I still haven't made up my mind about which Democratic candidate I support. I think both have issues, and I'm incredibly disappointed with the tone of this eternally ongoing campaign. But there are a few things that would tip the scales, and Obama touched on one recently:
I still think impeachment should not be off the table. Realistically though, with the time left before the election, it ain't gonna happen. This would be second best.What I would want to do is to have my Justice Department and my Attorney General immediately review the information that's already there and to find out are there inquiries that need to be pursued. I can't prejudge that because we don't have access to all the material right now. I think that you are right, if crimes have been committed, they should be investigated. You're also right that I would not want my first term consumed by what was perceived on the part of Republicans as a partisan witch hunt because I think we've got too many problems we've got to solve.
So this is an area where I would want to exercise judgment -- I would want to find out directly from my Attorney General -- having pursued, having looked at what's out there right now -- are there possibilities of genuine crimes as opposed to really bad policies. And I think it's important-- one of the things we've got to figure out in our political culture generally is distinguishing between really dumb policies and policies that rise to the level of criminal activity. You know, I often get questions about impeachment at town hall meetings and I've said that is not something I think would be fruitful to pursue because I think that impeachment is something that should be reserved for exceptional circumstances. Now, if I found out that there were high officials who knowingly, consciously broke existing laws, engaged in cover-ups of those crimes with knowledge forefront, then I think a basic principle of our Constitution is nobody above the law -- and I think that's roughly how I would look at it.
Obama was a Constitutional professor, which gives one hope that he might just carry through. He's a little cautious for my taste, but maybe that will change after the election. In order for our status to begin to be restored in the world, we must prosecute those who have committed crimes. It shouldn't be that hard to demonstrate in court; Bush has admitted publicly several times to doing things that are unconstitutional, as have others.
Nobody above the law.
So, what about it, Hillary? Can you promise the same?
