Obama knows perfectly well that he will either solve the country's problems and emerge a hero, or fail and be disgraced, along with the rest of his party. The Bush Depression and Bush Wars will be blamed on the Democrats if he does not make them go away. This is why he has made every effort to avoid bogging Washington down in a divisive partisan battle over the Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld troika's crimes. Even the trifecta of sending all three to prison will not solve the nation's problems or secure his position in history. But it will almost certainly distract from that goal by dividing our resources. Right now, health care for Americans is more important than watching Cheney squirm on the witness stand.

Sometimes common knowledge and the conventional wisdom is true, and the need for justice is trumped by the requirements of prosperity. The truth will eventually come out, even if the criminals escape their judgement. In the distant future, I believe Obama's actions today will be viewed as were Lincoln's, when he refused to vindictively punish the South for the Rebellion.