Those who fail to learn from past errors are doomed to repeat them. We must hold our leaders accountable for their misdeeds and abuses. The office of the President is technically above the law, which is why we have the ability to impeach a president. Once out of office, the president is fair game.
However, if an ex-president is deemed to be above the law, then there there are no consequences for any action the president may take. This is the path to a dictatorship.

And if we fail to hold the others accountable, those who were involved but not in the public spotlight. One must be reminded that they are already making contingency plans and campaign strategies for 2012. It appears that some might work to sabotage economic recovery programs as a strategy to discredit the current administration, and hopefully to engineered a failure of those policies to get people to vote against the incumbents in 2012.
It appears that many of them truly believe that the ends justifies the means, and that we need a single party government.

The third reason we need to prosecute and punish those that chose to create policies in direct violations of international law, is for the security of the people. American may be lukewarm to the idea, but to those victimized by the last administration, the credibility and image of the US as citizens of the world is deeply tarnished by the policies of the Bush administration. We have lost the trust of most of the world and with it, our respect. The loss of respect has made th USA the new evil to replaces the USSR, and the actions of our former leadership has lent creedance to our enemies abroad.

Most importantly, we need our government to be a government for the people, of the people and by the people, and we can’t have that when our lawmakers are immune for the laws they make.

Mark– your mention of “Rule of Law” is exactly what I was trying to describe as the goal of Nuremberg: there had been no Rule of Law in previous international total war conflicts, and that was the stated goal of the US State Dept.

We find ourselves debating this still, as the African despot Charles Taylor sits in the clink awaiting judgement at The Hague on war crimes charges. Taylor has killed no European or American, yet here are a bunch of European and American judges determining his fate (Taylor’s a monster and should be put down, don’t get me wrong). The only legal framework with any “sovereign consent” on these matters is membership in the UN, and the subsequent determinations of the UN Human Rights Council. Strictly speaking, it’s a dangerous intersection (heh) of sovereignty, perceptions of moral authority, and “do as we say not as we do” all around.

As for the Rule of Law following the Civil War– absolutely: the goal of the Union was to reimpose its sovereignty over those people in the Confederacy. The USG claimed the right to pass judgment, and no one had any ground to challenge that right. International situations are a little more hairy: what gives one country the right to pass judgment on another? Military or Economic superiority? Popularity in the UN? A seat on the Security Council?

It’s called Rule of Law and it may in many instances be abused to the point of uselessness but that in no way lessens its importance. Just shooting the Nazis would have made the Allies no better than the Nazis. The war was over, law as a system was being reestablished, the trial was important.

And there was precedent, at least in the United States—there had been a few “war crimes” trials conducted in the wake of the Civil War, most notably the trial of the commander of a Confederate P.O.W. camp. But you’re right, a lot of discussion took place, spurred primarily by the enormity of what had been wrought by the Nazis and their allies, which really did top the charts.

Nevertheless, establishing a code whereby consequences for illegal and unethical behavior pertain seems to me important if only for the self-image of a civilization. I disagree that it accomplishes nothing.

I’m confused by your response regarding Nuremberg.

One one hand you seem to accept that the trials determined that a set of actions were considered significantly “beyond the pale” - their perpetrators were therefore tried and imprisoned.

What is it that you do not see in the recent blatantly illegal acts of the Bush Administration deserving of similar investigation and trial? Is it simply that these are ‘Americans’? Is it that the acts committed and enabled by these people are awfully close to how you yourself would have acted?

I cannot agree that ’sweeping under the rug’ should be a regular policy for the handling of miscreants at any level, never mind in government.

investigate and follow the investigation where it leads.

I’m not interested in a politically motivated witch hunt that is simply seeking plausible heads. I’m interested in correcting the egregious wrongs perpetrated during the last administration, and ensuring that current and future officials recognize that the country will seek out and prosecute those who break the law, whomever, wherever, and whenever.

If the goal was punishment, why not simply take all the nazis out back and hang them? We had been killing nazis by the hundreds only weeks earlier– no one would blink at killing their bosses. If anything, people were baying for blood.

There was a lot of discussion– and debate– within the US Govt about their attempt at putting nazis on trial: no precident, what was the goal, how to try, and philosophically: are there inherent ‘rights’ of humanity that are even beyond war that cannot be violated (even in total war)? Neuremburg was the first steps towards “human rights”. As such, there was very much at stake, and therefore very much of value to be gained by successful trials. In a certain way, the Allies established more authority and legitimacy in Europe by NOT hanging nazis, but committing them to Spandau prison. The Allies vaulted themselves as ‘protectors of human rights’, rather than just vengeful victors. Fortunately, it seems, the Allies learned from their mistakes of 1919 Versailles.

So in your opinion, the Nuremberg Trials should not have taken place and those convicted out-of-power Nazi politicians should not have been punished? That had zero value?

I would like to see a truth commission with subpoena power, however. I would like to see a comprehensive record made of what went wrong during the Bush Administration. I’d like a clear record made so that we can hopefully learn from these transgressions (I won’t say “mistakes”) so that we can better avoid these problems in the future.

Pursuit of consequences against any act committed by a politician who has since left office has no teeth, has no punishment, no cost– and therefore has no value. Our justice system is geared toward the shoulder shrug when evidence is inconclusive, and any past political act or decision is murky enough to hide within that inconclusivity. The court of public opinion can attempt to seek some retribution, but– just as Michael Palin found out– arguments are no fun if the other side doesn’t want to participate. To wit: once Bush was out of office, the left wing so wanted to add dessert to their victory by pursuing charges– but no right wing wanted to argue anymore. Have you ever tried to bad mouth someone after they were fired? The wise manager doesn’t do this, as there is no point, and there is no one left to defend or ever care about their streamlined comrade.

I would imagine that the Obama administration has done its homework: the impeachment of Clinton did more damage to the GOP; Iran Contra made DEMs look like they hated freedom; no one chased Johnson for the Tonkin after he pledged not to run again, FDR’s twisting of the exec powers went nowhere after the war, etc.

Lame duck or retired politicians make lame duck fights. The democratic party will only burn itself if it pusues this.