Nothing’s changed. Bush got his third term, and that’s why there will never be prosecutions.

(Cross-posted from www.progressive-independence.org.)

Paul Krugman says that prosecuting the previous regime for war crimes is about recovering America’s soul, and as usual he’s absolutely right.

the only way we can regain our moral compass, not just for the sake of our position in the world, but for the sake of our own national conscience, is to investigate how that happened, and, if necessary, to prosecute those responsible.

What about the argument that investigating the Bush administration’s abuses will impede efforts to deal with the crises of today? Even if that were true – even if truth and justice came at a high price – that would arguably be a price we must pay: laws aren’t supposed to be enforced only when convenient. But is there any real reason to believe that the nation would pay a high price for accountability?

For example, would investigating the crimes of the Bush era really divert time and energy needed elsewhere? Let’s be concrete: whose time and energy are we talking about?

Tim Geithner, the Treasury secretary, wouldn’t be called away from his efforts to rescue the economy. Peter Orszag, the budget director, wouldn’t be called away from his efforts to reform health care. Steven Chu, the energy secretary, wouldn’t be called away from his efforts to limit climate change. Even the president needn’t, and indeed shouldn’t, be involved. All he would have to do is let the Justice Department do its job – which he’s supposed to do in any case – and not get in the way of any Congressional investigations.

I don’t know about you, but I think America is capable of uncovering the truth and enforcing the law even while it goes about its other business.

Still, you might argue – and many do – that revisiting the abuses of the Bush years would undermine the political consensus the president needs to pursue his agenda.

But the answer to that is, what political consensus? There are still, alas, a significant number of people in our political life who stand on the side of the torturers. But these are the same people who have been relentless in their efforts to block President Obama’s attempt to deal with our economic crisis and will be equally relentless in their opposition when he endeavors to deal with health care and climate change. The president cannot lose their good will, because they never offered any.

(A good follow-up to his column may be found here.)

Back to the topic at hand.  Columnist Reihan Salam explains how U.S. dictator Barack Obama could blow both the midterm elections and his own chances for re-election.  I submit the following as examples of how the Obamassiah has already blown it, with consequences that go far beyond mere electoral calculations:

• Protecting war criminals,
• Adopting the position that prisoners aren’t people, and therefore have no rights,
• Trying, through the DoJ, to take away our right to counsel,
• Demanding, again through the DoJ, the power to track citizens via their cellular telephones with no judicial restraints whatsoever,
• And, of course, his economic policy that is nothing more than writing blank checks to Wall Street with no genuine oversight.

It’s business as usual under the Obamassiah regime, and the only “change” is in the face of the fascist dictatorship screwing us all over.  Bush got his third term, after all.  What’s to be done about this?