I'll take that as a No.

Anyone surprised? It's like Nixon and the Gerald Ford pardon all over again.

I hope the American don't let this just slide.

I know Obama just wants to get rid of this as an issue because it would mean retroactive analysis of policy by any administration down the line.

Fuck ups wouldn't be tolerated.

That's not acceptable to most politicians, you know being accountable for their actions in office.

He basically just said that any actions taken by the president and crew, are above the law.

Seriously ?

Fuck. That's so disappointing.

He didn't say there wouldn't be prosecutions. I think he just doesn't want the Bush administration to be the central focus of his presidency.

I think he's speaking of the immediate future, and not further down the road. Maybe Bush and his crew will be prosecuted, but right now we need to think more about the economy so we have a country left when it comes time to order inquiries.

Be patient.

If he pardons Bush, or refuses to investigate wrong-doing, then you can go nuts. And I'll be right there with you. With pitchforks and torches.

I told ya.

http://www.videosift.com/video/Bidens-Town-Hall-No-One-is-Above-the-Law#comment-508621

this is not even an issue, as Bush has never done anything criminal, unlike Clinton, who lied under oath, remember kids?

That's change we can believe.

I don't know. The way I see it, is that we need to get out of the hole first before we start figuring everything out. I have to agree with the idea of doing it that way if that's what he's ultimately saying.

Color me an optimist. Here's what I heard:

My general view when it comes to my Attorney General is: he is the people's lawyer -- Eric Holder has been nominated -- his job is to uphold the Constitution, and look out for the interests of the American people; not to be swayed my day to day politics. So ultimately he's going to be making some calls.

If U.S. voters truly wanted an administration that would seek to vigorously investigate members of the Bush administration for their roles in authorizing torture, then they should have paid more attention and supported Rep. Dennis Kucinich during the Democratic primaries and in his efforts to impeach Bush and Cheney. But let's face it, the reality is that's not the electorate that exists.

As much as it frustrates me personally that the Bush administration is not (and likely will not be) held accountable for its misdeeds, I feel that Obama is simply being pragmatic.

"I don't believe that anyone broke the law". He said in in past interviews "the US didn't torture". He's such a fucking sellout.

They said the same thing >> ^NetRunner:
Color me an optimist. Here's what I heard:

My general view when it comes to my Attorney General is: he is the people's lawyer -- Eric Holder has been nominated -- his job is to uphold the Constitution, and look out for the interests of the American people;

^ Yes, Mukasey's nomination was a circus, mostly because Mukasey first tried to refuse to answer the question, then ultimately gave the answer that it was not (though he refused to ever give a direct statement on the topic).

The real circus aspect was that Democrats had said they would not approve of anyone who thought waterboarding was not torture, then approved Mukasey quickly, despite him failing that litmus test.

I don't think we're stuck with an America that openly tortures, and I think it's amazingly premature to discount everything Obama's ever said about torture before he's even been sworn in, and given at least 15 minutes to enact what he's promised.

I do think prosecutions for Bush & Cheney for war crimes (or any other kind of crime) do seem unlikely at this time.

That's not to say that Obama won't dismantle the policy, and put in place safeguards against cretins like Bush & Cheney taking it upon themselves to violate the Geneva conventions so casually in the future.

Personally, I think the only real safeguard would be war crimes tribunals for Bush and Cheney for violating existing law. I'm certainly going to keep calling for it, and I guarantee Obama and AG Holder will be more likely to listen to me than McCain and whatever AG he put in place would have.

Eventually there will be a reckoning for them for what they've done, or there will be a reckoning for our country that will not be pretty. I'd rather the former than the latter.