Nothing to see here. Just one scoundrel helping out another.

Bush Commutes Libby Prison Sentence

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.”



  1. Mister Mustard says:

    >>Implicit==Implied though not directly expressed; inherent in the
    >>nature of something.. IE–Libby can verbally maintain his
    >>innocense.

    Libby can “verbally maintain” that he was abducted by aliens and impregnated with the love child of the Man in the Moon.

    But for the purposes of legal practice, if you accept a pardon, you are admitting guilt. Period.

  2. James Hill says:

    You guys sure are angry. Anyone ready to leave the country yet?

  3. natefrog says:

    #92: The radical nutjobs are the ones who forced their way in and took over. They can leave first, thank you very much.

  4. Frank IBC says:

    They didn’t “force their way in and take over”, they were elected. Twice. Dumbass.

    And if you’re unhappy with the results of the 2000, write your senator and congressman and tell him/her that the Constitution should be amended to provide for direct popular election of the President and Vice President.

    And no matter how you losers try to spin things, there is no doubt whatsoever that Bush won Florida in 2000, and that Bush also won Ohio in 2004.

  5. Frank IBC says:

    Quote for the day:

    “Nonviolent offenders should not be serving hard time in our prisons. They need to be diverted from our prison system.”–Sen. Hillary Clinton, Democratic debate, June 28, 2007

  6. bobbo says:

    91—I’ll play along just because you seem fixated. You can’t say Libby admitted his guilt just because he accepts a pardon. The law imputs guilt just as a guilty verdict does but how many ex-cons still maintain their innocense? “I accepted the pardon so as not to go to jail, but I never lied to anybody. I was just too busy doing what Cheney told me to do keep track of such details.” Makes sense to me.

    “implied” is another way of saying the above.

    Its like driving drunk. Blood alcohol above .08 and the law “presumes” you are guilty without further proof. Doesn’t mean you were impaired more than others while they are totally sober.

  7. bobbo says:

    95—with a few exceptions, wouldn’t “everybody” be better off if that were the case? ((Still room for Kenny Boy types to serve hard time!))

  8. Mister Mustard says:

    Bobbo, you’re wearing me out.

    You can spin it any way you want, but LEGALLY, if he accepts the pardon, he’s admitting guilt. Blood alcohol over 0.08% or conviction by a jury of your peers is not optional. Accepting a pardon is, and some people reject them, because they don’t admit want to admit guilt. Kind of like pleading to a lesser crime; you can SAY anything you want, but if you plead guilty to the crime, you’re legally guilty. Same thing with a pardon.

    And in any case, this whole thing is just a tempest in a teapot. Is anybody really surprised that Dumbya is a sleazebag, and is just dancing at the end of the strings controlled by the two REAL presidents (Rove and Cheney)? Poor Scooter Pie was just a sacrificial lamb. The prosecutor played hard ball with him to try to get him to drop the dime on his capos, and he balked. So, just like any good Mafia lieutenant, he’s going to take the fall. Except he’s got that Fairy Godmother, in the form of “president” Dumbya. Lucky for him. Not so lucky for America. He should just thank his lucky stars they didn’t charge him with treason. We’re talking the Hot Needle for a conviction on that count!

  9. natefrog says:

    #94:

    No doubt? My, what a selective memory you have (and there are plenty of reputable people who question the results). As a plus, what a way to elevate the level of debate, dumbass.

    Now lets see about my use of “force their way in and take over.” Well, depending on perspective, the neocons slyly taking control of the media and rigging the vote in Florida and Ohio could be construed as “forc[ing] their way in and tak[ing] over.”

  10. gadlaw says:

    We’re one big 9-11 type attack away from “Presidente for Life” Bush/Cheney. This pardon is just one more example of their disregard for the Constitution, the law and judgment of anyone else other than themselves. They’re right, nobody else could possibly be right and they feel so strongly about their politics and world view that they would like to save us by completing the natural progression they already are on. They ignore the law, the constitution and the congress and with the proper national emergency from a mega attack they would simply make it official.

