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Bush Lets Libby Walk

By David Corn, The Nation. Posted July 3, 2007.


Libby had become a symbol of the Bush White House's problem with the truth. And now the final act in the long-running CIA leak scandal -- Bush's commutation -- stands as another symbol of this grand theme: Lying doesn't really bother this crowd.
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It's appropriate.

The president who led the nation into a disastrous war in Iraq by peddling false statements and misrepresentations has come to the rescue of a White House aide convicted of lying.

Before the ink was dry on today's court order denying Scooter Libby's latest appeal -- a motion to allow him to stay out of jail while he was challenging his conviction -- George W. Bush commuted Libby's sentence. Libby will no longer have to serve the 30-month prison sentence ordered by federal district court Judge Reggie Walton. He will, though, have to pay the $250,000 fine that was part of the sentence.

The commutation -- which is not a pardon and does not erase Libby's conviction -- is a reminder that Bush and his crew do not believe in accountability. Bush has been rather stingy in the use of his pardon power. And regulations issued by his Justice Department note that recipients of pardons should serve their sentences and demonstrate contrition before obtaining presidential absolution. (Libby had expressed no remorse and was not scheduled to report to jail for several weeks.)

Yet with this commutation, Bush ducked those requirements, and he is allowing Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, who was found guilty of lying to federal investigators in the CIA leak case, to go unpunished. The fine will be no problem for Libby. His neoconservative friends and admirers will kick in to cover that tab. (Perhaps even Cheney will send a check.)

Libby had become a symbol of the Bush White House's problem with the truth. After all, his lies had been designed to block FBI agents and federal prosecutors from learning the full truth of a White House effort to discredit a critic who had accused the Bush administration of twisting the prewar intelligence. And now the final act in the long-running CIA leak scandal -- Bush's commutation -- stands as another symbol of this grand theme: lying doesn't really bother this crowd.

In the 2000 presidential campaign, Bush claimed he would bring responsibility to the White House and, as a PR stunt, he dubbed his campaign jet Accountability One. Yet with this commutation, he takes the position that in his administration an aide who purposefully misleads government officials investigating a possible national security crime need not be held fully accountable.

This is no shocker. Early on in the CIA leak affair, the White House announced that anyone involved in the 2003 leak that disclosed the CIA employment of Valerie Wilson, an undercover Agency officer, would be booted out of the administration. But Karl Rove, who had disclosed classified information about Valerie Wilson to two reporters and who apparently lied about his actions to White House press secretary Scott McClellan, was not pink-slipped. Bush has never acknowledged this broken promise. (Libby left the White House only after he was indicted in the fall of 2005.)

Bush shielded Rove, and now -- better late than never -- he's doing the same for Libby. Ever since Libby's conviction in March, neoconservative and conservative Libby partisans have been urging -- or demanding -- that Bush pardon Libby. They have cried that his indictment, his conviction, and his sentence were travesties of justice.

They blasted Bush for declining to intervene in the proceedings, branding the president (their pal!) a coward. They acted as if Bush's refusal to pardon Libby was a personal betrayal of each and everyone of them. They showed more concern for Libby than any of the civilians who have perished in Iraq in the years since they, Libby and their allies engineered the invasion of Iraq. Libby was their cause; he was one of them.

Once again, Bush, being nudged by the neocons, has sent a clear message: telling the truth doesn't matter. Bush has refused to acknowledge that he, Cheney, and other administration officials -- to be polite about it -- stretched the truth about Iraq and the threat it posed before the war.

Today, he says that if you lie to protect the White House (especially the vice president), you can escape retribution. But if Bush, Cheney and the others could get away with big untruths about war, why shouldn't Libby get away with small lies about a cover-up? Fair's fair, right?

The foundation of a democratic judicial system is that the sentence fits the crime. In this instance, the commutation fits the administration.

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See more stories tagged with: bush, libby, plame

David Corn is the Washington editor of The Nation and the co-author of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War and is the author of The Lies of George W. Bush. He writes a blog at davidcorn.com.

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Scooter
Posted by: bookie on Jul 3, 2007 12:10 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This will probably get deleted. I love this guys nickname. Wonder how he got it. Scooter is what my dog does when her anal glands need expressed.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Scooter..Who saw it coming...? Posted by: kelly.nickell
» RE: Scooter Posted by: DJC
Hypocrisy
Posted by: Lector on Jul 3, 2007 1:02 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Only recently did Bush tell his attorney general to create stricter laws for mandatory minimum jail sentences for all federal crimes.

