The Bush administration has been wretchedly mistaken in its conception of executive power, deceitful in its push for war with Iraq and appalling in its scheming to make torture an instrument of state power. But a healthy democracy punishes policy mistakes, however egregious, and seeks redress for its societal wounds, however deep, at the ballot box and not in the prisoner's dock.
Criminal behavior by government officials is to be dealt with only at the ballot box? It is an amazing notion, but it seems to be one shared alike by Democrats and Republicans in Washington, D.C.; it makes comprehensible their behavior. That is why everything from impeachment to holding officials to be in contempt of Congress is off the table.
Chris Floyd further writes:
The cognitive dissonance of this conclusion was so painful and severe that I had to read it several times to fully take in that it meant exactly what it said: Rutten believes with all his heart that the official practice of deliberate, systematic torture – a clear and unambiguous war crime which he himself has just outlined in careful detail – is ultimately nothing more than a “wretched mistake,” a “policy difference” that should not be “criminalized.” And how can this be? The answer is obvious, if unspoken: because it was done by the United States government – and nothing the United States government ever does can possibly be criminal, or evil. It can only be, at most, a mistake, a conceptual error, an ill-considered policy, a botched attempt at carrying out a noble intention.I'm less sure of this argument; it could simply be that the politicians consider themselves to be a special breed of human being to whom the laws that apply to the rest of the United States do not apply. In favor of Floyd's argument is Senator Kit Bond's statement:
"I'm not here to say that the government is always right, but when the government tells you to do something, I'm sure you would all agree that I think you all recognize that is something you need to do."
i.e., we must believe in the authoritarian government that is not bound by laws, presumably because it is the United States government that can do no evil. Or perhaps because it is controlled by people who can commit no crimes, only make policy mistakes.
