From Crooks & Liars:
Not much info in the piece because the information is not public yet, but a DA has indicted Cheney and Alberto Gonzalez and a few others on charges that are related to corruption in the private prison system following an inmate’s death. And not surprisingly, there’s some profiteering involved.
While there’s a lot of sentiment around regarding war crimes prosecutions for the Bushies, that’s always been completely outside the bounds of possibility. But the extent of dodginess of some of their dealings domestically does make it probable that facts will be uncovered, allegations made and indictments issued. However, it’s also highly likely that George W. Bush will use his power of presidential pardon on leaving office to spare his apparatchiks. Nevertheless, it may well be that much of the routine criminality that appears to be part of the modus operandi of the Republican military-industrial complex will be exposed and on the public record.
Update: More on the indictment from Discourse.net here and here.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke.
Halliburton shares not likely to nosedive?
Sounds very messy, with the judges named in the indictment being suspended.
Has Dick Cheney got any connection to the private prisons operating in Australia or the detention centres?
They should have waited until Bush leaves office. That would have avoided the risk of Bush letting him off the hook.
What is it with this presidential pardon bullshit anyway. That’s not a legal system.
Which berk wrote their so-called constitution?
Don’t get too excited folks. I doubt if this indictment will go any-where.
Wish it would but.
Huggy
I dunno about the war crimes stuff. If I was them I’d be very careful about travelling to Spain …
According to a website I read, its a state affair so Bush can’t do any pardons, the indictment is not yet official until a judge signs it which is yet to happen, the whole thing may be a ‘fishing’ exercise that will go nowhere and yes Cheyney may be [or may not, be who knows] indirectly involved both financially and otherwise.
Does that clarify matters?
This is not on any news feeds…weird.
It’s the first story on the Courier Mail’s web site under “World News”. The first place I look for in-depth coverage of international political news events. Their coverage is generally first to none.
That’s it! All we righties need to do is get some small-town nutbag DA to prosecute Obie over some whacky conspiracy theory before Jan 20! We don’t need Patrick Fitzgerald & Tony Rezko for that.
More here.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h9PvQtj8plxTnRZS7hHmJap_Rt2AD94HOCQ00
Um… don’t get carried away:
As if they’ll ever locate Cheney in one of his many “undisclosed locations”. The Secret World Government – sworn to protect at all costs their most important alien overlord – will never allow state prosecutors access to the Hollow Earth Portal.
And imagine the scandal that would occur when they discover what sort of horrible baby-juice-sucking insectoid monster is inside that “Dick Cheney” disguise.
Rob @ 13 – Just clarifying that I was just passing it on for info, not offering any comment about the merits or circumstances of this particular indictment.
hannah’s dad @ 8 – I’d assumed Bush could pardon anyone for offences in the US legal system but it may well be the case that the presidential pardoning power only applies to federal offences.
Caroline – Couldn’t happen to a nicer bloke.
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Hey that’s what I said.
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This is like Al Capone getting done for tax evasion finally only even more ridiculous. Still it’s better n’ nothin’. Will he go to jail? For a long time? Please tell me he will
American commentators are doing a lot of speechifying lately about “restoring faith in our political institutions”. Obama is keen on this particular sound-bite too.
But how does the political class expect to regain the trust and respect of voters, when they refuse to indict each other for blatant bribery and corruption, and repeatedly fail to defend the constitution from legal corruption? Its an endless cycle of open criminality and private forgiveness, term after presidential term, for the privileged few.
The whole world knows Cheney is a sleazy crook. The evidence would not be hard to find with some gumption and the right resources. Charge the bastard in the courts, or haul him before televised committee hearings. At the very least, the public loves a good circus, so the political payoff would be priceless for the initiating party…
Political corruption is now planted so deeply in our democratic institutions that its hard to recognise it for what it really is anymore.
Presidential Pardons, for example, are given in open defiance of the rule of law, with the connivance of both sides of politics. They all turn a blind eye, to the serial pardoning of presidential cronies, because the last bloke did it, and the next bloke will, and if I end it now I’m the sucker, so what can you do?
Well here in Perth our own quaint little village,It is the Ben Cousins show the Sundry Slimes on its website had half the page of this EX(so he Says) drug addled footballer,I thought Jesus had arrived in Fremantle by the coverage,but no just another half witted AFL player.
I wonder if Cheney will get a mention
Mark — didn’t mean to imply that you were getting carried away.
