Bush And Pre-emptive Pardons-- Where Are The Progressives?

Wednesday Dave Neiwert reviewed Michael Haas's new book, George W. Bush, War Criminal? at Crooks and Liars. The conclusion: Bush should be dragged before the International War Crimes Tribunal at the Hague and tried for his crimes. Haas's own blog would be a rich source of leads for prosecutors. Or they could get a leg up on the process by hiring Glenn Greenwald for their team. While I was in Mali, Ken made the point here that something really ought to be done to come to grips with Bush's out of bounds behavior as chief executive, and that the platoons of sleazy lawyers who tied the bows around his package of shit can't just be let off the hook.

On November 21, New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, introduced a resolution demanding that Bush refrain from issuing pre-emptive pardons of senior officials in his Regime during the final 90 days of office, H.R. 1531. According to Nadler, the resolution "is in response to President Bush’s widespread abuses of power and potentially criminal transgressions against our Constitution. The Resolution aims to prevent undeserved pardons of officials who may have been co-conspirators in the President’s unconstitutional policies, such as torture, illegal surveillance and curtailing of due process for defendants." In a letter to constituents Nadler explained what he is trying to accomplish:

“This Resolution declares that we will not tolerate a last minute attempt by President Bush to shelter his cronies-- cronies who may well be guilty of serious criminal offenses-- from the full force of the law,” said Rep. Nadler. “President Bush must not excuse his own officials from possibly illegal acts committed outside the context of their official duties. Such pardons would merely obfuscate the truth and amount to a gross miscarriage of justice.”

Beyond preventing pre-emptive pardons, the Resolution also recommends the establishment of a special commission or select committee to investigate the potentially illegal activities-- including abuse of pardon power-- of senior Bush Administration officials. It also calls for the next Attorney General to appoint an independent counsel to investigate and prosecute any crimes.

Shockingly, so far there are only 9 co-sponsors for this eminently reasonable resolution:

Barbara Lee (CA-09)
Pete Stark (CA-13)
Barney Frank (MA-04)
Carolyn Maloney (NY-14)
Ed Pastor (AZ-04)
John Lewis (GA-05)
Tammy Baldwin (WI-02)
Steve Cohen (TN-09)
Robert Wexler (FL-19)

We don't expect Republican and Blue Dog accomplices to Bush's 8 years of criminal culture to sign on, but how does someone consider himself a progressive while sitting on their hands on this one? Where are Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and Lynn Woolsey (D-CA)? What are Jim McGovern (D-MA), Donna Edwards (D-MD), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Jesse Jackson (D-IL), Keith Elison (D-MN), John Olver (D-MA), Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), Ed Markey (D-MA), Danny Davis (D-IL), Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ), George Miller (D-CA), Donald Payne (D-NJ), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Jim McDermott (D-WA), Diane Watson (D-CA) waiting for? I hope to God it isn't Nancy Pelosi.