Accountability Drumbeat Grows
by dday
Jay Bybee’s attempt to exonerate himself for his crimes only succeeded in inspiring more activism around his impeachment.
Jay Bybee signed off on notorious Bush-era torture memos. And now? He’s serving as a judge on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, thanks to George Bush.
Jay Bybee showed no respect for our laws and isn’t fit to be a federal judge. Can you sign this petition urging Congress to impeach Jay Bybee?
The President put it very plainly last night, perhaps more plainly than he’d admit.
“President Obama said, ‘They used torture, I believe waterboarding is torture,'” Nadler said, speaking of Obama’s comments about his predecessors. “Once you concede that torture was committed, the law requires that there be an investigation, and if warranted, a prosecution.”
Those who would condone war crimes at this point look increasingly foolish. We are a nation of laws, and if you don’t want a law prosecuted, you repeal it, but you cannot ignore it. I would refer these apologists to Sen. Robert Byrd, who knows a thing or two about the Constitution:
The recently leaked report from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), as well as the four released memorandums from the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), confirm our worst fears. These documents point to brutal, inhumane acts which were repeatedly carried out by U.S. military personnel, and which were authorized and condoned at the highest levels of the Bush Administration. These acts appear to directly violate both the U.N. Convention Against Torture and the Geneva Conventions. Spain and the United Kingdom have already initiated investigations of Bush Administration officials who approved these acts. The United States needs to investigate as well. To continue to ignore the mounting evidence of clear wrongdoing is a national humiliation […]
The rule of law is not just a lofty concept to which we should aspire only when convenient. It is a fundamental principal upon which our Republic was founded, and it is the foundation of our free society. I understand the desire to look forward and to forge a new path on high ground instead of on the low road of the past eight years. But to use the need to move on as a reason not to investigate basic human rights violations is unacceptable. Excusing individuals at the highest levels of government from adhering to the rule of law, whether in wartime or not, is a dangerous precedent, for it undercuts the principle of accountability which permeates representative democracy.
We can start by ensuring that a violator of international laws and a moral reprobate is removed from the federal bench. Call and email Congress, particularly the members of the House Judiciary Committee, and ask them to open hearings.
| House Judiciary Committee | |
| John Conyers, Michigan | Howard Berman, California |
| Rick Boucher, Virginia | Jerrold Nadler, New York |
| Robert C. Scott, Virginia | Mel Watt, North Carolina |
| Zoe Lofgren, California | Sheila Jackson-Lee, Texas |
| Maxine Waters, California | Bill Delahunt, Massachusetts |
| Robert Wexler, Florida | Steve Cohen, Tennessee |
| Hank Johnson, Georgia | Pedro Pierluisi, Puerto Rico |
| Luis Gutierrez, Illinois | Brad Sherman, California |
| Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin | Charles Gonzalez, Texas |
| Anthony Weiner, New York | Adam Schiff, California |
| Linda Sánchez, California | Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Fl |
| Dan Maffei, New York | Lamar S. Smith, Texas |
| Jim Sensenbrenner, Wisconsin | Howard Coble, North Carolina |
| Elton Gallegly, California | Bob Goodlatte, Virginia |
| Dan Lungren, California | Darrell Issa, California |
| Randy Forbes, Virginia | Steve King, Iowa |
| Trent Franks, Arizona | Louie Gohmert, Texas< |
| Jim Jordan, Ohio | Ted Poe, Texas |
| Jason Chaffetz, Utah | Tom Rooney, Florida |
| Gregg Harper, Mississippi | |
P.S. Patrick Leahy would like Judge Bybee to stop by the Senate for a little chat.
.