At the risk of some early grave dancing, consider this scenario:

[hedgehog]

1. You are a young President with a lot of people in the country looking for a reason to hate you.

2. You are aware of numerous war crimes by your immediate predecessor and his VP.

3. You are also aware that the VP is on borrowed time (something that is not common knowledge until the former VP has a heart pump installed.)

4. If you prosecute the pair as soon as you get into office:
A. You will distract from more vital parts of your agenda.
B. Some will claim you are playing tit for tat petty revenge for the impeachment of Bill Clinton.
C. You run the risk that the former VP will take a turn for the worse mid-trial and you will appear to have hounded the man to his death.

5. You've got some time in office under your belt now, and have gained legitimacy with a lot of people. (Some will always be trying to oust you.)

6. Your predecessor has not made much of an impression since leaving office.

7. Should the former VP pass on, after a brief waiting time, do you then turn the Justice Department loose on your predecessor and his staff for war crimes?

[yourout]

1. While I understand your reasoning......justice delayed is justice denied.

[Solomon]

8. Oh such bullshit. I know this is a popular saying, but really;;;

Another one is, "justice grinds ever so slowly... but it grinds on nevertheless."

[BrklynLiberal]

2. I would prefer that Cheney be abducted by aliens and never be seen or heard from again.

[Raine1967]

3. at the risk of asking a direct question...

What are you trying to say?

Why not just say it?

[hedgehog]

4. I am restrained by not wanting to appear ghoulish. What I am saying

is that it is reasonable for Obama to have known that Dick Cheney was in very poor health. If Obama had ordered an immediate prosecution of George Bush and Co, it would have looked like simple revenge to many people. His domestic program would have been dead in the water. Imagine an American public unsure of what the crimes are supposed to be watching a weeping family wheel Cheney into court for days and weeks. Now on top of that, imagine a tearful Lynn Cheney announcing her husband's death, and every right wing spokesman claiming Obama hounded him into the grave. All possibility of making people understand what happened would be lost. It's happened before. Most people to this day have no idea why Oliver North was convicted, and the fumbled prosecution of Oliver North meant that the higher-ups like Reagan never had to answer for what they did.

Now, look where we are today. There are murmurs tying Bush and Cheney to the Gulf disaster. Even some right wingers are turning their backs on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Should Cheney die and a brief period of polite mourning be allowed to pass, the atmosphere may be perfect for putting George Bush, Karl Rove, Donald Rumsfeld et al on trial.

You and I agree that justice is being delayed, but I am reminded of the saying that the mills of the gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine. In this case, justice delayed may be the only way we see justice at all.

[Raine1967]

6. Thanks.

I don't know if we agree about justice being delayed -- as I know that Clinton decided to not go after the first bush -- BUT -- I agree with this: the mills of the gods grind slowly
Perhaps we do agree. :)

Thank you for answering my question.

[hedgehog]

9. Here's another quote, this one from Emerson:

“When you strike at a king, you must kill him”

[TheKentuckian]

5. Or they'll just be allowed to get off scott free and crude and speculative excuses will be

all the reason for flushing our system of justice down the toilet we ever get and we cowardly spin away our ideals our damn selves in a bout of calculation.

[Politicalboi]

7. It might make Obama look like he's

Torturing him, and we all know damn well "We don't torture".

[niceypoo]

10. If the Bush administration is allowed to get away with everything

Their behavior will be the baseline for future republican administrations.

[maxsolomon]

11. no. Obama's not going to prosecute BushCo for their crimes.

why?

because, rightly or wrongly (and it was wrongly), the VAST majority of America was gung ho to kill Iraqis and wave the flag. Americans don't like to hear that things they supported (and still do) are war crimes - they tend to feel like THEY are being attacked (the persecuted majority).

better to let it quietly fade from discussion. it's a political calculation.