Scooter Libby Gets Pardoned

I know, I know, technically, his sentence was commuted. He’s still on probation, and has to pay a $250,000 fine. Ahhh, a fine. Considering that his legal fund, all generated by conservative supporters, ran into the millions of dollars, it’s severely doubtful that he will pay a penny out of his own pocket. I think we can call this a pardon.

From here, the choice of commutation rather than outright pardon looks to be typical Bush – Scooter is pardoned de facto, but Bush gives himself a flimsy moral shield to claim that he still respects the law. Gutless, and strange too, because the “compromise”, if you will, probably costs him among Libby’s supporters, being short of the full pardon, but still outrages anyone with a fundamental respect for the law.

But honestly, I myself am less outraged than I probably should be, because (i) it’s hardly surprising, and (ii) it’s better to have this stuff in the open. Let Bush display his contempt for the law in public. Bring it all out, make sure everyone knows exactly the kind of man he is, and we will have a better chance to contain him and at least limit the damage until he’s gone in 2009.

Hey, let’s quote from George W. Bush himself: “I don't believe my role is to replace the verdict of a jury with my own, unless there are new facts or evidence of which a jury was unaware, or evidence that the trial was somehow unfair.”. In his press conference, Bush stated that the trial was fair and that the jury did their job … draw your own conclusions.