I don’t know what’s going on around here lately: is the undue excitability in some posts a result of too much coffee? First, the “that’s-so-obviously-wrong-did-I-just-read-that?” moment when seeing that “unwanted” sex was the same as “rape.” (In the same way that my going to work today was slavery, I suppose.) Now this indictment noted (without comment, but with the heading “breaking news,” which I took to indicate some degree of excitement). However, Huffington Post, that far from right wing source of information, gives some background of the District Attorney involved:
“Guerra himself was under indictment for more than a year and half until a judge dismissed the indictments last month. Guerra’s tenure ends this year after nearly two decades in office. He lost convincingly in a Democratic primary in March…
None of the indictments released Tuesday had been signed by Presiding Judge Manuel Banales of the Fifth Administrative Judicial Region.
Last month, Banales dismissed indictments that charged Guerra with extorting money from a bail bond company and using his office for personal business. An appeals court had earlier ruled that a special prosecutor was improperly appointed to investigate Guerra.
After Guerra’s office was raided as part of the investigation early last year, he camped outside the courthouse in a borrowed camper with a horse, three goats and a rooster. He threatened to dismiss hundreds of cases because he believed local law enforcement had aided the investigation against him.”
Somehow, I don’t think this story has legs. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
The whole world knows Cheney is a sleazy crook.
.
That’s a lie. He is not sleazy.
steve from brisbane,
muchas gracias por: “Presiding Judge Manuel Banales” who to his drinking buddies is just “Old Banal” , y por
“he camped outside the courthouse in a borrowed camper with a horse, three goats and a rooster”
This story has it all. Cheers.
Cheney is just the sacrificial lamb designed to deflect the attention away from the Bush dynasty.The real power brokers are the Private banks which compose the US Federal Reserve.They will tell Obama how to think and what to say.
Nothing will really change with the exception of having an articulate black leader as opposed to the idiot son of the ex-head of the CIA,Zapata oil,Bay of Pigs and their implication in the assassination of JFK.
Obama has too much to lose,two young children and a beautiful wife.He will not do a JFK.
steve,
Americans need a Federal investigation of *the rooster*
Arjay,
in what sense will Obama “not do a JFK”?
Will he not travel to Dallas? Will he not try to have Fidel assassinated? And BTW, are you saying Jacquie K was not beautiful? Gadzooks, sir.
Ambigulous,he[Obama] will not have to the courage to print his own Greenbacks as JFK did.JFK was in the process of curtailing the power of the CIA and making the US people free from the clutches of the US Federal Reserve.These were two good reasons why he had to go.
J Edgar Hoover head of the FBI,said in a memo that George Bush was involved in the CIA at the time of the Bay of Pigs fiasco in 1963.GHW Bush alluded to a minor emloyee of the CIA being the person,but George William Bush the accused,denied it.
At the time of the invasion of the Bay of Pigs George H W Bush owned Zapata Oil and one of the ships owned by the CIA was named the Barbara,co-incidently the same name the GHW Bush named two of his planes during WW2.[Barbara 1&2].Zapata was the code name used by the CIA for the Bay of Pigs invasion.Is there some connection here?
If Obama is as innocent and genuine as his rhetoric implies,then he is for rude shock.
Update: More on the indictment from Discourse.net here and here.
Arjay @26, While I don’t have huge problems believing that G H W Bush was involved in the Bay of Pigs skulduggery, I do have trouble accepting J Edgar Hoover as a reliable source.
However, given that Bush became director of the CIA in 1976, he may either have been cultivating contacts or actually have already been involved as Hoover said. The Zapata/Barbara thing sounds incestuous and too coincidental, too; right up their alley IMO.
Mission accomplished!
I can just imagine the consternation this is causing in the white house:
Dubya: Indicted? Does that mean I gotta call him Sir Dick?
Aide: Um, Mr President…
Dubya: You go out and git me one of them indicteds! I WILL be Sir Dubya of Crawford!
Aide: (Sigh)
Made my day. made sure GLW knows about it.
Mark – “Nevertheless, it may well be that much of the routine criminality that appears to be part of the modus operandi of the Republican military-industrial complex will be exposed and on the public record.”
Not getting carried away hey Mark? Oh dear….
No, I don’t think so, Andrew. “Routine criminality” captures the Bushies’ approach to government quite well imho.
Mark,
You’re conflating Dick Cheney with Republicans in general. Half of America is Republican (well – just a little less than half!). I think you’re getting carried away calling half of America routinely Criminal.
Andrew, Mark said “Republican military-industrial complex” – aka Haliburton, Carlyle group no bid outsourced wars. Have a look at the overlap between the Bush cabinet and his family and those companies and know exactly what crony capitalism is.
Yep, that accurately captures what I said, David.