Robert Lightfoot

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Hypocrisy Posted by: kewpie
Hey EagleMB
Posted by: kelly.nickell on Jul 3, 2007 1:17 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I guess maybe you're right, Cheney is not a criminal and liar, I just thought he was. Seems that reality and truth are traits of liberal conspiracy, and travesties of justice.

Now I am quite sure you are correct eagle, who needs truth and accountability; pay the fine and walk.

Do you really believe in these people eagle?

Long live the king.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Hey EagleMB Posted by: EagleMB
» RE: Hey EagleMB Posted by: leafsong1
» RE: Hey EagleMB Posted by: EagleMB
» RE: Hey EagleMB Posted by: mjabele
» RE: Hey EagleMB Posted by: kelly.nickell
» RE: Hey EagleMB Posted by: Blix
» RE: Hey EagleMB Posted by: EagleMB
» RE: Hey EagleMB Posted by: kelly.nickell
» RE: Hey EagleMB Posted by: LMNOP
» ?? Posted by: schokoprinz
» RE: ?? Posted by: EagleMB
» RE: ?? Posted by: schokoprinz
» Be careful, Eagle... Posted by: mjabele
» Blind obedience Posted by: sasquuatch55
Just goes to show
Posted by: schokoprinz on Jul 3, 2007 2:52 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Its all about who you know. In this day and age anybody can get away with anything. O.J knocked off his old lady. President is currently dragging us through some B.S war. Now this, this presidency is on a roll. I kinda wish i knew Dub-ya, maybe he could help me get some of my student loans erased.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» RE: Just goes to show Posted by: EagleMB
» RE: Just goes to show Posted by: schokoprinz
» ?? Posted by: schokoprinz
» RE: ?? : I think he meant Posted by: illit
» If we wanted honest government.. Posted by: Bic Pentameter
Like Cindy Said, "It's up to you now, America"
Posted by: MAT2 on Jul 3, 2007 2:59 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Of course this is an outrage, travesty of justice and so on. But enough whining or lamenting about it, let's do something about it! Unless there is a real movement to motivate the masses into action, this will go down as yet another brief chapter of complacency in American history. It's time to push back hard for IMPEACHMENT and to seriously address a whole range of issues.

How do "We The People" get in the faces of the powers that be? Here's my idea of how to spread consciousness of the most important issues of our day to motivate the masses while unifying the various factions of the peace and progressive movements and directing attention to their individual efforts. I think we need a real popular MOVEMENT to inspire action; one that people are able to commit minimal time and financial resources to. Something that is exciting and allows people to engage in openly and publicly or privately and anonymously. Something that creates links from the physical world to the virtual world to create an active presence in both 24-7.

So if you're reading this, you're probably part of a small but vocal few in America. It's time to stop preaching to the choir, expand it's size and get it to sing louder. It's time to get folks to understand that it's our America too, but not for long if the current administration skulduggery is allowed to pass unchallenged.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

» MAT2 is Correct Posted by: DrgonzoSB
» Apples and oranges Posted by: LMNOP
Now it's time for the border patrol agents
Posted by: jlohman on Jul 3, 2007 3:43 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Yes, they should be pardoned as well. But they can't spill the beans on Bushie so it's a long shot. He should have done them simultaneously.

[« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

The fix is in
Posted by: Democritus on Jul 3, 2007 3:44 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
It's really no surprise that Bush commuted I. Lewis Libby's sentence. Dick Cheney has been pulling Bush's strings for a long time, and it was unthinkable that Cheney's number one boy should go to jail. The next act in this sad little drama will be Bush's granting Libby a full pardon before he leaves office. Then, just as Elliot Abrams was resurrected after the Iran-Conta affair, we can expect "Scooter" Libby to serve in another Republicn administration, should the GOP ever get the presidency again. Despite Patrick Fitzgerald's best efforts to deliver justice, we knew going in that what is considered a lie for ordinary citizens is considered "politics as usual" for those in power. What more is needed for Nancy Pelosi to think it's "worth it" to bring Dennis Kucinich's impeachment proceedings against Cheney to the floor of the House?

