This is a reminder of what the former Administration said -- just look around and see where that got us, and the size of the mess it created for the current Administration, for the nation and for the world:

Isn't it time for a little accountability, some legal investigation and some accountability?

Hat-tip to Emersonhost of Delphi Forums.

How many of you have heard the name "James Yee" or "Yosuf Yee" ...?  For those who, for one reason or another, won't or aren't in a position to click the link, it goes to the Wiki page. Here's an excerpt:

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James J. Yee (Chinese: 余百康 or 余优素福, also known by the Arabic name Yusuf Yee) (born c. 1968) is an American, former United States Army chaplain with the rank of captain. He is best known for being subject to an intense investigation by the United States, but all charges were later dropped.
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In addition, this:

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In his appointed role as chaplain, Yee ministered to Muslim detainees held at Guantánamo Bay detention camp and received commendation from his superiors for his work.[5] When returning from duty at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, he was arrested on September 10, 2003, in Jacksonville, Florida, when a U.S. Customs agent found a list of Guantanamo detainees and interrogators among his belongings.[6] He was charged with five offenses: sedition, aiding the enemy, spying, espionage, and failure to obey a general order. These charges were later reduced to mishandling classified information in addition to some minor charges.[6] He was then transferred to a United States Navy brig in Charleston, South Carolina. The government did not name the country or entity for whom it suspected Yee was spying.

All court-martial charges against Yee were dropped on March 19, 2004, with Maj. Gen. Geoffrey Miller "citing national security concerns that would arise from the release of the evidence,"[7] and he was released to resume his duties. Yee was then accused of adultery and storing pornography on a government computer; and nonjudicial punishment under Article 15, UCMJ was imposed. His appeal to General Hill, Commander, United States Southern Command, was granted in April 2004. He left the US military with an honorable discharge in January, but he is still seeking an apology.
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His case is another stellar example of the Bush-era paranoia and vindictiveness.

This is what we are supposed to be fighting for; the treatment he received is what our nation is supposed to be ~against~...

This is part II of a reposting taken from Danse Macabre III: The Return of Ja(a)far [Donald Rumsfeld], which first appeared on the ePluribus Media Journal in December of 2006. Part I was posted yesterday, here.

It's long, but detailed. Hope you find it enlightening. -- GH

Over the past few months since the inauguration of President Obama, people have speculated about whether or not the various alleged -- and actual -- crimes of the Bush Administration would ever be truly investigated. Some thought that Attorney General Eric Holder would initiate domestic investigations. Some were heartened by the example set by the British as they began their own internal investigation, hoping that the U.S. would soon follow suit.

But nobody expected the Spanish Inquisition...

Well, maybe nobody. But nonetheless, Spain has begun an inquiry and started the process for indicting six former member of the Bush Administration for their actions.

It's about time.

This is an Open Thread.

Avahome pointed out this video, which apparently was posted in a comment over on Huffington Post:

In a nutshell, John Dean says: "If the US passes on their moral obligation to investigate this, other countries will step in." Therefore, it will behoove the Obama Administration to address the issue and not drop it.

And remember boys and girls, "pardons" would only prevent prosecution in the US, according to US law. A pardon doesn't mean diddly on the world stage.

UPDATE: From the comments, our intrepid contributor jimstaro points out that he included links to the relevant laws in his recent post "The War Behind Me" -- here they are:

• CHAPTER 113C—TORTURE 18 USC - 2340A
• War crimes 18 USC - 2441
• Genocide 18 USC - 1091

Thanks, Jim!

The Power of One
by Nightprowlkitty, Docudharma, December 26, 2008
Crossposted at Docudharma, Daily Kos, My Left Wing, Open Left, The Sanctuary, OOIBC and ePluribus Media. If you wish to repost this essay you can download a .txt file of the html here (right click and save). Permission granted.

Give Bush and Cheney a fair trial -- something they have not bothered with since they stole office.

It's funny how the powers that be in the media and government are running around with their big fat excuses as to why we can't hold these criminals accountable for their crimes.  It all boils down to "It's too hard!!!"

