I was reading the lead lines of the NY Times (as I do every day :o) and the first article today referenced the psychologists who enabled the torture program that was instituted by the Bush/Cheney regime during the invasion (and destabilization) of Iraq after 2003.  Today is over half way through 2015!  I knew about this close to 10 years ago.  The first thought that came to my mind was the effect of the Fox “news” propaganda scheme (and, of course, that of the present day republican party – since the so-called “Contract for America” – which I’ve always referred to as the “Contract ON America”) labeling our media as “liberal.”  If our media is so “liberal” where have they been all these years?  If you look back through the archives of this site (and, I’m just a retired teacher who decided to read a lot of books about what is REALLY happening once Bush/Cheney decided to do Viet Nam deja vu – ie Iraq) you’ll see repeated references to the issue of torture and how it was enabled – really, by more than the psychologists – but, the reality is that somehow Bush/Cheney got medical professionals to WATCH our CIA (and others) TORTURING Iraqi’s (and others) as a way to justify their ILLEGAL BEHAVIOR!  I’ve said many times, that history will not miss what REALLY happened – and, many in America’s hierarchy are going to be painted with a horrible “brush” when all is said and done.

First, let me start with President Obama – because I’ve voted for him AND I’m one of those Americans who wants him (and all presidents) to SUCCEED.  I’ve limited my criticism of President Obama as much as I can because of the BARRAGE of attacks he’s had to endure coming from the “right” since the day he was elected.  I even heard an interview the other day featuring the “new” republican “frontrunner” for 2016 Donald Trump (are you kidding me, I can’t even believe I just wrote that!) where Trump – while “doubling down” on his racist Mexican remarks (all the while saying “I love Mexico”) – “doubled down” on his position that President Obama is not an American.  They just can’t help themselves and they just won’t stop.

However, President Obama – as much as I would want him to succeed – will never be able to escape the reality that he let George W Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and many others escape the accountability that SHOULD have been earned when they chose to VIOLATE American and International law by authorizing TORTURE!  Essentially, as I’ve written many times before, Obama “undid” all the work done during the regime of Richard Nixon to prove to the world that just because a president “does it” doesn’t mean it’s LEGAL.  Essentially, by claiming he wanted to “look forward instead of back” President Obama sent a very bad message to the entire nation (I should probably say world).  The reality: if you are going to have a FAIR and JUST legal system – you MUST LOOK BACK!   When someone commits a crime those who are entrusted with enforcing the laws cannot do their job without looking back.  I said at the time, and I still believe, that President Obama’s decision to, essentially, enable TORTURE was a disastrous and regrettable decision – for numerous reasons.

First, do you think people around the world don’t know that America’s leaders (the supposed “beacons” of human rights) authorized TORTURE?  In fact, there was a court in Spain that attempted to prosecute the Bush/Cheney group, but was presumably stopped by President Obama.  (I would recommend to Dick Cheney not to visit Spain)  The investigations were stopped, but I’m not sure about the torture.  For heaven’s sake – we still have men imprisoned at Guantanamo Cuba who have not been charged with any crime and they’ve been there for, in some instances, over 10 years!  Three men at Guantanamo “tied their feet together,” “tied their hands behind their own backs,” “stuffed rags down their throats to the point that it would be impossible to breathe,” and “HANGED THEMSELVES!” (Now, if you really believe that’s the truth – I’ve got a bridge………. – you know the rest)  That incident was not even investigated.  A prisoner subjected to “enhanced interrogation” at Abu Ghraib was found DEAD in the “interrogation room” by the grunts at Abu Ghraib who ended up taking the punishment for the treatment there that made its way to the “liberal” news (no one EVER investigated where the orders came from making these soldiers think they were doing what they were told to do – well, no one who’s work made it to the “liberal media” – I’ve read a few books about Abu Ghraib and those who authorized the “enhanced interrogation”).  Is it hard for you to understand why so many in the Middle East HATE America?

