Fingers in the dike

I wait eagerly for every column from Paul Krugman. I find his pieces to be consistently brilliant. However, I think that Mr. Krugman failed to see the most obvious reason for Barack Obama's apparent decision to forego pursuit of Bush and his cronies.

In "Forgive and Forget" , Mr. Krugman speaks of exacerbating partisanship, and not dwelling on past abuses as the predicates given for failure to prosecute the innumerable crimes of the past administration. The reality is that President Obama is about to be inundated with matters of substance and immediacy. He is like the boy with his fingers (and toes) in the dike. I believe he has chosen not to deflect his focus, or that of Congress, on matters regarding past wrongs.

We are in a period of extreme crisis. As important as it may be for us to investigate and incarcerate, now is not the moment. The Bush league misdeeds of the past 8 years have, in their own perverse way, created a shield for those involved. We are now so busy trying to right their wrongs that we don't have the time or energy to do right and pursue them for their wrongs. Their day may well come. However, for the time being, the only finger being raised in regard to this nefarious crew is the middle finger they continue to raise at all of us.

I know it is hard to preach patience but I urge Mr. Krugman to consider the possibility. Justice delayed is not necessarily justice denied.