Barack Obama on This Week:

"I think my general view when it comes to my attorney general is that he's the people's lawyer. Eric Holder's been nominated," said Obama. "His job is to uphold the Constitution and look after the interests of the American people, not be swayed by my day-to-day politics. So ultimately, he's going to be making some calls. But my general belief is that when it comes to national security, what we have to focus on is getting things right in the future as opposed to looking at what we got wrong in the past."

I asked Fertik to share his thoughts on the president-elect's answer. This is what he had to say:

It's absurd to talk about "upholding the Constitution" and say "no one is above the law" if you refuse to look "back" at those who have subverted the Constitution and broken the law. And you can't have one set of rules for "national security" and a different set of rules for everything else.

So if there's any hope for prosecution in Obama's answer, it is that Attorney General Eric Holder will truly be "the people's lawyer" and fully represent us by prosecuting torturers, wiretappers, and other criminals who committed their crimes from secret undisclosed locations hidden within the Bush-Cheney administration.

One more thing that is worth noting. As pointed out by Think Progress, Dawn Johnsen, Obama's choice to lead the Office of Legal Counsel, has said that the next president should avoid "any temptation to simply move on." Here is the relevant quote:

We must avoid any temptation simply to move on. We must instead be honest with ourselves and the world as we condemn our nation's past transgressions and reject Bush's corruption of our American ideals. Our constitutional democracy cannot survive with a government shrouded in secrecy, nor can our nation's honor be restored without full disclosure.

I have to admit, I agree with Fertick and Johnsen, unless we look at our past in depth, we'll never know the truth.  Were there crimes committed or were the stories just made up to hurt the Bush administration.

I don't think our attorney general should spend his every waking moment investigating the past eight years but I do think he should at least touch base with everything that's been questioned over the years.  If something comes up that sounds a bit fishy then and only then dig deeper.

Obama is correct however, it will be Holder's job to, "uphold the Constitution and look after the interests of the American people, not be swayed by my (Obama's) day-to-day politics".

I would suggest however that Obama allow Attorney General Holder the option to hire more help to do the digging.  The past 8 years have resulted in a great deal of harm to Americans and their allies -  in money, privacy, jobs, trust and last but not least, many treasured lives.

The past 8 years did not resemble a 'normal' two term presidency.  They were not just about one family's marriage and any infidelity involved.  And they were not about one political party sneaking into another political party's office.  All Americans suffered for what happen over the past eight years.  Did they need to?