Faced with the prospect of an innocent and decent man going to prison, George W. Bush did the right thing and commuted Lewis Libby’s sentence.
Evidently trying to conserve as much of that 27% public approval rating as he can, Bush allowed the fine and probation portions of the sentence to stand. Presumably he is counting on those of us who disapprove of L’Affaire Plame to step in with donations to spare the Libby family a quarter of a million dollar price tag for Mr. Libby’s public service. And, presumably also, come the morning of Hillary Clinton’s (or, I hope, Fred Thompson’s) Inauguration, while the Press is distracted, Bush will eliminate the conviction entirely with a pardon.
I would be happier if Bush had simply pardoned Libby, but I am willing to understand, and forgive, his caution. At least, Bush has proven that there is a fundamental residuum of humanity, decency, and loyalty in his character. He is not a complete shit.
Now, if he would only go over to the offensive and get us some revenge…
John
This pardon, essentially, wasn’t really a big surprise. Whatever, way you cut it they have let off the hook a guy who was found guilty of four counts of perjury and obstruction. The message this sends to the general citizenry is that this is an administration that has zero respect for the legal system and due process, let alone the 12 good men/women and true who had to sit through months of this trial. Those on the right will be chortling about this decision but it will resonate with the country, it’s going to figure in ads in the run up to 2008, and it should. I’m a Republican but believe me this does nothing for the Republican brand, it taints it with corruption, lying and cronyism.
C.MacLean
People, people. You’re just not thinking 4th dimensionally.
This is not about Libby’s prison sentence being excessive (it was). This is not about Bush showing utter disdain for the law or the separation of powers (he does). And this isn’t even about Bush kissing Republican party a** (he is).
This is about PROTECTING DICK CHENEY.
As long as the focus is on Libby, and to a lesser extent, on Bush, it keeps the focus OFF Cheney.
What does it tell you when the president is working this hard to protect the vice president? (and FYI, Cheney learned the secrets of real VP power from none other than Georgie’s daddy, Bush the Elder, who was Nixon’s CIA director and Reagan’s VP. Cheney just didn’t learn the stealth lesson well enough.)
People – it is not Rove, Ashcroft, or Rumsfeld:
it is Cheney, Cheney, Cheney.
If we’re going to impeach someone, let’s make sure we get the right guy.
Soon.
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