coming home to roost

i hope c-span2 gives us another chance—or better yet, several chances—to hear philippe sands talk about his book lawless world: america and the making and breaking of global rules from fdr's atlantic charter to george w bush's illegal war.

the first time the talk was shown on book tv, it overlapped the other c-span channel's washington journal time slot on a november sunday morning. the only rerun so far was at 2 o'clock this monday morning nearly 3 months later. i'm sure they didn't mean to bury it, but those are both hard times to watch.

it's a very important presentation. sands lays out, clearly and thoroughly, how the bush administration has so rapidly and callously torn apart the framework of international law so painstakingly built up by the united states and the other democracies over more than 60 years.

the audience—at the UC's hastings law school in san francisco—asked penetrating questions that can reinvigorate the flagging spirit of anyone who fears bush cheney rice rumsfeld gonzales & co will get off scot free with their crimes.

even if we fail to impeach them or try them here, they won't hold power forever, and they can get indicted in any country and arrested any time they set foot outside our borders, just like pinochet and fujimori.