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[LosingNow]

Bush is a jerk ...... a dunce with no morals... the worst president ever in the history of United States.

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Bush commutes sentence for Libby
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

July 2, 2007, 6:23 PM EDT

President Bush commuted the sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on Monday, sparing him from a 2 1/2-year prison term that Bush said was excessive.

Bush's move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case. That meant Libby was likely to have to report to prison soon and put new pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

"I respect the jury's verdict," Bush said in a statement. "But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison."

Bush left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, and Bush said his action still "leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby."

Libby was convicted in March of lying to authorities and obstructing the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative's identity. He was the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.

Reaction was harsh from Democrats.

"As Independence Day nears, we're reminded that one of the principles our forefathers fought for was equal justice under the law. This commutation completely tramples on that principle," Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said through a spokesman.

Libby's supporters celebrated.

"That's fantastic. It's a great relief," said former Ambassador Richard Carlson, who helped raise millions for Libby's defense fund. "Scooter Libby did not deserve to go to prison and I'm glad the president had the courage to do this."

A message seeking comment from Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's office was not immediately returned.

Bush said Cheney's former aide was not getting off free.

"The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged," Bush said. "His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant and private citizen will be long-lasting."

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

[colonel]

This is a travesty of justice. Have the republicans realized they will not win the 2008 election and therefore, they simply don't care?

[LosingNow]

This is a travesty of justice. Have the republicans realized they will not win the 2008 election and therefore, they simply don't care?

Frankly.. it is not a given(sadly) that they will lose 2008. Shows how non-strategic the Dems are. Hillary and Obama - have serious "electability" issues..hope they overcome them.

[LosingNow]

From WSJ.. subscription needed
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Sparing Libby Cuts Two Ways

Bush Allies Applaud, But 2008 Candidates May Be Ones Punished
By JOHN D. MCKINNON and EVAN PEREZ
July 3, 2007; Page A3

WASHINGTON -- President Bush's decision to commute the prison sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby aroused the ire of critics on the left, but the move's practical impact on the president's diminished popularity is likely to be minor.

While prominent conservatives applauded the move, it could wind up putting pressure on some Republican presidential candidates to defend the commutation for the remainder of the campaign. And some rank-and-file Republican foot soldiers were disappointed that Mr. Bush didn't go further.

The decision was likely to become another mark in the Bush administration's troubled record in conducting the Iraq war. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid termed the decision "disgraceful," adding that "Libby's conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq war."

A few Republican presidential candidates weighed in with support for the decision. Presumptive Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, who has emerged as a vocal advocate for Mr. Libby, said, "This will allow a good American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life." Rudy Giuliani offered more tepid praise, saying Mr. Bush "came to a reasonable decision, and I believe the decision was correct."

Many Republicans had hoped Mr. Bush could postpone a clemency decision until he was leaving office in January 2009, sparing their candidates the task of defending it. But a federal appeals court forced the issue yesterday, by rejecting Mr. Libby's bid to remain free on bail while he sought to have his conviction overturned.

Mr. Libby was convicted of lying to investigators about his role in leaking the identity of a Central Intelligence Agency operative, Valerie Wilson. Her husband, former ambassador Joseph Wilson, had emerged as a prominent public critic of the administration's case for invading Iraq over weapons of mass destruction.

In his announcement, Mr. Bush underscored his respect for the jury's verdict against Mr. Libby and added that he was persuaded by arguments of those who defended the much-criticized investigation. The investigation, led by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, continued for more than 18 months, but never resulted in any charges directly related to the leaking. Instead, it produced only perjury and obstruction charges against Mr. Libby, chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, a strong advocate for the administration's war policies.

Mr. Bush concluded that the 30-month prison sentence given to Mr. Libby was "excessive" and decided to commute it. He was careful to add that his decision "leaves in place a harsh punishment," including permanent damage to Mr. Libby's reputation. The felony conviction itself remains intact, Mr. Libby's license to practice law was suspended, and he must serve out his two-year probation and pay $250,000 in fines, though his defense fund could raise enough to pay that.

Mr. Libby may still pursue his appeal of the conviction on perjury and obstruction-of-justice charges, to have those penalties overturned. Lawrence Robbins, the Washington attorney handling Mr. Libby's appeal, said "we are considering all options at this time."