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» RE: The fix is in Posted by: MAT2
» Tunnel vision Posted by: brunowe
» RE: IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A FULL PARDON Posted by: kelly.nickell
» RE: The fix is in Posted by: vkobaya
» RE: The fix is in Posted by: fitzjohn
They have no shame, only goals.
Posted by: Suzon on Jul 3, 2007 3:49 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Lastly, We do by these Presents for Us and Our Heirs and Successors grant and declare that these Our Letters Patent shall be in all things valid and effective in law according to the true intent and meaning thereof and shall be taken construed and adjudged in the most favourable and beneficial sense for the best advantage of the [chartered body] as well in our Courts of Record as elsewhere by all Judges, Justices, Officers, Ministers and other subjects whatsoever of Us and Our Heirs and Successors, any non-recital or other omission defect or thing to the contrary notwithstanding.

The above is taken from a royal charter granted in 1994 by Elizabeth II. George is simply using the royal prerogative to put himself and his friends above the law.

I have more than 60 of these charters and most of them include the instruction to judges and ministers, though there is an implied version and a few charters don't include it at all.

You have to ask why immunity is necessary. It comes in very handy if you want to break the law to get what you want.

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Lying only counts...
Posted by: paulaH on Jul 3, 2007 4:08 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
when you're a Democrat having consensual sex. I find it interesting that the very reason the far right Repugnantans tried to impeach Clinton--lying to the Grand Jury--is the same reason Libby was indicted, yet Bush is giving him a pat on the head and a cookie before sending him off to play.

Where in the hell is the outrage from all those "good Christians" that proclaimed "it's not about the sex, it's about the fact that he lied under oath"? Hipocrits, every single one of them.

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» RE: Lying is also ok Posted by: Ellie1
» RE: Lying is also ok Posted by: Lauren
» RE: Lying only counts... Posted by: Lauren
» Read "Bush on the Couch" Posted by: Ellie1
» RE: Lying only counts... Posted by: LMNOP
» RE: Lying only counts... Posted by: lessbread
Scooter Scoots From The Truth And Scoots Free
Posted by: The_Curmudgeon on Jul 3, 2007 4:27 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I wasn't this angry when Jerry Ford pardoned Richard Nixon. At least Ford was acting in what he thought was the nation's best interest: Putting the foul stench of Watergate behind us.

The Libby pardon is an abomination. But, in a larger sense, it is simply the best, most recent and most vivid example of the utter disregard Bush and Cheney have for the law, the Constitution and -- since they proclaim their "deep Christian faith" so loudly -- the 10 Commandments.

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» Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: Conservasaurus
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: in Upstate NY
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: 1984NOW!!!
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: Conservasaurus
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: baker17
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: Conservasaurus
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: Crazy H
» Don't pay much attention to Posted by: Ellie1
» Ellie1 - 1 stand for IQ??? Posted by: Conservasaurus
» Ellie1 - 1 still stands for IQ??? Posted by: Conservasaurus
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: Conservasaurus
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: surfreality
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: Conservasaurus
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: surfreality
» Can it BE!!!! Posted by: Conservasaurus
» RE: Can it BE!!!! Posted by: kelly.nickell
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: starvinmarvy
» to the Conservative Dinasour: Posted by: starvinmarvy
» RE: to the Conservative Dinasour: Posted by: Conservasaurus
» Intelligent Garbage! Posted by: Conservasaurus
» Visuals are so important Posted by: Conservasaurus
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: CatDad
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: Conservasaurus
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: JSquercia
» RE: Pardon v.s Commutation Posted by: kelly.nickell
idespisethislethargicsociety
Posted by: imjustanidiotidontknowanything on Jul 3, 2007 4:38 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This shows each and everyone, regardless of intellect, that our political elite know what they can get away with when dealing with the public and their own voters no matter if they are dem. or rep..Our american society is the absolute pits! Egotism and genuine self-indulgence with entertainment and comfort multiplied with horrible education,distorted rearing and sick social/moral and ethical values are what produce such an ugly society.The actual outcome is the likes of Libby or Bush or the millions of gun owners etc......Me and You,the whole U.S!
You don't have to be a genius to know right from wrong.It is ultimately up to you,and everyone of us to confront our local politicians, rep. voters need to get really down to the nitty gritty with their same-minded friends and demand action and change of course throughout and not just sorry, filthy hollow words! The same goes for dem. voters because just because you're dem.,doesn't mean a damn thing!It's the same game with a different costume and a different accent!
Sadly i am contradicting myself in this short statement... I forgot about our distorted societies desolate situation.

