There has been much speculation that before the clock ticks midnight on Jan. 19, 2009, President Bush will exercise his use of the pardon and essentially give Rumsfeld, Cheney and other upper Bush administration officials get-out-of-jail free cards for the crimes they could have possibly committed under his presidency.

Among the laundry list of somewhat shady, or what some would call illegal or unconstitutional acts, this seems to be the least shocking.

Yet, this act alone will smother any hope of justice being brought against this administration that incessantly deceived the American people, defied international laws, and hurt the country's human's rights reputation with creation of Guantanamo Bay and the authorization of torture during the perpetual War On Terror.

The unlawful authorization of torture by Cheney and Rumsfeld alone warrants prosecution.

Simply letting Bush ride off into the sunset of Texas while pardoning top officials, will damage America's reputation even more.

And I am one of the many who are completely outraged that this has a possibility of happening.

Thankfully there are many groups such as Amnesty International that are pushing for accountability.

There is also movement in the House and Senate to stop this from happening.

Senator Russ Feingold, of Michigan, has urged President-elect Barack Obama to look into the Bush administration's abuse of power so that they can be corrected and prevent them from ever happening again.

Adding to this pus, there is also movement in Congress too and it is more than just heavy words.

Legislation has been drafted by Congressman Jerrold Nadler, N.Y., - HR 1531 - which if passed would not permit the president to pardon any senior cabinet member in 90 days before leaving office.

It is extremely important that this legislation pass.

It is not only a matter of setting a precedent to show future administrations that they are not above the law, but more importantly so that the American people can find out what really happened.

Without a trial for Cheney and Rumsfeld, the American people will never find out the truth.

So as Americans, we must demand accountability.

We need to set a precedent to show the world and future administrations that Americans do not condone these actions nor do our leaders.

In order to accomplish this, we must put an end to the president's power to pardon his top officials.

This will allow for the investigations of Cheney, Rumsfeld and other Bush administration officials, and finally - justice for the American people!

Nate Hughes

Weedsport