Back in 2009, after nearly a decade of Republican misrule, there was a lot of talk about “accountability.” With the economy in shambles and the country embroiled in two quagmires, many were hopeful the Barack Obama administration would reverse George W. Bush policies and hold those responsible for the devastation accountable.   Writing for The Nation, attorney and Watergate-era Congresswoman Elizabeth Holtzman implored the new president to investigate the rife “constitutional and criminal misbehavior” of his predecessor. “To fully restore the rule of law and prevent any repetition of Bush’s misconduct,” she said, “the abuses of his administration must be directly confronted.” In The New York Times, prominent human rights attorney Michael Ratner argued, “Unless government officials know that consequences follow from such abuses, they will break the law again.” High-ranking members of the president’s party in Congress similarly called for investigations and “truth commissions” to look into the many alleged constitutional violations and human rights abuses that had been sanctioned by senior Bush officials over the previous eight years.   Nothing ever came of these demands. Under the leadership of Attorney General Eric Holder, the Obama Department of Justice failed to criminally prosecute any of the high-level government officials involved in authorizing illegal torture and surveillance programs, just as it failed to prosecute a single Wall Street executive after the 2008 financial crisis. Despite widespread demands for accountability, the Obama administration ultimately chose a posture of forgiveness and closure.