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Bush is America, America is Bush.
Posted by: shangrilalad on Jul 3, 2007 4:53 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Bush is the Law above all other Law and the Constitution.

As Long as Bush is dictator, we have no protection or legal recourse. We are all subject to his whims.

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We should be ashamed
Posted by: packofwolves on Jul 3, 2007 5:02 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I cannot believe that we, the people of this country, are allowing this administration to get away with one injustice, one insult to the constitution, one crime after another. We just sit back and watch it happen. Libby should be in jail. What he did was far worse than some who are serving prison sentences - he put the entire country at risk and look where it has gotten us. He is part of the crime and crime should be punished according to our laws. How have we allowed such an evil administration to put themselves above the law? Why have we not demanded equality (it runs both ways you know). The US tortures prisoners, many of whom are held without legal representation or even evidence of a crime, we have made first attack against another country based on lies...when will this end? When will we stand up and fight against this adminsitration and get rid of their sorry asses? We are the people, we are supposed to be running this country, why are we letting this evil empire destroy us? Have we gotten so weak and so lazy that we will watch our entire way of life go down the tubes because we don't know what to do? Let's stand up, get rid of these criminals who have taken this country hostage and make the changes this country needs - accountability, honesty, integrity, medical insurance, education, improved infrastructure and improved relations with other countries. This isn't a democracy it's a dictatorship. I personally don't want to live under a dictator, especially one as evil and as twisted as this one who is putting us all at risk for increased terrorism just so he and his cronies can make money for themselves and their friends. The Bush administration is the band of terrorists more deady to us than anyone else and they need to be held accountable for their actions. When the people who pass laws don't have to live by them, nothing will ever change, and you do not live in a free society.

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» RE: We should be ashamed Posted by: MAT2
"It's always about me and my pet issue" See my website! See my website!
Posted by: brunowe on Jul 3, 2007 8:24 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Try to realize that not everything's about you, okay?

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oh, come on - the fix was in from the beginning.
Posted by: illit on Jul 3, 2007 5:24 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
There was never any chance Libby would serve time. The commutation (and probable later pardon) was always coming.
There was no way their 'fall' guy would ever go to jail. Libby's presidential 'immunity' will simply ensure his silence. His future I'm sure is bright, perhaps a 250k signing bonus with Haliburton?

Our only hope is that congress finally grows a spine - impeach and imprison Bush/Cheney. Gitmo is an ideal destination for both.

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Letting people off
Posted by: Cruella on Jul 3, 2007 5:33 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Now you know what compassionate conservatism is all about!
Posted by: Ydotheyhateus on Jul 3, 2007 5:54 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
From a news article during the 2000 election campaign says it all about compassionate conservatism:
Republican presidential candidate Gary Bauer criticized Gov. George W. Bush for making fun of an executed Texas woman in an interview Bush gave to Talk magazine. "I think it is nothing short of unbelievable that the governor of a major state running for president thought it was acceptable to mock a woman he decided to put to death." Just before her execution date, Tucker appealed for clemency on the grounds that she had become a born-again Christian. Bush's reply: " `Please,' Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, `don't kill me,' "

Libby gets his sentence commuted while mentally retarded are to put to death...what a country!

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» Maybe? Posted by: Ellie1
An adage
Posted by: paschn on Jul 3, 2007 5:59 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
this latest repulsive act reminds me of is quite applicable; Screw me once, shame on you, screw me twice, shame on ME!
These maggots have screwed this country and the world soo many times, rather than call you all "drones" and "sheep" I'll need to call you all "phillips heads" soon!
Had a discussion here with one of your ilk the other day. Every time I mentioned Israel and big corporations, this little robot would chirp, "that's the way capitolism works". When I stressed that PEOPLE have rights, not corporations, he'd simply repeat it.
Sorry people but, this is just further evidence that this country is beyond hope of redemption. It's a "failed test" and needs to be dismantled. There's other beings out there numbered in the billions who simply cannot risk the Evil Empire's acts of "democracy" and "kindness"

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» RE: An adage Posted by: MAT2
Bush?
Posted by: Puttin' on the foil on Jul 3, 2007 6:02 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This entire situation stinks of Cheney (read sulphur) using Bush much like a sock puppet. Bush is clearly incapable of acting on his own; one need only look to his business history for that. This is Cheney's latest travesty in his new branch of government. Everyone thought Darth Vader was the bad guy...hardly. The emperor was the one to fear. Bush is just the public face on a monstrosity. Impeachment will only work if all of them go.

