Thom Hartmann explained this very clearly today:


The reason why Kit Bond and the Republicans were so hell-bent on getting civil suit immunity for the telecoms was that Bush *cannot* pardon civil violations of law. So they had to push it through the Congress very quickly.

The Republicans knew that Bush would then take care of the criminal violations, with generous use of his pardon pen as he walks out of the White House on January 20.



So, all the excitement about.... 'whoa, the telecoms aren't immune from criminal charges!' is useless now, because Bush will pre-emptively pardon anyone and everyone remotely connected to criminal violations of our civil rights. And, we can bet that these pardons have already been drafted and finalized, and are sitting in a locked drawer.


Just as the investigations/pardons of the Reagan/Bush I era were shut down by Bill Clinton, we have once again, been robbed of our ability to find the truth.


This is the most depressing aspect of all of this. We are now repeating our doomed history.


One of the most pressing hopes that I have is to live long enough to see justice work over every last one of these organized criminals with her mighty steel hand.