Joe Lieberman: When People Commit Crimes, They Must Be Prosecuted. Unless They Work for the Government
Kevin Gozstola plays a litlte gotcha with Joe Lieberman. Here's Lieberman advocating for a DOJ investigation and possible prosecution of the New York Times and other media outlets for publishing portions of the Wikileaks cables:
"And, again, why do you prosecute crimes? Because if you don't–Well, first you do because that's what our system of justice requires. Second, if you don't prosecute people who commit crimes, others are going to do it soon and again."
And here's Joe Lieberman in 2009, explaining why he opposes any investigation of members of the Bush administration who endorsed and advocated torture:
We're opening a door that's going to make it hard for any administration in the future to get the kind of legal advice that it wants, let alone deal with people who are suspects that may have information in the war on terrorism…
Well, I mean, there's no end to this if you go on…There is simply nothing to be gained from it and it is going to have a bad effect on every administration of any party that follows in the generations ahead.