Power Tends to Corrupt -- and then there's the Overreach

Why did Bush or his CIA people torture? Why did Putin dream up Novo-Russia and take both Crimea and eastern Ukraine? Why do police officers in America shoot and kill so many unarmed people? Why do rich people think they can buy political power by flooding political campaigns with money?

Unaccountability.

Pres. Bush or his CIA people probably never thought once that any of the things they have done could or would lead to any kind of moment of accountability.

Vladimir Putin has a tremendous popularity in Russia (or at least he did before the price of oil dropped) and probably never thought for a second he would have difficulty continuing his presidency and his plan to create the new Russian empire.

Police officers in America often act when there are no witnesses and kill people whom the larger public thinks may have deserved it. There is no oversight. Who are these police officers? Some are simply seeking a good-paying job. Some are thugs who like to hurt people. The thugs love their position of power and hope to avoid scrutiny. Often the police corps simply envelops them with a blanket of immunity and secrecy.

George W. Bush referred to a room of very rich Republican campaign donors as "his base". The fact the general public doesn't know who those rich people are and what their individual agendas might be means they have the same secrecy as the police, but they have great wealth which gives them power over policy -- often more powerful than even a gun. Who watches the rich and their contributions? Nowadays nobody does because the Supreme Court overturned campaign finance law and opened the flood gates to individual OR corporate contributions. They've essentially said "corporations are people too, my friend".

It's important when a Senate report on the torturing (or Enhanced Interrogation Techniques and their application) is made public. If there is controversy in government then the public at large can consider this and decide to support or change that policy. There may even be retribution from other nations if we don't change our ways.

It's important when the media report on Russia's behavior in Ukraine, so everyone can decide whether it's valuable to oppose Putin or acquiesce to his aggression(s).

It's important when the president forms a commission or has the Dept. of Justice study a social problem like gun violence by police officers. That too should be made public, so the sovereign People can consider it and possible alternatives.

Oversight!

If we are truly a Democracy in that the People are the Sovereign, then we have to know about (apparent) violations of Law or social standards, so we can discuss the issue(s) and decide on a course we want to follow.