 
Prosecutor Fitzgerald defended the sentence as appropriate, adding that "it is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals." He pledged to continue defending the conviction on appeal.

Mr. Libby's supporters, by contrast, cheered the president's move. "We're getting the champagne," said Victoria Toensing, a Washington lawyer who became a vocal critic of the investigation. Echoing some diehard conservatives, she added that she wished the president had given Mr. Libby a full pardon, explaining that critics will "give him the full-frontal assault anyway."

Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, an early pardon advocate, predicted that conservatives "will admire this and rally to [Mr. Bush] a bit." But the political impact for Mr. Bush was likely to be muted on both the right and the left.

Commutation was suggested by a former attorney in the first President Bush's administration, William Otis, in a recent Washington Post article.

The essay sparked a debate on the Internet among law professors. Eric Muller, a law professor at the University of North Carolina, called Mr. Otis's argument "garbage." Interviewed last night about the news, Mr. Muller said, "It is very difficult to reconcile the commutation of a sentence that was chosen from within the sentencing guidelines range for this sort of offense for this kind of offender."

Pardon lawyer Margaret Colgate Love said she hopes the commutation will make Mr. Bush more generous in other clemency cases, where he has displayed notable stinginess so far. Mr. Libby's commutation skirted regular procedures, coming before appeals had run their course, and the Justice Department's pardon attorney wasn't consulted by the White House.

[LosingNow]

Editorials Hit Libby's Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card


Published: July 03, 2007 7:30 PM ET

NEW YORK The bloggers, politicians, and TV pundits weighed in quickly Monday after President Bush took the surprisingly sudden step of commuting Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 30-month prison sentence for perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case. Now newspaper editorials are appearing, and nearly all of them have condemned the Bush act.

First up, The New York Times and The Washington Post, which had viewed the case quite differently, each ripped the Bush move.

From the Times' Tuesday editorial: "Mr. Bush’s assertion that he respected the verdict but considered the sentence excessive only underscored the way this president is tough on crime when it’s committed by common folk ...

"Within minutes of the Libby announcement, the same Republican commentators who fulminated when Paris Hilton got a few days knocked off her time in a county lockup were parroting Mr. Bush’s contention that a fine, probation and reputation damage were 'harsh punishment' enough for Mr. Libby.

"Presidents have the power to grant clemency and pardons. But in this case, Mr. Bush did not sound like a leader making tough decisions about justice. He sounded like a man worried about what a former loyalist might say when actually staring into a prison cell."

The Post, which had often mocked the court case, declares today: "We agree that a pardon would have been inappropriate and that the prison sentence of 30 months was excessive. But reducing the sentence to no prison time at all, as Mr. Bush did -- to probation and a large fine -- is not defensible. ... Mr. Bush, while claiming to 'respect the jury's verdict,' failed to explain why he moved from 'excessive' to zero.

"It's true that the felony conviction that remains in place, the $250,000 fine and the reputational damage are far from trivial. But so is lying to a grand jury. To commute the entire prison sentence sends the wrong message about the seriousness of that offense."

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: "President Bush's commutation of a pal's prison sentence counts as a most shocking act of disrespect for the U.S. justice system. It's the latest sign of the huge repairs to American concepts of the rule of law that await the next president."

The Denver Post found that "such big-footing of other branches of government is not unprecedented with this administration. The president's abuse of signing statements show his disrespect for Congress' power to make law. His insistence that terror detainees at Guantanamo Bay be denied Habeas Corpus rights mocks legal tradition. It's a shame that his actions in the Libby affair will add to that list. Libby should be held accountable for his crimes."

San Francisco Chronicle: "In commuting the sentence of former White House aide Lewis 'Scooter' Libby, President Bush sent the message that perjury and obstruction of justice in the service of the president of the United States are not serious crimes."

But The Wall Street Journal sees it differently: "By failing to issue a full pardon, Mr. Bush is evading responsibility for the role his administration played in letting the Plame affair build into fiasco and, ultimately, this personal tragedy. ... Mr. Libby deserved better from the President whose policies he tried to defend when others were running for cover. The consequences for the reputation of his Administration will also be long-lasting."

New York Post: "If Bush thinks such parsing will spare him the political backlash an outright pardon would produce, he's wrong. The jackals are tearing at his heels this morning -- and for doing only half the necessary job. Bush knows a pardon is warranted. He should grant it."

