Ignorance is no excuse for accountability

There once was a time when results were what mattered, where intent lay only secondary to the end result. People were held accountable for their actions, rewarded when successful, while punished in failure. In fact such times still do exist, though apparently not for our elected leaders. I am amazed by, though quickly becoming desensitized to, the lack of accountability exhibited by the White House during Bush's run in office, with seemingly no one at fault despite several admitted mistakes. Take the phantom Weapons of Mass Destruction We were told as a fact did exist which promptly pulled us into the war. Consider the link between Osama Bin Laden and Sadaam Hussein which never existed, which we were told threatened our national security, serving as intentional false propaganda. Most recently, consider the dismissal of personal guilt by Donald Rumsfeld over the cover-up and national conspiracy over the death of Pat Tillman. Rumsfeld actually had the gall to argue this past Wednesday during questioning by the House committee investigating the blown cover-up, that blame should be placed on the Army not him, a group he directly presided over and was accountable for in his role as Secretary of Defense. As Secretary of Defense he is, in essence, the Army.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12430130

What matters isn't whether Rumsfeld knew about or authorized a cover-up to mislead the nation about Tillman's death, using his murder as a sick marketing ploy. What matters is that this occurred while under Rumsfeld's watch, and it is fully his responsibility. The fact is people were talking and Rumsfeld wasn't listening, nor were any of the people he surrounded himself with, who he is also accountable for. Army medical examiners ruled out the friendly fire scenario immediately and ordered an investigation into Tillman's death as a possible murder. As Secretary of Defense, it is Donald Rumsfeld's responsibility to be on top of the game and on top of the facts. He failed in his capacity, regardless of how or why, to hear the whole story before going forward with the propaganda the White House issued from Pat Tillman's death. That is a huge leap to take without sifting through all the facts. It is Rumsfeld's responsibility to assure the information he is receiving is factual. It is his fault if he acts upon faulty intelligence. Rumsfeld was negligent in his capacity as Secretary of Defense, and he should pay a price for his actions and be held directly accountable for the cover-up. It's the same as with Bush and Cheney and the intentional deception they have built this war upon. It's unacceptable to allow justice to be sidestepped simply by pleading ignorance. Such an environment allows our leaders to do as they please with nothing to be held accountable to, knowing full well the privileges they will be afforded by our loophole-ridden legal system. Considering this whole war has been one giant deception, why allow these leaders the benefit of the doubt? They have lied to and manipulated the American people. If no one is willing to come forward and accept responsibility, they all should be charged equally in their role of ineptitude. We are judged by the results of our actions in society. No American citizen is afforded any higher privilege than any other, or at least that's how it should be, and in theory is practiced. Why is it then, when the stakes are greater than ever, it some how becomes OK to pass off the blame onto others with acts as offensive as theirs? If our courts allow such actions to stand unpunished, then it's time to dismantle the courts, the Constitution and all other systems of American justice and law, and reform them into a practice that fits the changing times, recognizing ignorance as no excuse for failure, and founded in the court of common sense. It is unacceptable in this day and age for such offensive acts and breaches of responsibility to go unaccounted for. It is high time to fight back against our leaders and punish them for the harm they have caused. Justice has become a thing of the past, as it quickly is ceasing to be.