From the Nov. 17, 2008 edition of Countdown, guest host David Shuster, filling in for Keith Olbermann, talks to Jonathan Turley about the possibility of George Bush issuing blanket pardons for the crimes committed by himself and his administration and what it means for the rule of law that remains in the United States.
UPDATE (Nicole): Does anyone actually believe that Bush won't thumb his nose at the rule of law? As Will Bunch notes, it's clear that Presidents and their aides are officially above the law.
However, that's not the thing that took my breath away in this clip. Listen as Shuster and Turley both matter-of-factly admit that one of the problems that Obama has in committing to close Guantanamo is what to do with the detainees there because some of them could not go through our criminal justice system due to lack of evidence to hold them or because they've been tortured. No outrage. No wringing of hands that these people still exist, years later, within Guantanamo, as we count down the days until George Bush is finally out of office.
Yet the media can get up in arms about Hillary Clinton can "subvert her agenda" to serve as Secretary of State and rehash that ad nauseam? We can have an academic discussion on presidential pardons (and not fail to mention Clinton, mind you), but when it come to authentic crimes against humanity that merit a full blown trial in The Hague, the media yawns, as if it's just par for course.
My god, when did we lose our moral compass that this kind of atrocity is an academic discussion instead of a rallying call for justice? Per Robert Jay Lifton, this is our American Apocalypse.
