The Rule of Law

This is a nation created by and based upon the rule of law. If you violate the law, you are prosecuted. A jury of your peers determines your guilt or innocence.

If you don't like the law, or if you think it is ill-conceived in its language, interpretation or application, you have recourse. You can lobby the legislature to change the law or you can petition the courts to find it violative of some clause in the constitution. You have recourse.

You cannot violate the law with impunity or ignore the law because, as a nation founded upon the sanctity of the rule of law, there will be repercussions. There will be consequences. Ultimately pressure will be brought to bear upon the applicable prosecuting attorney. A grand jury may be impaneled. Testimony will be taken under oath, and, if there was a violation of a criminal statute or law, you will indicted and charged with a crime.

It is pretty standard fare in America. That is how we work. The rule of law is our keel. It steadies us against excess and protects us in weather fare and foul.

The Administration of George W. Bush has violated the rule of law. A meeting of top officials at the White House approved the torture of prisoners held at Guantanamo and elsewhere. As Ashcroft said at the time of the meeting. "We should not be having this meeting in the White House. History will not judge us well." The participants knew they were violating the law. They have been covering their asses ever since. These are the very people who are supposed to be the ultimate upholders of the rule of law. Their mandate is to carry freedom's torch.

I am waiting for someone to have the courage to charge the participants (who include Cheney, Tenet, Rice and others) criminally. Bush was not at the meeting but acquiesced. He may be an accessory after the fact.

Interestingly, the participants may, like Pinochet, be charged in some foreign jurisdiction before ever running the risk of criminal charges in the United States. I have no doubt that they have all considered the risk of foreign travel once Bush is out of office.