It's too hard.  It would affect too many people.  It would interfere with the crucial work of restoring our economy.  Blah blah blah.  Not one of these folks say, however, that no crime has been committed, no law has been broken.  No one says that.

I find that stunning.  We all know, at least those of us who have been paying attention, that Bush and his crew of crooks have broken the law over and over again.

And Cheney says "What you gonna do about it?"  And Cheney says "oh, the Dems knew about this and approved it, hell they wanted us to be even tougher than we were!"

And we should believe Cheney ... why?

I don't want speculation any more.  I want the truth, the facts, what really happened.  Only a special prosecutor can get that information, someone who is inured to the politics of Washington D.C. by being given the independent power to investigate.

Good morning.

President George W. Bush revoked a pardon yesterday, setting a dangerous new precedent for Presidential authority and setting the stage for future residents of the Oval Office who may wish to revoke the pardons of previous Presidents.

There's more detail from this CBS News story:

(CBS/ AP) President Bush took the very rare step Wednesday of revoking a pardon he had granted only a day before, after learning in news reports of political contributions to Republicans by the man's father and other information.

[...snip...]

Doug Berman, a law professor at Ohio State University and a close follower of presidential clemency decisions, said the White House decision strikes him as unprecedented, but he said it's not inconceivable that it had happened in the past.

"It's, at best, embarrassing. At worst, it's an extraordinary example of this White House's ability to bollox up one bit of presidential authority that he clearly has," Berman said.

Wow.  This sets a whole new precedent, and provides the incoming Obama Administration with one very potent -- and very, very dangerous -- tool: the ability to revoke any Bush pardons based on new information.  Like evidence of treason, sedition, war crimes, intentional corruption, coincidental murder, willful ignorance, dereliction of duty or wholesale negligence.

In short, just about everything that Bush might pardon his fellow Administration members for, opening the door for this nation to finally have a means to circumvent the use of pardons to enable dirty Presidents to get away with -- or help their cronies get away with -- crimes most heinous and foul.  The potential for criminals who thought to skate free with a Presidential pardon has now been tarnished and sullied, and there is new hope for change and accountability as a result.  It's also a step that should be taken lightly, if at all, lest it lead to a tug-of-war of back-and-forth Administrations slapping each other for foolish actions.  

In the meantime, however, it appears that a degree of accountability may once again come to rest within the Oval Office.  What a concept.

Merry Christmas, America. Happy Festivus, Merry Christhanukwanzdiwalmas and all that jazz.

This is an Open Thread.

Two trains derailed early this morning¹ near Dresback, Minnesota. There were only two reported injuries -- two railroad employees were taken to the hospital with minor injuries -- but the area was evacuated due to a leak caused by the crash. Some articles report a leak of both propane (from a switching station) and liquid ammonia from one of the cars, other news bits report just one or the other.

Two of the derailed cars (at least) plummeted into the Mississippi River.

The NTSB will be investigating, but some initial reports indicate that the two trains collided by "sideswiping" each other. For the most detailed and up-to-date information, check out the story in the Star Tribune.

By itself, this incident is obviously newsworthy. Taken in context with news from the other day about another "midnight rule change" by the Bush Administration, and it sounds downright ominous...

As the holiday season gears up for the mass-marketing hysteria known as "Christmas" and often packaged along with images of a jolly fat man in a red suit with penchant for checking lists twice, it can help to review the things people are thankful for and what kinds of things people are hopeful of.

Sometimes, such a review encounters items that overlap.

One such example would be reviewing the list of scandals that have plagued our nation's government and leadership over the past two Administrations, giving thanks that the error that gave rise to the era of corruption is drawing to an end while spurring hopes and dreams that justice, the rule of law, accountability and a restoration of the underlying bedrock of our democracy might be reconstituted in the coming year.

At this critical juncture in our history we needed an adult but got an adolescent. Instead of responsibility, we got a truant. In place of flexibility we got obduracy. In the face of great and complex challenges, we got strawmen, a black and white universe, my way or the highway, regurgitated stump speeches, and a steadfast refusal to compromise not just with opponents but with reality.

