Who Will Hold Us Accountable?
Posted by Sarah McCann on Friday, February 26, 2010 Under: Responsibility
There was an article on counterpunch yesterday about prosecuting George W. Bush for war crimes. The focus of the article was Charlotte Dennett and Vincent Bugliosi. Dennett who ran for attorney general in Vermont in 2008 made a campaign pledge to appoint Vincent Bugliosi as a special prosecutor to seek a murder indictment against George W. Bush for the deaths of U.S. soldiers in Iraq. Dennett did not get elected, but she and Bugliosi are continuing to work to hold the former president accountable for his presentation of misinformation that led to the war on Iraq. There seems to be some question of whether former president Bush can be held accountable for the war. The article covers some of the legal questions, but I have to ask morally are we as citizens of the Unites States responsible for holding our elected officials accountable?
If we do not hold our elected officials accountable, what message is this sending? At the end of the day, we are each responsible to admit our mistakes and bear the consequences of our actions, but we also must hold others to the same, especially those we have elected into office. If we choose not to hold our elected officials accountable for lies and actions that hurt and even kill others then this country stands on an unstable foundation. Our hypocrisy will catch up with us eventually. We demand from citizens that they follow the law or be sent to prison, but we do not demand this of our president. Can we as a people admit this mistake and hold ourselves accountable by demanding more of our elected leaders? Can we hold them to their word? Can we demand consequences when they lie? We can. Maybe a more appropriate question is, will we? Dennett and Bugliosi are, but how many people know about what they are doing? How much mainstream press will they receive? Why aren't the questions they are asking being asked by more? Is it a question of not wanting to look closely at what we do? If we hold a mirror up to our politicians we would also have to hold it up to ourselves. If we don't do this, who will? Who will hold us accountable?
Read, "Prosecuting Bush for War Crimes" at: http://www.counterpunch.org/mokhiber02252010.html
If we do not hold our elected officials accountable, what message is this sending? At the end of the day, we are each responsible to admit our mistakes and bear the consequences of our actions, but we also must hold others to the same, especially those we have elected into office. If we choose not to hold our elected officials accountable for lies and actions that hurt and even kill others then this country stands on an unstable foundation. Our hypocrisy will catch up with us eventually. We demand from citizens that they follow the law or be sent to prison, but we do not demand this of our president. Can we as a people admit this mistake and hold ourselves accountable by demanding more of our elected leaders? Can we hold them to their word? Can we demand consequences when they lie? We can. Maybe a more appropriate question is, will we? Dennett and Bugliosi are, but how many people know about what they are doing? How much mainstream press will they receive? Why aren't the questions they are asking being asked by more? Is it a question of not wanting to look closely at what we do? If we hold a mirror up to our politicians we would also have to hold it up to ourselves. If we don't do this, who will? Who will hold us accountable?
Read, "Prosecuting Bush for War Crimes" at: http://www.counterpunch.org/mokhiber02252010.html
In : Responsibility
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