believe in justice and accountability.

How will this end?

Two things to keep in mind:

1. Even if Obama sits on his hands, some degree of investigation is likely to proceed. John Conyers is quite capable -- and apparently inclined -- to hold some kind of inquiry. The President could likely make a show of trying to stop Conyers, but doing so publicly has its own risks. If he really doesn't want these specters raised, he will likely have to work via private persuasion.
2. Time may not be on Bush's side. The immediate assumption in the media appears to be that if the President discourages the federal government from aggressively pursuing wrongdoers in the short terms that the Bush administration will get away with it. I think not.

There has been quiet buzz for the past month around the notion that today, Jan. 21, begins a new era in what might be called "Bush Studies." Summarized: Throughout government there are literally thousands of appointees and careerists who have kept their mouths shut out of a sense of loyalty to the office, if not to the administration. Or maybe it was just fear.

In either case, several reporters have alleged that these Bush officials have expressed a willingness to provide information after the new administration takes office. That Jan. 21 would begin "The Great Reveal," a denouement in which evidence we've never seen finally comes to light in usable ways.

I'd like to believe this, because I want to know what happened. I doubt it because I'm skeptical of the people and corporate media involved .

But if anything close to The Great Reveal transpires, then I think everything changes.

Will Obama prosecute Bush's people for abuses we already know about? Not likely. But new facts -- say, a military officer who brings direct evidence of a White House conspiracy to mislead the public on the death of Pat Tillman, or some accountant from the Green Zone who can actually show us where our $9 billion went -- will very likely lead to a special prosecutor.

So that, ultimately, may be the final legacy of this failed administration: A class of discredited people, eying each other with loathing and suspicion, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Comments

[Agricola]

Well, so far the courts have pretty much indicated that the past Administration's positions were legal. It will be interesting to measure the separation between the Bush and Obama administrations in war policy, intelligence, the power of the executive branch vis a vis the legislative branch, and the integrity of his cabinet. Time will tell....

[Agricola]

A link...More on executive power and the presidency

[ncwatterson]

It may be taken out of the administration's hands by the UN, at least as far as war crimes at Gitmo are concerned...