  11. Mister Mustard says:

    >>We’re one big 9-11 type attack away from “Presidente for
    >>Life” Bush/Cheney.

    Well, let’s hope if it ever comes to that, we get “Presidente for Life” Rove/ Cheney. They may be every bit as evil as Dumbya, but at least they’re not terminally stupid.

  12. Frank IBC says:

    We’re one big 9-11 type attack away from “Presidente for Life” Bush/Cheney.

    No, just two viable Democratic presidential candidates away.

  13. wtf? says:

    Oh please!

    I’ll bet half the people who are complaining about this here made excuses for Clinton when he pardoned dozens of criminals, some of them violent criminals.

    It’s only an outrage when the other party does it, right? Grow up.

  14. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #90 – That’s pretty extreme… But it makes your very valid point.

    #95 – Quote for the day:

    “Nonviolent offenders should not be serving hard time in our prisons. They need to be diverted from our prison system.”–Sen. Hillary Clinton, Democratic debate, June 28, 2007

    Comment by Frank IBC — 7/3/2007 @ 11:55 am

    I bolded the word that deflates your pointless point. You’re welcome.

  15. jz says:

    Stew/47, I agree with you. This has evolved into a Republican/Democrat pissing match, and it shows how partisan and screwed up our country is.

    People are pissed that somebody was not thrown in jail for lying/perjury and obstruction of justice. If we put in jail everyone who lied under oath, we would have 20% of the country in jail. Jail is supposed to be a place to put people away who are trying to harm others not put people you don’t like.

    I don’t like Scooter but would I not be afraid if he were living next door to me. And he is a human being you morons. Anyone cheering him going to jail ought to have a psych. exam.

    Richard Armitage outed Plame, and the special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald knew it and still tried to tie this Scooter. So Fitzgerald was more interested in getting Libby than getting justice. .

    Armitage should be tried for treason and executed if found gullty; Fitzgerald should be forced to resign in disgrace, and Robert Nowak, the idiotic journalist who published Plame’s name, should be fired and then spanked by his mommy.

    As much as Bush has lied about the war and as big of a loser I think he is, I actually think he was right to lighten Libby’s sentence. Libby was nothing more than a fall guy. Going to jail for obstruction of justice (when you already know who is the guilty party) is complete and utter bullshit.

  16. bobbo says:

    98—A judge makes a defendant allocute and state they know what guilty means when they plead guilty. I don’t think (but could be wrong) there is no similar requirement for pardon. I think you have to fight a pardon for it not to become effective. No allocution.

    105—“Subversion of justice” is not a violent crime, so I can see how you would like to live next to Libby. Still, while not how one person may be murdered, its how an entire society has its freedoms and political choices negated. Think a little bit more.

  17. Frank IBC says:

    OFTLO –

    Apparently you didn’t bother to read the second sentence of Sen. Clinton’s statement:

    They need to be diverted from our prison system.

  18. Frank IBC says:

    Actually it was Wilson who outed Plame.

  19. bobbo says:

    107—Thats right. Home restrictions with tracking devices and half way houses would be way cheaper and less injurious. That way we could put more violent criminals in jail. I’d think you’d be for such an increase in the total number of people under the boot?

  20. Mister Mustard says:

    >>we put in jail everyone who lied under oath,

    Well, we put Martha Stewart in jail for lying about something as stupid as never-proven “insider trading”. Would you be scared living next to a never-convicted insider-trader? But somebody who puts the country at risk by committing what some have labeled TREASON….well, he’s got a powerful Pajama Pal, so get gets out of jail free. I know this kind of shit happens all the time, but come on. This is a little TOO public. And yet another black eye for America. A regime that is already as discredited and disgraced as Dumbya’s? You’d think he would have a little more decency than to just throw the court-mandated jail time into the crapper, because Presidents Cheney and Rove told him to.;

  21. OhForTheLoveOf says:

    #107 – No… I didn’t… My point is that Libby wasn’t sentenced to hard time. Clinton was talking about hard time.

