I was driving back from the Outer Banks on Monday evening with a friend, and we got to discussing Michael Vick as we drove through the Hampton Roads area. My friend is very apolitical (in fact, hates politics), but his aversion to and intense dislike of politics in our country is based on very justifiable reasoning -- the blatant hypocrisy and different set of rules for the elites that have been running this country into the ground for the past 8 years. To wit -- a young man that makes some very poor decisions and engages in indefensible cruelty to animals has the book thrown at him and his professional life destroyed, yet the elites that lied this country into war, engaged in illegal torture, rendition, and wiretapping, and broke numerous other laws appear to be heading to an exit from elected office without any accountability for their amoral, illegal, unconstitutional, and destructive actions.
It was with all that in mind that I read with very strong interest this story from ABC news that indicates that at least our potential next Vice President fully intends to see that these crimes are investigated when he takes office next January (h/t to Devin at dkos):
While Republicans congregate in the Twin Cities striving to keep their hold on the White House, Barack Obama's running mate Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., sharply criticized the Bush administration Tuesday while delineating the changes Democrats would demand if they rise to power."In an Obama-Biden administration, we will not have an attorney general who blatantly breaks the law," Biden said at a town-hall meeting in West Palm Beach, Florida, his voice at times drowned out by applause. "We will not have a president who doesn't understand the Constitution. And I will not be a vice-president who thinks he's not part of any of the three branches of government."
...
Looking to the future but with one eye on the past, Biden also promised that an Obama-Biden government would go through Bush administration data with "a fine-toothed comb" and pursue criminal charges if necessary.
"If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation," he said, "they will be pursued, not out of vengeance, not out of retribution - out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no one, no attorney general, no president, no one is above the law."
It is very heartening to see that one of the standard bearers for our party understands the stakes, and it gives me confidence that these Republicans that trashed our Constitution and our Republic will not get away with it, that the typical bipartisan Washington game of CYA won't be employed to protect the elites.
Unless all the crimes, depradations, horrors, and embarassments of the Bush administration are fully aired, explored, and, yes, prosecuted, our Constitutional government will be tarnished and weakened for at least a generation, if not forever. If the next administration in concert with the Congress does not hold these people accountable, then the signal will be unmistakably sent that we are not a nation of laws, but a nation where we elect a new King every four years.
That's what this election is about to me. It is entirely without hyperbole that I state that if John McCain is elected President, then the notion of accountability in government will perhaps forever be destroyed in America, and the idea that we are a Republic founded upon the notion of justice will be proven a lie -- they will all get away with all of it.
So, while Sarah Palin is an obviously unqualified and dangerous choice to have as a nominee for the Vice Presidency, the issue is in some ways a distraction (not that we shouldn't use this ridiculous pick to our advantage to hammer John McCain). In my mind, this election comes down to the idea of rewarding the ruling party with four more years of rule after eight years of lies, mendacity, criminality, abuse of power, and trampling of our core constitutional ideals. Nothing less.
So, if ever you feel disheartened by some aspect of this campaign or the public 'debate' being had, remember this: accountability can only happen if we elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden to execute the laws of our country. Keep that in mind the next nine weeks, and then roll up your sleeves.
Let me tell you, after watching video of Palin talking to her Assembly of God Church (Fundamentalist for those who don't know) I am scared for our country. The GOP base is stoked because of her, they don't give a crap about McCain. They want him gone, so she can get up there. In her statement to the Assembly of God church she grew up in she stated that God wanted us to go into Iraq, sound familiar, and also she said God wanted a pipeline in Alaska, etc. I think you get the point--The media needs to get the word out in a responsible way that this lady is crazy. I can only imagine who she would nominate for the Supreme Court. WE DON'T NEED ANYMORE FUNDAMENATLIST IN POWER IN THIS COUNTRY. PASS THIS ON.