So, our image was (possibly irreparably) damaged abroad – but, what about at home.  The decision to allow the Bush/Cheney crowd to go free sent the wrong message to “those at the top” in America.  When Bush/Cheney’s disaster was finally removed from Washington DC what they left behind was an impossible MESS.  Let’s start with Wall Street.  The nation’s financial system was collapsing as George W Bush (along with republican candidate for president John McCain) announced “The fundamentals of our economy are sound.”  Within weeks of making that claim Bush along with Hank Paulsen, the Treasury Secretary, were lobbying congress for what eventually became known as the TARP bailout – a multi-TRILLION dollar commitment to the very culprits whose reckless behavior put the nation’s economic health at MAJOR risk.  There was $700 BILLION dollars committed “up front” which made the news headlines, but “we the people” will never know how much the government guaranteed the banks of Wall Street going forward.  And, of course, true to their nature, many of the “culprits” took the bailout money and issued BONUSES to their employees – I’ve read multiple reasons justifying the payments; I’ll leave that to your own research – my point here is that The Obama administration, to my knowledge, failed to hold a single banker accountable for gambling away the savings of millions of Americans (and, others around the globe).  Honestly, that didn’t send the right message to those of us on Main Street.

I believe this timid approach to accountability for those at the “top” has filtered all the way down to our police departments around the nation.  Anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to the inordinate number of police shootings (that is, the police shooting unarmed civilians) knows that, in almost every instance, the police personnel involved face no serious accountability.  The arguments I’ve heard – that made the “liberal media” – have tilted heavily toward giving the police officers the “benefit of the doubt” in situations which clearly to me should be considered homicides.  As the saying goes in the African American community, young unarmed Black men are being shot for being Black.  With the explosion of cell phones with the capability to take video “we the people” are getting a much clearer picture of the reality in some of these cases.  Virtually every time a video shows up “after the fact” – the police reports prove to be incredible fabrications of the truth.  The reason – at least in my mind – is they can “get away with it.”  Similar to George Zimmerman shooting Trayvon Martin and escaping accountability, from what I could tell, because Mr. Martin was Black, and similarly the incident where Michael Brown was killed in Missouri.  My point, sending the message that those “at the top” are above the law – which is what President Obama did when he allowed Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld and the others to “walk” has done immense damage to our legal system internally AND externally.

Recently, President Obama has changed his tactics, politically, in a way that I believe is invigorating many of the people who originally voted for him.  I don’t think I’m the only American who voted for Obama because of the terrible position the republicans put us in during the Bush/Cheney regime.  It wasn’t just the TORTURE they should have been held accountable for – the list is long.  I mean, shouldn’t there be some kind of “blow-back” when leaders lie to the public to justify INVADING a sovereign nation??  Isn’t “outing” a CIA agent tantamount to treason?  Shouldn’t those who profited off of the war they instigated be exposed as war profiteers?  Isn’t spying on American citizens without “probable cause” a violation of their 4th amendment rights?  (I’m often confused by “conservatives” who will support the 2nd amendment at any cost but seem to have no concern for the 4th amendment).  The reality is that the republican party will willingly repeat ALL of the above INFRACTIONS because they believe, simply, that they can!  And, they are going to spend BILLIONS in an attempt to gain control of the White House along with both houses of Congress, the courts, and our “liberal media.”  If they succeed in their goal (can you even imagine Donald Trump, or Ted Cruz, or another Bush, or Chris Christie, or Scott Walker, or Rick Perry – and, I could go on, the list is long – in the White House???) Obama’s failure to ENFORCE existing laws regarding the Bush/Cheney crew will be even more devastating.  However, his recent behavior suggests to me that he’d better take up the FIGHT (for the heart and soul of this nation) while he still can.  As I’ve said many times on this site, I believe the republican party – under it’s present leadership – needs to be SOUNDLY defeated.  In my mind, it’s up to President Obama to lead the way – and, somehow get those in the democratic party who’ve demonstrated a “lack of spine” to join the “fray.”

