Justice now

Alberto R. Gonzales, David S. Addington, Harriet E. Miers, John B. Bellinger III... the simple mention of those names reminds us the way justice has been disgraced under the Bush-Cheney rule (denial of justice, withdrawal from international conventions, promotion of torture, illegal abductions, the Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib messes... you name it).

These four Bush "law" experts discussed together the destruction of the CIA tapes at the core of the scandal the most likely to lead to some form of impeachment in the short term. We know they didn't issue any warning against the destruction, but we don't know if they pushed in favor of it - one can easily guess where their preferences lied.

We do know what John Negroponte, then the head of national security, recommended. He sent a memo to Goss, then the head of the Agency and thus a subordinate, warning against the destruction of the said tapes.

We do know that the CIA tapes have been destroyed.

Don't tell me a small fish turned the wrong button at the wrong time in a matter involving such big whales (nothing personal, Karl*).

Once again, we are not talking about a fling with an intern in the Oval Office but about the cover up of acts of torture condoned by both the President and his VP.

If the American people wants justice, it should demand impeachment right now.

* see "Whale Hunt at the White House" (20070814)

Red blogule to the Contra-terrorism squad

Much has been said about John Negroponte's past in the troubled Contra scandal, involving torture in Honduras and sponsoring terrorist activities. Well this man should know about intelligence, and the former Honduras, UN and Iraq ambassador may have changed. Everybody has a right to make mistakes, but there is a pattern : strangely enough, 3 other former Contra men have been promoted at key positions since last november elections :

• John Poindexter : the new Information Awareness Office Director at the Pentagon lied to the Congress and was convicted several times
• Elliot Abrams : this man pleaded guilty to have not disclosed information about the scandal. Five years later Bush I forgave him and now Bush II appoints him head of his Middle East task force
• Otto Reich : from the State Department, Reich would be involved in illegal pro-Contra propaganda. He's now working for the Western Hemisphere Affairs.

So in this lovely Administration, the head of justice promotes torture and the people in charge of counter-terrorism and diplomacy used to sponsor terror and torture. You know what you've got to do if you want to be promoted. Just stick to the stick.