Will the real criminals be punished?

I was watching the Frontline report "The Enemy Within", on the FBI and a prosecutor who got an obviously innocent couple of Muslims convicted of terrorism in Lodi, California, and the prosecutor, McGregor Scott, was obviously uncomfortable about his role in this travesty, but he continued to toe the party line.

On the other side of the Democrat victory in November, clearly those who have played a part in this witch hunt are starting to worry about what the repercussions will be once the Congress is no longer just an Administration rubber stamp. But I wondered: will there by any punishment for the abuse of position and power and the manifest injustices perpetrated in its cause?

Ideally, the President, his cabinet members, and the heads of the military and intelligence communities, not to mention the officials responsible for persecuting people without evidence or regard for their human rights would be prosecuted and imprisoned. But this isn't going to happen, no matter whether there is a Democrat president in two years or not. Basically, they will mostly get away with it, because the United States system is not set up to redress injustices, and because power has perquisites.

Moreover, no matter how much evidence comes out once the censorial grip on evidence is loosened, true believers will rationalise the evil done, and dismiss it. I fear for the future of the USA. And with them, I fear for the damage done to other allied nations like my own. At least habeas corpus still applies here, even if we have acquiesced in the abuse of our citizens, and we continue to reject capital punishment and support the Geneva Convention, sort of. And our courts retain some measure of independence from the political goals of the government. But what happened to common law rights and democracy?

Sorry, I'm feeling pretty existential today. History indicates that such abuses, from Rome to the McCarthy era, take decades to recover from, if at all. Most of the time, recovery is at best partial, or superficial. We fought for centuries to gain those rights, and an age-old problem - terrorism - which the US like any country, has had to deal with for at least a century, has been used as an excuse for control by government, and washed many of them away in mere years. My kids will live in a social milieu in which rights are exceptional rather than assumed by default. I fear for them.

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It's up to the rest of the world to make sure that justice is done. The method has been established; here's how it goes.

First, you invade and conquer the offending country. You have a moral obligation to do this in order advance the causes of freedom and justice.

Next you capture the leaders and put them on trial. Finally, you execute them for their crimes.

Don't worry, Canada's army is assembling on the border as we speak.

ideally... the officials responsible for persecuting people without evidence or regard for their human rights would be prosecuted and imprisoned.
and well said.
Old ways die hard..

"Some compensation for property losses was paid in 1948, but most internees were unable to fully recover their losses. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation which apologized for the internment on behalf of the U.S. government. The legislation stated that government actions were based on "race prejudice, war hysteria, and a failure of political leadership", and beginning in 1990, the government paid reparations to surviving internees.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_American_internment

So, expect another forthcoming apology in about 40 years.

November looked like a rout to me, not a yawn.

As for Bush, he's not smirking much these days and the Democrats haven't even taken over Congress yet. He can surround himself with sycophants for the rest of his life

the prosecutor, McGregor Scott, was obviously uncomfortable about his role in this travesty, but he continued to toe the party line.

That's the problem with America; it's the Duopoly in Washington. We have Repugnicans on one side and Democraps on the other. People are so afraid of the party whiplash they won't actually do what they feel is right. We need more third parties in America, or more precisely we need more powerful third parties.

I would like to offer a possible solution to the implication made by Larry Moran that "It's up to the rest of the world to make sure that justice is done." Assuming that his tongue is as deeply planted as mine I will use a common, yet effective technique. I'll quote the words of a song (and give free press to a true entertainer).

Punish the guilty.
Teach that crime don't pay.
Give them some incentive
Not to act that way.

Kip Attaway, from "Hazardous Sicks"

Kip is from Wyoming, like me (grin), and his shows are a non-stop hoot, guaranteed.

Since the Constitution defines the seat of power in America as residing with the people it might be helpful to badger our politicians into passing laws that are anathema to them. These would be laws that reward only productivity and punish most everything else. Out of the realm of possibility? Am I or am I not in the presence of the ruling class when I go out of my door?

Larry, it takes a lot of work. I guess this is us slogging away at the job. Hey, not bad.

By Crudely Wrott (not verified) on 02 Jan 2007 #permalink

1st: you don't have rights. you have traditional privileges, subject to the will of the sovereign's stand-in's chief flapper, howard by name. hicks and mamdou habib will explain the difference to you, if they survive and are sane.

2nd: why fear for the future of the usa? it will be like it's past. google "black kettle", "aguinaldo", "free-fire zones", "tiger-force","school of the americas",etc, etc.

3rd: you can do better than to acquiesce in the activities of the current gang of bandits in power in canberra. stop by http://auxarmes.blog.com/ and see how private individuals can resist. or just go on wringing your hands..