Dear P-E Obama:
Your nominee for Attorney General, the chief law enforcement officer of the federal government, testified before the Senate today that waterboarding is torture. President Bush and Vice President Cheney have both made public admissions that they authorized the use of waterboarding. They authorized torture. Probable cause exists for their immediate arrest and detention pending formal charges for war crimes. It really is just that simple, that cut and dried.
You have promised that you will adhere to the premise that no man is above the law. If these were any other men, at any other time, they would be charged, tried, and quite possibly executed, under our Rule of Law.
This is your rubicon, but your choice imperils us all, so I've taken the liberty of finding you some help.
Check this out.
. . . two centuries of service to the Nation and dedication to the principles of our Constitution and the rule of law. . . .
. . . [Their history] is, quite simply, the story of how the American people govern themselves. . . .
. . . at virtually every significant point over the years where Constitutional principles or the force of law have been challenged, [they] were there - and they prevailed. . . .
. . . we would hope the you recognize and take pride in the fact that this agency is an intimate part of the continuum of the grand American experiment in self-government. . . .
It seems they share our commitment to the Constitution and the Rule of Law, and apparently, they are pretty good at this kind of work:
. . . This initiative represented the fifth effort in a continuing series of historically successful national fugitive apprehension missions, which have resulted in the collective capture of more than 55,800 dangerous fugitive felons. . . .
But the best part is this:
. . . extensive authority . . . to carry out all lawful orders issued by . . . the president.
They have to listen to you.
President-Elect Obama, I implore you, a desperate Nation of People implores you, to take a stand in defense of our Constitution. When you finish the oath of office, and append your "so help me God," pause for a moment and let those words resonate in your soul. Then turn to the crowd, step to the microphone, and order every Federal Marshal in the area to proceed to arrest and detain George W. Bush and Richard B. Cheney, pending formal charges for war crimes.
Given their admissions that they authorized the use of waterboarding, they must be charged with the crime. Prosecutorial discretion does not extend to such a blatant challenge to the legal system. The failure to charge them is as much a politicization of the Rule of Law as their use of torture, and it is just as unacceptable.
Play politics if you must, but do it within the Constitutional framework. Congress can grant immunity in exchange for testimony, if they choose to do so. You can pardon them later, if you choose to do so. But on Tuesday, you will swear an oath to preserve, protect, and defend, the Constitution. If you intend to honor that oath, you must have these men arrested.
It falls to you because all other responsible parties have refused any attempt at accountability. The past 8 years have created a climate in Washington that has sucked the integrity out of virtually everyone in a leadership position. If you don't address this, no one will. So the task, nay, the privilege, of standing up for the Rule of Law, falls squarely on your shoulders.
The timing is perfect. At this moment, under these circumstances, the violation is clear, so clear, that the politics are irrelevant. Have them arrested. There is no reasonable basis for criticizing that action, not in light of their own public admissions. Have them arrested, and then let it go, and let our justice system work. Let the sunshine of a public trial heal the outrage of a World. You can move on to solving the climate, economic and healthcare crises, closing Gitmo, and ending the occupation of Iraq.
You know, better than I, that we are in the midst of a full-blown constitutional crisis. You know it is the Rule of Law, and only the Rule of Law, that binds us together as a Nation, however imperfectly. We are no single color or single faith or single culture. America is simply people who have agreed to live together under a certain Code, the Constitution. As a People, we have sacrificed much in the defense and the development of that Code. We fight all the time about how best to interpret it, but none of those disagreements allow room to argue that our Constitution permits our government to torture human beings, under any circumstances. It simply does not.
America may be divided, perhaps even bitterly, over what the appropriate punishment should be in any particular case, but America is united on the threshold question of whether our government may engage in torture. No man is above the law, not you, sir, nor your predecessor.
Arrest them. Not because you believe they are guilty. Not because we believe they are guilty. Not because they are the scum of the earth. Arrest them because, in America, that's what we DO with people who admit to conduct that violates the law. We arrest them, we detain them, we charge them, and we try them. As the HMFIC of the Executive Branch, it is your job to make sure that we do.
Then we can all move forward and celebrate "Renewing America's Promise."