  22. Frank IBC says:

    Ah, so only people who are sentenced to “hard time” should be moved out of prison. Those sentence to “soft time” should stay in prison, right? Thanks for clarifiying…

  23. Frank IBC says:

    Bobbo –

    I oppose most if not all drug laws. If we get rid of them, it will get rid of a substantial portion of our prison population, while making us much safer in the long run.

  24. bobbo says:

    113—We agree. I sure would rather have Libby under house arrest and a tracker than scott free. Same with most other non-violent criminals ==everyone is better off if these people are not put in prison but somewhere else. Cost the taxpayer less, reduce the “education” of criminals in jail, and save jail for those that really need to be seperated from general population. I’m all for punishing people who deserve it, but not when there is an avoidable backlash against myself?

  25. Mister Mustard says:

    “According to Justice Department standards, “requests for commutation generally are not accepted unless and until a person has begun serving that sentence,” and they are generally not granted to those appealing their convictions. Cooperation with prosecutors is usually considered a factor in granting such requests. ”

    That is, unless you’re Pajama Pals with Presidents Rove and Cheney, huh?

    Even for a sleazeball like Dumbya, this is exceptionally sleazy.

  26. Frank IBC says:

    Bobbo –

    I think the primary form of punishment should be restitution. Prison should only be used in cases where someone is an obvious danger to public safety.

  27. bobbo says:

    116—Restitution should always be included yes, but its not enough. Otherwise, I can steal from you X times, pay you back Y times, and pocket the difference to my advantage. And most criminals cant do restitution and they likewise need some form of disencentive.

  28. Li says:

    Restitution does work; note how the credit companies garnish wages from the poor, it’s not like they don’t have money, they just don’t have a lot of it at once. It has proven to be an effective policy in Japan. But that is a non sequitur to the issue at hand.
    The president has chosen to commute (not pardon) a man who had obstructed justice, pursuant to protecting either the President, the VP, or Rove from prosecution for conspiracy and serious violations of the foreign intelligence act. The CIA says that Plame was a secret agent, and last I checked they are the authority on their own agent’s status, not Fred Barnes or Bill O. By commuting his sentence rather than pardoning him, Scooter can conveniently continue to hide behind the fifth amendment, and the press lackey can continue to say that the white house does not comment on continuing investigations all the way through the appeals process. And his loyalty for his continuing obstruction of justice is rewarded by keeping him out of a cell. One is less likely to flip if your free or your dead: every mafia behaves the same in the end. And let us not forget, this was all over ruining the lives of people who were absolutely right about the flimsiness of the evidence that led us to this strategically stupid war.
    Back in the day, when the founding fathers still roamed the Earth, Madison and Mason engaged in a long debate over what the appropriate response would be under the new Constitution if the President were to use his plenary powers to obstruct justice and shield allies. This is what Madison is recorded to have said in response to this objection, as acceptance of the Constitution was still being deliberated across the states.
    “[Should] the President be connected, in any suspicious manner, with any person, and there be grounds to believe he will shelter him, the House of Representatives can impeach him; they can remove him if found guilty,”
    Some ask how use of an outlined power can possibly be an impeachable offense, but I maintain that using his powers to shield close associates and, along with them, himself is -the- impeachable offense. It is -the very definition- of what impeachment was built into the Constitution for, from the mouth of one of the principle authors. I am not a partisan, I am an American, once republican, who wants only for our nation to return to our once famous respect for the rule of law, and our once blessed mercy on and off the battlefield. That cannot happen while this bunch of banana republicans continues to infest the halls of power.

  29. bobbo says:

    118—Excellent post. Thanks.

  30. noname says:

    #118 Li, I’ll 2nd that, excellent post.

    People should read and understand it.


4

Bad Behavior has blocked 5791 access attempts in the last 7 days.