Bush Pardons Libby, the rest of the Liars must eat Cake

With scarcely 18 months left of his presidency remaining and his approval ratings at their lowest level ever, Bush goes all out and pardons Lewis "Scooter" Libby from his sentence of 2.5 years in jail.

Libby was sentenced for lying to the FBI and prosecutors investigating how the identity of CIA operative Valerie Plame was leaked to the press. In other words Libby was convicted of obstructing a federal investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity, which by the way, is a "federal crime".

The sentencing has guidelines that the justice system uses. They use this guideline on every other person convicted, and those people are now in jail serving their respective sentences. But not Libby, his case is "excessive" according to our president.

Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor in the case, said, "In this case, an experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws," Fitzgerald said. "It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals."

Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada, the majority leader, called the commutation "disgraceful."

"Libby's conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq war," Reid said. "Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone."

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said, "The decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an administration characterized by politics of cynicism and division."

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., chairman of the Judiciary Committee, acknowledged that the president acted within his powers. But Leahy said: "Accountability has been in short supply in the Bush administration, and this commutation fits that pattern. It is emblematic of a White House that sees itself as being above the law."

Mr Bush's reasoning that Libby's sentence was "excessive" will puzzle those who remember his time as Texas governor. In those six years, 150 men and women were executed, a record for any governor in modern American history.

This same President, when asked to grant clemency for a Death Row inmate, when he was governor of Texas, did absolutely nothing. It is abundantly clear that there are two different standards for this President; one for him and his cronies; and for everyone else: let them eat cake.

In his book, A Charge to Keep, he described how he dealt with last ditch pleas for clemency.  "I would ask: is there any doubt about this individual's guilt or innocence? And, have the courts had ample opportunity to review all the legal issues in this case?"

Not much room for consideration of "excessive" punishments there. Indeed, one account tells how he mocked Karla Faye Tucker, a woman executed in Texas for a double murder despite becoming a born again Christian in prison. She had given a television interview asking for her life to be spared. Mr Bush parodied this in a whimpering voice. "Please," he said, pursing his lips in mock desperation, "don't kill me."

This pardon enforces the image of an elitist administration that can do "anything" and get away with it.

Libby lied. He did it deliberately and as part of a conscious plan to harm someone who had pointed out the other lies of this administration. He lied to deliberately mislead the jury and prosecutors in the investigation.   Libby was convicted of lying in a criminal case by a jury; of lying to a federal grand jury about an issue of utmost importance to the United States.

It is far from an excessive sentence, when you consider the gravity of what was being lied about, the sentence was extremely light.

Commenter's at the Denver Post said, "Commuting Libby's sentence trivializes this serious act of politically-motivated treason. For George Bush to keep Libby's fine intact demonstrates to the American people that our laws can be bought and sold, for the right price. Indeed, the question should have centered, not on whether Libby should go to jail but, on whether Libby should be hanged for disclosing a CIA agent's identity and thereby endangering our country. Lying about it is beside the point."

"Lying is lying. And, if you do it under oath in a court of law or in front of Congress, you have committed a felony and deserve to go to jail. I would love to see if your political friends in the administration would commute your sentence if you were convicted of perjury and sent to the graybar hotel. It's cronyism, pure and simple. Bush has abused the discretionary powers of his office and brought [more] shame upon the presidency."

Is there an honest man anywhere in our government today. I think not, it's too easy to serve cake.  I make a joke, but this just does not feel like the America I knew as a young adult.  Criminals were punished by the law, not pardoned.