Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Obama And Romney Prove To Be Massive Hypocrites In Last Night's Foreign-Policy Debate

Mitt Romney and Barack Obama

The two major candidates for the U.S. presidency proved themselves to be world-class hypocrites in last night's debate on foreign policy.

Time and again, President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney said our country needs to promote "civil societies" overseas, especially in hot spots such as the Middle East. Not once did the candidates mention that our own civil society is rotting at its core, mainly from a justice system that creates political prisoners and tolerates grotesque corruption in its courts.

As the campaign winds down toward election day on November 6, I don't recall either candidate making a single substantive statement on matters of justice. The silence comes as former Alabama Governor Don Siegelman sits in a Louisiana federal prison for his conviction on a "crime" that does not exist under the law. It comes as Mississippi attorney Paul Minor sits in a Pensacola federal prison for his conviction in a case where the trial judge gave jury instructions that are almost 180 degrees from what the actual law says. It comes after Georgia Thompson in Wisconsin, Cyril Wecht in Pennsylvania, and more than 100 public officials across the country--almost all Democrats--endured investigations or prosecutions that smelled of political motivations during the George W. Bush years.

And that does not even count the U.S. attorneys, all Republican appointees, who were fired in 2006 for refusing to engage in political prosecutions.

Do either Obama or Romney care about justice issues in the least? Based on Obama's inaction through four years, including the appointment of the moribund Eric Holder as attorney general, the answer for him clearly is no. And Romney has given no indication that he would do anything other than coddle financial and political criminals.

Perhaps worst of all, these candidates are so shallow on justice issues that they don't even recognize the irony in their own words.

Romney said it is important to establish the "rule of law" in the Muslim world. What about in the American world? Has Romney visited a court lately, in either a federal or state jurisdiction? Is he aware that hundreds of Americans are denied due process and equal protection of the law every day? Karl Rove, "the architect" of erosion in our justice system, is raising millions of dollars for Romney's campaign. Can we seriously expect that Romney, as president, would be serious about the rule of law on our shores?

Obama emphasized the importance of promoting opportunities for women in the Muslim world, correctly noting that those countries cannot move forward when half of their populations are held back. But what about women in the United States? Lori Siegelman and Dana Siegelman have seen their husband and father incarcerated on utterly bogus grounds. Paul Minor was not allowed a release from prison to even attend his wife's funeral. These prosecutions came under Bush, but the sickening aftermath has come on Obama's watch. If the president really believes in dignity and respect for women, his justice department has a funny way of showing it.

Perhaps the most ironic moment in last night's debate came about 32 minutes into the give and take. On the subject of America's role in the world, Obama said we can't hope to rebuild other countries if we don't address our weaknesses at home. He talked about the need to rebuild our own economy, strengthen our schools, develop clean energy.

All excellent points, but the president said nothing about the need--no, the necessity--for a justice system that upholds our constitution, that undergirds our belief in right and wrong.

Both presidential candidates seem to think we can move forward at home, and on the international stage, while our justice system rots at our feet.

On that, they are sadly mistaken.

How much damage has injustice heaped upon our society? The answer best can be found in a three-part documentary titled "The Political Prosecutions of Karl Rove," which was produced by Project Save Justice. You can check out all three parts of the 2009 documentary at the following link. The piece ends with a scroll of names, spotlighting public officials who were targeted during the Bush years. You've probably never heard of many of these people or their cases. But watching their names scroll past, and listening to some of their voices and those of their family members, is one of the most sobering moments ever captured on film:


16 comments:

TLR said...

A profoundly important post. Thanks for reminding us of an issue that has been ignored in the campaign.

Sharon said...

I expect Romney to be a phony on the rule of law. But Obama should be ashamed of himself.

Anonymous said...

I'm going to hold my nose and vote for Obama, but he doesn't deserve a second term, on this issue alone. It's just that Romney would be so much worse, on every issue.

Anonymous said...

You’ve been Trumped trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_Gq2kj4ryg

A Case Study In Capitalist Democracy:

“You’ve been Trumped”

Review of Anthony Baxter's 2012 documentary

By Colin Todhunter
Global Research, October 23, 2012

Deidra said...

Every American should watch the video at the end of this post, plus the two other parts to the Rove documentary. It makes your heart ache.

Anonymous said...

Did you notice that Barack Obama's name is on the scroll at the end of the documentary? I wonder how the Bushies targeted him?

Anonymous said...

No vote = wisdom, truth and justice for all AND

A vote for either of the two communist new world order criminally insane puppets, is is a vote for Ghetto Hell Slum for all.

LS, as always thank you for the real news so we can choose wisdom.

Roberta Kelly

Anonymous said...

Legal Schnauzer, the photos you choose, truly worth thousands of words, a gaffer and a guffaw,

each mouth fully engaged in hypocritical tongue wag gaff-guff.

Priceless, thank you! /rk

btw, very sad video, too, too, sad America.

James Greek said...

Dana Siegelman has a petition for her dad and she plans to present it to Obama after the election.

jeffrey spruill said...

What the American people don't realize is there's vastly more political prisoners in this country then they could imagine

And to those that were in the Bush/Rove DOJ- you cockroaches are no good criminals. I think you're little pathetic cowards--in the same class as the psychopath-Erik Prince.

Robn1013 said...

VERY well said! Comments as well. I'll unfortunately be providing LS with other object lessons soon.

Robn1013 said...

VERY well said. Comments as well. Standby for my own object lessons.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for insightful analysis, the kind that has been completely missing from the MSM. When Romney said he wanted to bring the "rule of law" to the Muslim world, my first thought was, "Take a look in the mirror, Bub."

Juniper said...

What's that classic admonition from the New Testament: "You should remove the log from your own eye before noticing the speck in mine."

Obama and Romney would be well advised to remember those words.

jeffrey spruill said...

I find some solace in fact that the Constitution will be protected from the appointment to SCOTUS of Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson.

He was involved in a criminal conspiracy with Chief Justice Rehnquist:

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/politics/15rehnquist.html?_r=4&ex=1122091200&en=e0ec6fdc57fa3214&ei=5070&emc=eta1&

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/21/politics/21bush.html?pagewanted=allhttp://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/21/politics/21bush.html?pagewanted=all

legalschnauzer said...

Rehnquist had a lot to do with soiling our justice system. He pushed hard for the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1997, which essentially overturned Pulliam v. Allen, a case that gave litigants the chance for some relief against corrupt judges.