Democratic Pressure on Obama to Restore the Rule of Law (primarily from Sen. Feingold)

Democratic Pressure on Obama to Restore the Rule of Law

by Adam Cohen


WASHINGTON - In a Senate hearing room in September, weeks before Barack Obama won the election, a series of law professors, lawyers and civil libertarians outlined one of the biggest challenges that will be facing the next president: bringing the United States government back under the rule of law.


Senator Feingold has been compiling a list of areas for the next president to focus on, which he intends to present to Mr. Obama. It includes amending the Patriot Act, giving detainees greater legal protections and banning torture, cruelty and degrading treatment. He wants to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to restore limits on domestic spying. And he wants to roll back the Bush administration’s dedication to classifying government documents.


Over the past eight years, they testified, American legal traditions have been degraded in areas ranging from domestic spying to government secrecy. The damage that has been done by President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and others is so grave that just assessing it will be an enormous task. Repairing it will be even more enormous.

This was not a new complaint. Civil liberties advocates have been sounding the alarm for years. The difference now is that a Democrat is about to assume the presidency, and one of the most ardent defenders of civil liberties in his party - Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin - is dedicated to putting the restoration of the rule of law on the agenda of the incoming government, with the support of the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups.

more...

http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2008/11/14-9

What good is the rule of law if those that break the rules don't experience consequences?

to pull the passports for Bush, Cheney and all their staff so they will not flee the country...

of issues on it, this being a biggie. Obama is a constitutional lawyer; I'll leave it in his capable hands. I'm sure he'll have the good of the country at heart.

If nothing is done this same crew of criminals will be undermining the democrats until they win or steal another election on down the road and they'll set up shop again and carry on with the same criminal bullshit.

Candidate Obama prepared us for that during the primaries when he kept saying that his administration would want to "move forward" and not dwell on the past?

Remember that prosecuting Bush will mean that Pelosi, Reid, Rockefeller and others will be exposed as collaborators. Couldn't have our good Democratic leadership shown to be traitors could we?