The Left's Wars

Over the past week, we have been witness to an uprecedented and concerted effort by the left to destroy Sarah Palin. The reason - she stands opposed to their dogma. There is little attempt being made to argue with her on her policies. The vast majority of what we are seeing are pure ad hominem attacks on her very legitimacy. I hope everyone is paying attention, because what we are witnessing is merely one manifestation of the progressive left's attitude towards freedom of speech and those with whom they disagree politically. Another, far more sinister and dangerous manifestation, is the repeated calls on the left from Obama on down to bring war crimes and other charges against the Bush administration should they get power. They have been quite open about it, and the latest to add his voice to this chorus is VP nominee Joe Biden.

This really is not a normal election. We stand at a cross-roads. The progressive left - which is represented by Obama and his coterie - would fundamentally remake America. Nothing is more indicative of the degree of change they would bring than the repeated calls to criminalize political differences, much as one would expect in an non-democratic regime. I have documented and commented on this in a post here.

Add to the chorus of calls today Joe Biden.

Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden said yesterday that he and running mate Barack Obama could pursue criminal charges against the Bush administration if they are elected in November.

Biden's comments, first reported by ABC news, attracted little notice on a day dominated by the drama surrounding his Republican counterpart, Alaska governor Sarah Palin.

But his statements represent the Democrats' strongest vow so far this year to investigate alleged misdeeds committed during the Bush years.

"If there has been a basis upon which you can pursue someone for a criminal violation, they will be pursued," Biden said during a campaign event in Deerfield Beach, Florida, according to ABC.

"[N]ot out of vengeance, not out of retribution," he added, "out of the need to preserve the notion that no one, no attorney general, no president -- no one is above the law."

Obama sounded a similar note in April, vowing that if elected, he would ask his attorney general to initiate a prompt review of Bush-era actions to distinguish between possible "genuine crimes" and "really bad policies". . . .

Read the entire article. This is very dangerous stuff. No one is above the law, true. But for Obama to indulge the base on their calls for show trials regarding the decision to go to war in Iraq, Guantanamo, waterboarding and the like is a road taken at great peril. There is not a single thing the Bush administration has done that has not been fully briefed to both sides of the aisle. The decision to go to war was fully reviewed by the 9-11 Commission. What Obama and Biden are suggesting is unprecedented in American politics - but not in the politics of other nations.