While I believe, from a practical standpoint, it’s probably too late for any legal accountability, I continue to hope that the investigation which should have happened in President Obama’s first year in office will still happen.  Despite the FACT this “news” regarding the psychologists enabling the torture program is really “old news,” maybe it’s a sign that someone has decided to do “the right thing.”  I don’t feel confident in this, but I can hope.  I mean, take the illegal surveillance of American citizens – which just kept on happening once Obama took the oath of office – despite the FACT that “we the people” should have been totally aware of this (I can’t find the book I read about the NSA, but this was all exposed well before Bush/Cheney left office) it took Edward Snowden to be the “whistle-blower” to get America’s secret spying campaign on the “news.”   Snowden’s info, telling us the NSA went (or should I say is going) beyond what was in the book I read – which, in itself, was disgustingly bad – should, if you believe in the 4th amendment and the rule of law, at the very least, be unnerving.  (and, of course, Snowden’s “reward” for exposing this illegal activity – presumably because it’s government illegal activity – is that he had to go into exile.  He’s in Russia!  Kind of reminds me of the 70’s in reverse!)

President Obama justified his decision to essentially “pardon” Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld et al by saying investigations would be a distraction!  The reality is that by allowing republicans to believe there are no limits on their behavior, “we the people” have had to endure CONSTANT distractions as republicans continue their assault on the fabric of our nation.  And, make no mistake, the republicans (despite what is being referred to as the “clown car” regarding their presidential “hopefuls”) might win.  If you’re old enough to remember, America elected Ronald Reagan (thanks to some expertly handled shenanigans) and he was considered a fringe candidate up until he got the nomination.  (Of course, he was a law breaker as well who “got away with it” as did his “cronies” thanks to pardons from George HW Bush)  The people who are funding the “right wing” in America are smart and they have UNLIMITED funds.  And, despite my friend Lars Larsen calling me an elitist when I refer to America’s “low information voters,” the reality is that America is teeming with “low information voters.”  These people are susceptible to sophisticated advertising, sound bites, and “wedge issues.”  Often times they vote against their own best interests.  So, assuming that just because President Obama said, America does NOT torture – well, BOTH former President GW Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney have publicly stated “I’d do it again.”  And, many in their party are right there with them.

So, I’ll keep hoping that someone in President Obama’s administration does the “right thing” and the TORTURE that was authorized by Bush/Cheney/Rumsfeld and the others will be subject to an OPEN investigation.  And, someone in our government would make it clear to those who did this that there is a “price to pay” for being, essentially, WAR CRIMINALS.  Knowing that our leaders are NOT above the law, I believe, would be a great first step in the process of internal healing that this nation needs to go through.  Everyone KNOWS that TORTURE is wrong and that we were WRONG to condone it – and, by allowing the perpetrators to “walk” that is exactly what we’ve been doing – condoning TORTURE!  Just like the psychologists Bush/Cheney hired to give their program “cover.”

A footnote: Usually on Saturday mornings I have breakfast with a good friend who I would call a Libertarian – someone who views the democratic party somewhat as I view the republicans.  After our latest discussion, I just want to add that I didn’t mention Congress here (I think the two of us agree that members of Congress have been enabled to disregard the laws as well – mostly in regard to their accumulation of great wealth while “serving” in office – and beyond).  As far as both of us are concerned, the level of corruption in Congress is depressing – and, it’s bipartisan – that, the two of us can agree on.  The interesting thing to me regarding this relationship is that we can dialogue with on another, despite our divergent viewpoints, and both of us usually come out of a discussion in a better place.  We’ve often wondered if our leaders – no matter what their party affiliation – will ever get to that place in our lifetime.  I believe we’ve actually had many times in our history when members of Congress were able to put the interests of the nation ahead of their own agendas.  We (my friend and I) usually share our frustration of living in a nation where LARGE majorities of people agree on certain issues (ie – “the public option,” “ending the wars,” “the minimum wage,” etc., etc.) yet our “leaders routinely fail to act on the wishes of “we the people.”  We differ on who is mostly to blame.