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel's editorial declares that "mostly this commutation fails on the most basic premise. There was no miscarriage of justice in Libby's conviction or his sentence. The trial amply demonstrated that he stonewalled. Like President Clinton's 11th-hour pardons of an ill-deserving few, this commutation is a travesty."

New York's Daily News: "However misbegotten was the probe by special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, the fact is that Libby did commit a federal crime and the fact is also that he was convicted in a court of law. Thankfully, Bush did not pardon Libby outright, but time in the slammer was in order. Sixty days, say, wouldn't have hurt the justice system a bit."

Chicago Tribune believes that "in nixing the prison term, Bush sent a terrible message to citizens and to government officials who are expected to serve the public with integrity. The way for a president to discourage the breaking of federal laws is by letting fairly rendered consequences play out, however uncomfortably for everyone involved. The message to a Scooter Libby ought to be the same as it is for other convicts: You do the crime, you do the time."

The Arizona Republic: "We thought Scooter Libby was going through the criminal justice system. Just like anyone else. Then, President Bush whipped out a get-out-of-jail-free card. This is the wrong game to play on a very public stage."

San Jose Mercury News: "Other presidents have doled out pardons and the like, usually on the way out of office. It's never pretty. But few have placed themselves above the law as Bush, Cheney and friends repeatedly have done by trampling civil liberties and denying due process. Chalk up another point for freedom. Scooter's, at least."

The Sacramento Bee: President Bush, a recent story in the Washington Post tells us, is obsessed with the question of how history will view him. He has done himself no favors on that count by commuting the prison term of I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby."

The Dallas Morning News: "Perhaps the president felt he had nothing left to lose, given his unpopularity. But considering how much trouble the White House faces in regard to congressional subpoenas, the last thing this president needed was to further antagonize Capitol Hill regarding abuse of executive power."

The Rocky Mountain News, in Denver, in the most bizarre comment, accepts the "compassion" argument and just wishes Bush had waited a little bit so his move could not be wrongly "perceived": "Bush's statement exudes compassion, and it carefully gives credit to those who criticize prison time for Libby as well as to those who defend it. But the president should have restrained his compassion -- and delayed his commutation -- for at least a few more months, lest he be perceived as subverting justice, too."

[RicePlateReddy]

I don't like the Libby pardon either. I don't like Bush and that is the understatement of the year.

But the exact grounds of conviction of Libby is so damn screwed up that I can't seem to get irked up about this. It is comparable in some ways of convicting Bill Clinton of lying to the grand jury about Monica Lewinsky, when the real reason for the jury was Whitewater.

As much as I (we) dislike Bush, you have got to admit that the evidence in this case about Plame was very sketchy. They might have destroyed evidence but Fitzgerald's case was very fuzzy. They couldn't touch Rove nor Cheney. So they went after a bakri and nailed him for dishonesty about a mostly tangential detail.

My frustration is towards Fitzgerald, who is universally praised. Bottom line, he didn't deliver the real goods when he should have. Kinda like Tendulkar at Chennai?

[LosingNow]

KOP:

A wrong is a wrong is a wrong. If one does wrong and it has been established that one has done wrong, one has to be punished.

Seems like you have bought into the diversionary tactics of the right-wing conservatives. Bill lied (which we railed against when he was president)..therefore our guy gets to lie. What kind of cockamamie logic is this?

Irrespective of whether the larger crime was not established ..the fact is that the smaller crime (that has prevented the establishment of the larger crime) is still a crime...and has to be punished.

A jury of peers established that Libby obstructed justice...and a judge punished him within the sentencing guidelines. (frankly, if it came to me, i would have thrown that scumbag - Robert Novak- also in the slammer first ).

...and that brings me to the hypocrisy of these right-wingers:
1. They dont want activist judges .. but are happy to have an activist executive!!
2. They preach high morals, family values but are addicted to drugs(Rush Limbaugh), gambling(Bill Bennet), engage in dirty-talk with their staff(Bill "loofa" O'reilly), have an affair while one's wife is undergoing cancer treatment(Newt Gingrich), engage in kinky-sex with male prostitutes while bashing gays and homosexuality (Ted Haggard)....

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I agree, Fitzgerald does not deserve as much high praise..but whatever he got done (given the constraints) was admirable.. sad part is that a president who told that those guilty will be punished, lets go the only one who he could establish as guilty!!