Well, Americans, I must say, for all our red, white, and blue pride, we don't seem to have much moral courage in this country. At least, when compared to the Egyptians, who are still taking to the streets, shutting down commerce, refusing to accept the status quo, demanding change. Or even, perhaps, compared to the Americans of yesteryear, my parents' generation, who marched in the streets to demand an end to an illegal war and to racial discrimination and segregation in Dixie.
And now, here are the Swiss, showing us up again, by threatening to bring charges against the man who most typifies American ignorance and anti-intellectualism, Junior Bush.
According to Reuters:
Bush was to be the keynote speaker at Keren Hayesod's annual dinner on February 12 in Geneva. But pressure has been building on the Swiss government to arrest him and open a criminal investigation if he enters the Alpine country.Color me grateful. If it weren't for human rights activists in Switzerland (which has her own problems vis-a-vis human rights), Junior Bush might be happily jetting around Europe, clowning like an idiot, telling dirty jokes, and remaining blithely ignorant of the hatred directed at him by so much of the world.
Criminal complaints against Bush alleging torture have been lodged in Geneva, court officials say, and several human rights groups signaled that they were poised to take further legal action this week.
I'm grateful to Swiss activists for having the courage and the fortitude to take these steps. And my biggest single complaint against President Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid is that they lacked the courage to bring justice to an obvious war criminal and his cartel when they had the chance in 2008.
It is a bitter lesson of life that evil will often go unpunished. At least from the outward human perspective. As scripture states, in Matthew 5:45:
...he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.But I do believe that Junior, in his half-aware, blithe ignorance, still experiences pangs of guilt and unhappiness. I do believe that, in his most private moments, he regrets that he has failed so miserably, not just as a president or a leader, but as a man, as a human being.
And, Switzerland, thanks for reminding him. Junior, you are not forgiven.
On the one hand I agree that it seems wrong to just forget everything that happened during the 8 years of Bush's rule. But it's a bad precedent to prosecute the previous administration. Once you start down that road, every President will bring charges against the previous one. Do you want to see President Palin have Obama arrested for something random and spend the rest of his life fighting a court battle?
ReplyDeletebut the threat of prosecution would perhaps act as a deterrent from breaking international treaties to begin with.
ReplyDeleteI'm all for prosecution. A few years ago they nearly got Kissinger in London. I think the law is more important than any person, and having a person with the most power have the least threat of prosecution is the opposite of sensible.
ReplyDeleteThe thing is that the only Presidents that I am not certain to have committed a war crime in the last fifty years are Ford and Carter. All the rest have illegally attacked and killed people in some manner, including the current President, who has ordered the bombing of civilians in Pakistan.
The results of these actions are dead people, no different from the results of murdering someone in the street. I think they should all be in jail.
It would make more since to have those folks fill up the jails rather than marijuana growers. And maybe after awhile when there appears to be a price to pay or accountability for murdering thousands and thousands of people they might stop and think....even if it is not for the best of reasons it would be better then what happens.
ReplyDeleteBeing 65 almost I remember well Eugene, Berkley and Klamath Falls even. We would pile in a car and go where ever the protest was. Richard, Renata, Bill Forbes, Ross Ragland Mrs Howell Kip Morgan and his mom after awhile my Dad and Bonatto and many many others. A couple of those people even served prison time, for "political crimes". Times seem different in this country now and even though it almost seems or feels like a lot of people have less to loose, or have already lost it then a lot of those folks had to lose back then, the fear factor seems greater. But for the most part we seem to have slipped behind a veil of mist choosing to almost sleep as the world goes on around us. Thanks for lifting that once in awhile with a jolt of the truth.