What all this comes down to is that George Bush should never have become our President. He is not just a bad President but the worst one we could have had, the worst our country has ever seen. This is a judgment that many Americans have come to but which our political establishment and media, even after 7 years, have yet to acknowledge, accept, and act on. This is the tragedy and crime of our times.

That's an excerpt from Hugh's list of Bush Scandals -- recent additions are in red. There are 396 items on it at the time of this posting.

With luck, we'll see the new Administration and the new Congress act to properly investigate and hold accountable those who have had such a fun time running rampant without any enforcement or rules, and the old fat guy with the lists of naughty and nice will be paying attention and act accordingly, but I won't hold my breath.

I hear he's been bought off by the coal industry.

This is an Open Thread.

Hat-tip gotgat54.

Not to be confused with this piece from last year.

As November 4th approaches and the nation takes stock of the current state of our security, our economy, our infrastructure, our global standing and our fractured Constitution, it's time to turn and bid adieu to the Administration that has, with the full and complicit knowledge of the GOP, lied, cheated and stole its way through two terms of unadulterated, unapologetic corruption.

So let us all say goodbye to George W. Bush and the elephant he rode in on this November, by voting against the Republican party. In droves.

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"All the world 's a stage, and all the men and
women merely players. They have their exits and their
entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts"

        -- William Shakespeare
            As You Like It, Act II, Scene VII
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Indeed, never before have the words of the great Bard rung so true.

All across the United States, the play's the thing wherein the GOP will try to capture the attention of the people, and with it the crown of a new king. Make no mistake about it -- that's what they've effectively turned the Presidency into, and a John McCain presidency will simply continue along the path set by his predecessor.

It's time to royally dethrone them and wrest the future of our nation from their arrogantly clumsy, ham-handed fingers and present the nation with a rare treat -- an actual leader, with intelligence and charisma and stuff.

Eight years of Republican dominance, political gamesmanship and unopposed, entrenched cronyism has created a standing pool of fetid, putrid corruption that permeates the entire infrastructure of our nation. The injection of political spin into the realms of science, law enforcement, legislation, accountability and oversight has reached maximum absorption -- we can't take any more. Things are falling apart; the centre cannot hold, and the very foundations are crumbling.

How many people remember this?

(c) Schoolhouse Rock; unofficial site here.

Head below the fold to see what made me think of it, and why -- and yes, the title is a dead giveaway.

Hat-tip Dupa.

It appears that the natives -- us, the "unwashed masses" yearning to be free, who populate shores both foreign and domestic -- are getting restless in their hunger for justice to prevail:

Citizens’ Arrest of Karl Rove Attempted in Iowa

Student group seeks Rice citizen arrest

It looks like citizens of the world, regardles of whether they live in the US or not, are beginning to clamor for justice and deciding to start the process on their own out of fear and resignation that the legal processes of their home nations will fail to step up to hold these men and women accountable.

Make the flip for a collection of links and videos that explore the emerging facts that the George W. Bush Administration is guilty of War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity -- and whether or not they'll ever be tried for their crimes.

Update: I'd almost forgotten to include the recent attempt by George Monbiot to arrest John Bolton, too.

Sometimes, comedy is so biting you can't help but wonder at the circumstances that create such a perfect opportunity to skewer reality.

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Hat-tip Red Prince.

No wonder the Bush Administration has worked so hard to distance itself from the Geneva Conventions and Republicans in general appear to loathe the very thought of the United States ever joining the International Criminal Court (ICC):

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The ICC "shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction based on official capacity. In particular, official capacity as a head of state... shall in no case exempt a person from criminal responsibility," it says.

        -- Article 27 of the Rome Treaty
          per the AFP website.

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It's pretty much a common consensus world-wide -- and among any reality-based people within the U.S. -- that the United States has committed war crimes in pursuit of the GWoT and particularly in Iraq.

"Says who?"

Several findings definitely lead that way: