Updated: America’s Long History of Unpunished Crime

UPDATE: Seen #3 below. The so-called conspiracy theory that Reagan bargained with Iran hostage takers to hold the hostages and embarrass Jimmy Carter out of office grew legs today when the New York Times posted this witness account of the matter. I can imagine the loss and pain that Americans could have been spared had that one man timely told what he knew at a time when an investigation could have been opened and more witnesses officially questioned. Instead, we got decades of lies that led to outright stealing from American taxpayers, incited racism, deep divisions incited for political gain, and lost rights, and now we’re at risk of losing our entire democracy — all based on lies, many of which started with Reagan and spread and legitimized by an adoring press, and even the Democratic Party that worshipped Reagan to its (and our) detriment.

Imagine all the people who complained and sought further investigation being silenced as conspiracy theorists and those who might have spoken out about later crimes silenced for fear of being called conspiracy theorists.

At least in those days, DOJ seemed to think they had a job to do. Merrick Garland seems to think his job is purely ceremonial.

And when overly sympathetic witnesses and the DOJ aren’t letting serious criminals off the hook and allowing them to be worshiped, states are delaying prosecutions for so long that the perp, currently Trump, has power enough to start multiple insurrections to protect himself. If you were inciting violence on social media to protect yourself from imminent prosecution, I seriously doubt you’d be home free at your computer until Tuesday.

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UPDATE: I’m ashamed of myself for forgetting one of the worst of my adult life: George W. Bush lying about WMD in Iraq to start a war that killed many innocent people. There was no WMD. There was no yellow cake. Colin Powell’s vial of anthrax contained powder.

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I’ll be surprised if the Mueller Report ever sees the light of day. I hope it does, but I’m not optimistic because USA history indicates it won’t. This is a list of the unpunished crimes I thought of off the top of my head. Feel free to add additional unpunished crimes in the comments.

1. JFK, Bobby Kennedy, and Martin Luther King were assassinated in the 1960s. The accused were all single shooters with magical abilities and/or magic bullets. In the 1970s, a House Commission on Assassinations found previous conclusions nonsense and criticized the government for not pursuing likely conspiracies, but documents were hidden for decades, no further investigations were had, and no charges ever brought against anyone else.
2. Watergate scandal? No problem. Some henchmen received short sentences, but the main perpetrators got off pretty easily. Career criminal Spiro T. Agnew pleaded down to one felony tax charge, was fined a small amount he could easily pay with his ill-gotten gains, and put on 3 years of unsupervised probation. Nixon was allowed to resign and waive his stupid victory signs at the airport. Gerald Ford pardoned him.
3. Many people, on good authority, accused Ronald Reagan of working with Iranian hostage-taking terrorists, inducing the latter to hold onto the hostages to embarrass President Jimmy Carter and sweep into office a hero on their immediate release. This is deemed a conspiracy theory. Many news organizations found the story credible, but short-lived congressional committees said there wasn’t enough evidence. Years later, several Iranians and former Reagan and Bush officials came forward — it was true. Nothing was done.
4. Having gotten away with that, the Reagan Administration decided to sell arms to Iran in violation of an embargo. They used the money to fund the Contras, a right-wing terrorist organization in Nicaragua, happy to commit many atrocities, political executions, mob violence, and terrorist attacks against “soft targets” like schools and hospitals. The scandal was named Iran/Contra. I remember hearing Reagan officials quip that it was a great idea. Prosecutors indicted. Some of the accused pleaded guilty. Some were convicted. H.W. Bush pardoned many. Olly North got out early on a technicality that was later used to release Jeff Skilling of Enron infamy. People still laud Reagan and Bush as great presidents and great people despite the many cruel deaths in which they happily participated. Let’s not forget who made it possible for Reagan, Bush, and their henchmen to get away with this, Bill Barr.
5. Iran/Contra and Iran Hostages went so well for the Bush family they decided to steal Florida in the 2000 election—child’s play. Ignoring the oddity of that bizarre Armani suit mob scene at the Florida Secretary of State office, the media jumped on the W. Bush won Florida meme, and the rest was a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Supreme Court appointed W. Bush president to make it look official. Democrats told Gore supporters to be quiet, you can’t be asore loser, right? Criminals often count on their victim’s ingrained politeness. That’s a thing.
6. 9/11. Saudis perpetrated the crime, yet Saudi Arabia gets off scot-free and remains the recipient of arms and accolades as our great ally. Unproven conspiracy theories aside, it’s odd that our government considers our attackers among our greatest allies. Americans mostly ignored the 9/11 Commission Report and shopped obediently, just as their president told them. We attacked Iraq, just ’cause. No WMD, after all. Americans continued to shop until 2008, when bank and mortgage fraud impoverished them. No participating bank presidents or loan officers were brought to justice. They were, however, bailed out with taxpayer dollars.
7. Remember Scooter Libby and the Valerie Plame incident, the outing of an active CIA agent. According to reputable sources, Karl Rove’s and Vice President Dick Cheney’s hands were all over this one. Do you remember what former US Attorney, then special counsel, Patrick Fitzgerald, said about the whole thing, why Rove and Cheney were never charged? He said, roughly, that Libby’s obstruction of justice sufficiently obstructed justice such that he could not charge anyone else. Really, Patrick? The United States Justice Department could not manage to obtain more information after Libby and others were charged, and some were given immunity. That sounds less likely than a lack of political will to investigate two characters with a potentially long list of corruption and/or crimes. Even Democrats lacked the will to push for an investigation. Libby got a 2 1/2 year sentence that Bush commuted because apparently, it’s A-okay to out an active CIA agent while Republican. Libby served no time.
8. If you can steal Florida in 2000, you can steal Ohio in 2004, right? Right. W. gets in again, likely based on criminal election interference. I had friends on the Kerry campaign who were eyewitnesses to it. Don’t believe me? It has its own Wiki page. John Kerry never entertained the idea of a fight. He had his senate career to think about. Later, he becomes Secretary of State. He had a great career, but he never thought about the country wallowing in unpunished corruption and crime.
9. So, now we’re at 2016, and Trump/Russia happened, not under cover of night, not in the shadows, but right before our eyes on television. Trump’s AG Barr tells us there is nothing to see here; move along. The report is hidden. So far, no one has scheduled any new public hearings in the House. House leaders fear Republicans will ignore subpoenas. Try that argument next time you are subpoenaed; tell your opponent they needn't subpoena you because you intend to ignore it and let us know how it goes for you. This is all, not to mention the slew of other investigations and charges, including FEC violations of the entire Republican Party using Russian money funneled through the NRA, violations of the Constitutional prohibition of emoluments, mortgage fraud, bank fraud etc. The media and the Administration are telling us this all goes away with an unseen Mueller Report on a completely different topic. Move along; nothing to see here.

I remain convinced Americans will obey and move along because of this long history of inaction and enforced silence on criminality. The problem is that the country sinks deeper into oligarchy, authoritarianism, and warmongering for every set of serious crimes that are shrugged off. Emboldened criminals are pretty confident they can get away with anything and everything, and they’re right; they can. Health care is on the chopping block, and I expect the theft of Social Security and Medicare, two programs you’ve already paid into, will be looted and ended. Republicans already curbed voting rights. I expect the eventual demise of civil rights. Will you act then, America?