A Plea For The Bush Truth Commission
Put forth on March 5, 2009 by XicanoPwr
Posted in Human Rights, Mobilization, activism
Long time readers of this blog would know I’ve been a staunch supporter for the impeachment of the Bush-Cheney Administration. I firmly believe when high crimes and misdemeanors have been perpetrated against the American people and the global community, it is Congress’ constitutional duty to impeach. Selective prosecution of the law undermines everything that our constitution embodies – and I was disappointed when the Democratic Leadership decided to take it off the table. I admired the courage former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney and Congressman Dennis Kucinich had when they introduced Articles of Impeachment. They followed in the footsteps of the last public servant in modern time that also courageously provided a voice to the voiceless in a time where members of Congress refused to do so – the late Democratic Rep. Henry B. Gonzalez.
That was then, and this is now. With the election of Barack Obama we are now moving into an era accountability and responsibility. The Obama Administration does not ascribe to the belief they are above the law and they have already made huge strides to restore the Constitution and renew our commitment to international law after eight corrosive years. However, more needs to be done. We now have a chance to right a wrong and expose the wrongs that have been hidden from public scrutiny. We must make sure it will never happen again.
Congressman John Conyers and Senator Patrick Leahy is calling for the establishment of a commission to investigate the Bush-Cheney Administration’s constitutional abuses so we make sure they never happen again. Last month, Congressman Conyers introduced a bill, H.R. 104, which would set up a National Commission on Presidential War Powers and Civil Liberties. The panel’s goal is to “establish a Blue Ribbon Commission comprised of experts outside government service to investigate the broad range of policies of the Bush administration that were undertaken by the Bush administration under claims of unreviewable war powers.”
He also released a 486-page report, “Reining in the Imperial Presidency,” detailing the abuses and excesses of the Bush administration and recommending steps to address them. His reason for the report:
We cannot rebuild the appropriate balance between the branches of government without fully understanding how that relationship has been distorted. Likewise, we cannot set an appropriate baseline for future presidential conduct without documenting and correcting the presidential excesses that have just occurred.
Recently, Sen. Patrick Leahy asked Congress to convene an independent, blue-ribbon truth and reconciliation commission to look into the constitutional abuses by the Bush-Cheney Administration. These abuses may include the use of torture, warrantless wiretapping, extraordinary rendition, and executive override of laws.
Still not convinced? Then take a look at the Bush-era memos which asserted a broad vision of wartime executive powers that would have trampled traditional Constitutional protection.
Days after 9/11, the Bush administration, operating under a cloak of secrecy, issued a series of classified memos that claimed unprecedentedly broad authority to use the US military inside the United States in going after terrorists, even claiming that Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures DID NOT always apply.
As I mentioned in my last post, echoed by Sen. Patrick Leahy and Congressman John Conyers, we cannot restore trust without fully understanding how things got so distorted without documenting and correcting improper activity that have just occurred. As Sen. Leahy said, “We must read the full page on this dark chapter in American history before we can turn it for good…”
Please sign Sen. Leahy’s online petition at BushTruthCommission.com – and urge Congress to consider establishing a truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the abuse of power by Bush-Cheney Administration and the abuse of power former by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales abuses.
While a “Truth Commission” may not fix the real problems that our country faces, it is a good first step. It is my hope these criminal activities will be given a pass just to protect our imagine. If it was found there was criminal activity, then they must be prosecuted to the fullest extent and without any hope of getting a Presidential pardon.
I urge my fellow Americans to please sign Sen. Leahy’s online petition and to pass it on.
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Tags: Alberto Gonzales, Bush, commission, Cynthia McKinney, Dennis Kucinich, John Conyers, Patrick Leahy | 
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This is the blog of Edmundo "XicanoPwr" Rocha, a social worker, an activist, freelance writer and founder and editor of The Sanctuary. My interests include: immigration reform, critical race theory and it's interaction with equality/inequality and freedom/oppression as they relate to the experiences of people of color in the Americas.
Para Justicia y Libertad is a Latino-centered political blog focusing on the humanistic perspective of politics, history, and society as they relate to the Latina/o community throughout Texas and the United States.
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I think Obama should pardon all of them, starting with Bush. Then Cheney, Rice, Gonzales and General Sanchez. The country doesn’t need it. They are war criminals – no doubt in my mind.
In my view it is worse to put on a show as if we (meaning our gov.) actually have a method of dealing with our own war criminals.
We don’t.
Leahy knows the game better than all of us.
Indian Nations, Mexico, Dresden, Germany; Tokyo, Japan; Viet-Nam; etc.
The pretense is worse.
When I was in the infantry, long ago, there were Guates, Nicas, Mexicanos, Salvadorans, Colombians etc etc being trained to torture their native indigenous peoples.
It hurt me dearly to see indigenous looking soldiers training to kill their own.
I was affected for the worse.
But we were taught that it was a communist thing.
Now I’m 49. We either lynch our own war criminals starting with Kissinger et al, like we did the democratically elected President of Iraq and the Nazis, or we stop kidding ourselves.
aka VC.
Regardless of the outcome, by all means it is absolutely necessary to have a truth and reconciliation commission. By bringing war crimes to light, it ensures that other countries, less afraid to prosecute crimes against humanity, are able to act.
With regard to VC’s comments, training indigenous peoples in torture methods (presumably to be used against their own peoplea) and prosecuting war crimes are two very different things.
I guess we won’t to see them get publicly dragged through the proverbial the town square. The fact that the Obama Administration has no interest going after these thugs is equivalent to President Ford pardoning Richard Nixon. And like the past, as time passes and this nation moves forward, the Bush-Cheney-Gonzalez scandal will be just a distant memory, just like Iran-Contra and Watergate.
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