Yeah, it will be very divisive to see the Bu$hco Gang O Pirates tried and sent to jail.  Americans will be divided on whether to celebrate with Dom Perignon or Cristal.

I find the prospect of trying the Bush administration very divisive. Half of me wants to try them for war crimes; the other half, for treason.

He’s pledging to change the way Washington works

Gosh, yes - it would be terrible if we remained on the current path where officials are held so accountable for their actions and routinely punished for the smallest of human failings.

You know, I kind of think prosecuting an administration for its crimes would be different from politics as usual. Holding politicians accountable would be a big change in the “way Washington works.”

Frankly, I think the most divisive thing that could be done is return to politics as normal, where the only thing that matters is the next election, and no one thinks about the good of the nation.

He should investigate, with the basic premise being “it’s not that these people are Republicans, it’s that they are people who have betrayed the ideals of the Republicans.” And he should be brutally fair about it. Any inadvertent crime, or a crime that one could honestly question the legality of, should be left alone.

e.g., the FISA court found that you needed warrants for foreign-to-foreign calls if the intercept was done on American soil. Obviously, that should not be investigated as a criminal act. That doesn’t mean that the other wholesale violations of FISA should be ignored.

Just another appeal to Establishment Undertakers Inc.:  “Let my people go”!

How many times, people? Accountability is a liberal virtue, like tolerance. The “law enforcement” party doesn’t care whether actual criminals are caught, only that the people who do get caught are punished severely.

Scottie = Officer Barbrady, huh?

“Move along citizens, nothing to see HERE…”

Now Obama *must* investigate, because McClellan is hiding something and will turn state’s evidence when the pressure is on.

Of course it’ll be divisive. The people who want law and accountability to rule will be divided from those who don’t. I’m sure the media will cover it as ‘criminalizing politics’ and it might be politically bad for Obama, but if we get the chance it needs to be done.

I’m for investigation, but ambivalent on indicting.  The republicans can easily turn that to their advantage by crying persecution. But by investigating and getting it all out in the open without the threat of prosecution, it will let the american people see what scumbags the Bush administration was filled with. Think of it as a “Truth and Reconciliation Commission”.

Ford pardoned Nixon and 15 years later we had Iran Contra and and a grab at more executive power. Reagan “forgot” what he knew about Iran Contra and Bush I let it go. A dozen years later and we get Bush/Cheney and the grab for the unitary executive and all the lawbreaking and the “it’s not illegal if I do it” approach to governing. If Obama doesn’t do everything within the power of the President—even the newly gained powers thanks to Bush—then in a dozen years we’ll see the Monica Goodlings again in power, doing their damndest to destroy the country.

Mark my words.

Here we see just what republican morality is like. McClellan is on record saying that his bosses repeatedly lied to him, so that he would lie to reporters, on matters of national security and federal crimes. But he doesn’t want an investigation.

If “divisive” were the criterion for avoiding criminal investigations, gosh wouldn’t things be different.

because he’s pledging to be a uniter, not a divider

No, he isn’t, Scotty, that was your lying sack of a boss.

Better watch what you wish for, though—if he were saying that with as much sincerity as GWBush did, the entire administration and the Republican leadership in Congress would be rendered to a black site in the first hundred days.

I wonder what McClellan himself has done to merit his begging for clemency.  A little worried there, Scott?

He’s pledging to change the way Washington works, and if Congress were to pursue that, it would be very divisive.”

Does anyone else hear that as a threat? Let’s face it: investigations into past GOP wrongdoings is only going to be “divisive” if the GOP MAKES it divisive.

“Nice little country you have here—it’d be a shame if anything happened to it…”