Maybe Obama Wants Pressure to Prosecute Torturers

http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/trailmix/2009/04/maybe-obama-wants-pressure-to.html

Maybe Obama Wants Pressure to Prosecute Torturers

By Craig Crawford | April 23, 2009 12:00 AM


Either President Barack Obama incompetently allowed the torture debate to get out of hand -- or perhaps he privately wanted to open Pandora's Box but do so without appearing to lead the way.

Whichever it is, the Bush Administration is now in the hot seat and the national mood might well be moving toward supporting high-level prosecutions.

Conventional wisdom holds that Obama's half-measures led to a loss of control over this debate. He released the Bush Justice Department memos authorizing so-called enhanced interrogation, but initially opposed prosecutions. And yet the memos served to fuel demands for prosecutions.

Rising indignation over the Bush team's torture policy now puts pressure on the Obama Administration to indict.

Perhaps getting dragged into the docket for prosecuting Bush officials is exactly what the Obama White House wanted. It's a way of doing something without having to take full responsibility for doing it.

It is quite possible that Obama opened this door in hopes that the country would push him further.

We The People have been invited/challenged to let our collective will be known emphatically.

I like this Obama chap more and more.

blog could be right on target. I know it will get really messy, but that's what can happen when someone does the right thing.

It's going to be real interesting to see the goopers frame how beneficial doing nothing is in the face of such egregious crimes.

It's already been suggested here that the President's tact is to use
public outrage as a result of disclosure of the memos to move
forward with prosecutions without himself appearing to be vengeful or
on a witch hunt.

with all the other Bushco messes. And I firmly believe that he had a plan to deal with it.

I agree with Crawford - public outrage and demand for prosecution is the best way for this to go forward. And that's why the memos were released.

I'm just old enough to remember the mood during Watergate, when even most of the GOP stopped trying to defend Nixon. And the anger when he was pardoned by Ford. That's what we need again.

...or if Rahm's "mistake" comment was actually a trial balloon ~ but now the train has left the station, and there's going to be more than a few white knuckles as it picks up speed.

But if the investigation is done well, justice will be served and we'll all be better off.

I hope he makes the best of it and continues to have the support to proceed.

(and this angle will not go away, moral stands or not)

If he's involved it becomes political. And thats not good for Democrats

If prosecution is to go forward and to stick, it needs to be nonpartisan and clean.

Now the war criminals and their apologists and defenders can cry "political witchhunt" to their heart's content. But they can no longer defend the indefensible because that claim simply won't stick with the American people.

He's cleared the path to the U.S. recognizing, acknowledging and atoning for inhumane crimes committed in our name and with our resources. Only from there can we move forward with a cleaned up slate.

He passed it on to AG Holder per protocol appearing as the reluctant president solemnly doing his duty. He has handled this beautifully IMO, leading the charge and then elegantly stepping back yielding to process.

me a quote from Ghandi that fit perfectly. "There go my people. I must follow them for I am their leader".