Ignorance of the Law is No Excuse

Curiously, I learned a long time ago that "Ignorance of the law is no
excuse." Attorney General Michael Mukasey seems to be arguing the
case that it may be. Recently, in the first public pronouncement on
the subject from a member of the administration of stillPresident
George W Bush, he offered up the opinion that the various persons
suspected of wrongdoing in this administration will need no blanket
pardon from the President, essentially because their intentions were
good. (As in, The road to Hell is paved with...)

Specifically, he is reported in the NY Times to have said the lawyers
who authorized the surveillance and interrogation programs had done so in the belief that they were following the law. Pardon me, but this
looks like just another variant on the "We repeat it until it is
true," tactic pursued by this failed administration since before day
one. I hope that W follows this advice, and doesn't issue blanket
pardons. The courts have other issues to meddle with, and don't need
to be tied up with slapping Georgie's wrist again.

Let the chips fall where they may. If the incoming administration
investigates, and finds cause for criminal allegations, let these
Cheney lap dogs go before a judge and jury and argue their case there.
If it makes their counterparts in future administrations consider
their own future actions within the context of even further future
responsibility, maybe that isn't really such a bad thing. After all,
from here it looks like just an awful lot of the troubles this nation
is experiencing right now are the direct result of various persons in
power *not* thinking before acting.