Memory is a most peculilar thing.
Those forgive-and-forget statements grow more stunning with time. This is especially true now that Obama's Attorney General, Eric Holder, has in effect crashed any hopes of holding Bush administration officials accountable for torture and other abuses and crimes.
Holder has said no one would be prosecuted in the deaths of two prisoners held in CIA custody. The chief lawyer of the U.S. government has said the lack of prosecution is not from moral acceptance but is symptomatic of the record being "not sufficient to obtain and sustain a conviction."
In today's world, all of these memorable statements are considered free passes for Republicans. Without punishment -- or even castigation and rebuke -- Republicans will continue to feel entitled to pursue whatever goals they like, in whatever manner they enjoy.
You may, at this point, remember when the American government was very interested in "sending messages," as it was called -- perhaps caring less than should be done about convictions, but in showing some clear sense of right and wrong, and some sense of civilized and acceptable decorum.
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