Tuesday, November 23, 2010

The Law? That's for Poor People.

President Bush's new book contains an outright admission that he authorized torture. This is an open admission of criminal behavior. The ACLU has the relevant information. So they call on Obama's attorney general to prosecute him. But there's no need for Bush to worry. Obama wants to look forward, not backward.

As Fred Hiatt explained in the Washington Post, a trial would be really messy. Justice is tough. Why not rather just have a commission chaired by Sandra Day O'Conner and David Souter. They can issue a report and then we can all go home. Criminal trials? That's for black people or impoverished people or generally weak people. You know, people that smoke marijuana even though it's pretty much harmless. Not supremely wealthy people born to luxury, especially when the victims are weak.

Laws are for weak people and weak countries. When Saddam invaded Kuwait that was clearly a problem. He needed to be removed violently, because that violates international law. You can't just invade a foreign country unless you have UN authorization. That's a crime. It must be punished. Except of course when it's done by a powerful state. In that case it was necessary because they were a threat to us.

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