And Justice For None

March 01, 2010  |  Posted by Danielle Belton

"When the President does it, that means it's not illegal." -- Richard Nixon

Recently the Department of Justice released a report by the Office of Professional Responsibility regarding the torture memos written by Bush-Cheney era attorneys John Yoo and Jay Bybee. The report condemned the duo for their "poor judgment," but did not offer any further insight on whether or not anyone would ever be held accountable for committing torture during the eight years Bush administration.

The slap on the wrist results of the report pose some disturbing questions:

1. Will anyone ever be held responsible for torture committed during the Bush presidency? From former Vice President Dick Cheney openly admitting that he pushed for water-boarding in the second Bush term on national television, well after the President had turned sour on the so-called enhanced interrogation techniques, to the case of Yoo and Bybee who continue to argue that there was nothing illegal about their memos which authorized the torture to begin with -- It is obvious that torture of detainees was authorized at the highest levels, yet no one is expecting anyone from the Bush-Cheney administration to be hauled in for questioning, to be detained, arrested or put on trial. There is no public outcry for justice. There is no internal movement for justice within the DOJ.

2. Was Richard Nixon right? In the famed interview with David Frost in 1977, former President Richard Nixon said, that when the President does something, it's not illegal. More and more, history seems to be proving Nixon right. Whereas there was a partisan fervor to punish President Bill Clinton for lies he made about an extramarital relationship in the late 1990s, there was little to no movement from any political party to hold the Bush administration accountable for possible war crimes. What kind of precedent does this set when a President can face impeachment for perjury in a civil sexual harassment lawsuit that was largely forgotten the minute he was no longer in office, but another President, accused of authorizing torture, can have lawyers write memos promoting it, can have a Secy. of Defense in Donald Rumsfeld to execute it, can have it as the most open secret in Washington and have NO ONE ever face any sort of punishment? What does that mean for our country? What does that mean for future presidential administrations?

In school we are taught that Congress -- the legislative branch -- writes the laws. The judicial branch ensures the law. And the executive branch -- where the office of the President lies -- executes the law. Perhaps this office now has a second purpose. It is the one branch that can operate outside of the law. The one branch that is above the law. Above accountability. If the public doesn't care that the executive branch may have broken the law and if Congress and the current administration doesn't care if the law was broken, who can prove Nixon's words wrong?

blog comments powered by Disqus