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» RE: Bush? Posted by: MAT2
He couldn't hardly wait,
Posted by: lively56 on Jul 3, 2007 6:04 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
to pardon him. That piece of shit we call president has been hallucinating long enough. Lying is the norm for this whitehouse.

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BUSH HAS NO CONSCIENCE
Posted by: Schroeder on Jul 3, 2007 6:06 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Bush has expressed his empathy for 'Scotter's' family (yes, his family is innocent)...has anyone ever heard him express empathy for the fact that Valerie Plame's career was ruined through 'Scooter's' actions? Bush is so very frightening. I would just like a concerted, concentrated effort on the internet to gather funds to impeach this entire administration! I say that because I read a lot about impeachment on various sites but I think the dems/liberals/progressives are not putting their voices (AND MONEY)together. Of course it's not an impeachable offense for him to commute Scooter's sentence, he has to send the message to the rest of his cronies that they can lie under oath to protect his miserable hind end, and he'll pardon them. IMPEACH, IMPEACH, IMPEACH, BEFORE HE CAUSES MORE DAMAGE TO THIS WORLD!!!

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it's who you know and who you blow.
Posted by: veggiegrrrl on Jul 3, 2007 6:07 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
it's who you know and who you blow.

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Plamegate was always nothing but a fishing expedition
Posted by: kbest on Jul 3, 2007 6:11 AM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Plame sends her husband to Niger to discredit the Bush Administration. Richard Armitage tells Robert Novak this and a special prosecutor, Patrick Fitzgerald, convenes a grand jury that was really never needed. Libby while having enormous responsibilities helping to run the country, has trouble with conversations he had years before. Wouldn't you?

He deserves a full pardon and an apology from the American people, and a thank you for his public service.

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Interesting Bush quote about accountability
Posted by: Beck on Jul 3, 2007 6:10 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I received this this morning; it originated with Joe Biden. The White House number is 202-456-1414.


Remind George Bush what he told staffers during a swearing in ceremony for White House staff back in January 2001:


"[We] must remember the high standards that come with high office. This begins with careful adherence to the rules. I expect every member of this administration to stay well within the boundaries that define legal and ethical conduct. This means avoiding even the appearance of problems. This means checking and, if need be, double- checking that the rules have been obeyed. This means never compromising those rules. No one in the White House should be afraid to confront the people they work for, for ethical concerns, and no one should hesitate to confront me as well. We are all accountable to one another. And above all, we are all accountable to the law and to the American people."


Click here to watch the video of George Bush addressing staff: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wjwLlfFKerU

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Bush Admitted GUILT
Posted by: owlbear1 on Jul 3, 2007 6:25 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
By commuting Libby's sentence Dubya did in fact admit members of his administration did in commit perjury, obstruct justice, and endanger national security.

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» And Posted by: WhatNow?
» And Posted by: Artkansas
Never Surprised
Posted by: AntBee on Jul 3, 2007 6:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I'm never surprised by the antics of Bush & Co., but their actions never fail to upset me to the point of questioning what the hell is wrong with this world.

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We the people of the United States should make him serve his sentence
Posted by: rfrancis@godisdead.com on Jul 3, 2007 6:35 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Its always the same, the rich and powerful never have to follow the law, they get to do what they want to with impunity.

The court of law is only for the poor and the weak. Libby has powerful friends with whom the rule of law does not apply.

Libby should be kidnapped, held in a dank basement prison in someone's remote cabin, fed bread, water, and a multivitamin for the next 2 and a half years serving his sentence in full.

This shit makes me sick.

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The whole Plame investigation was a farce
Posted by: WhuThe?!? on Jul 3, 2007 6:50 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Fitzgerald, who is a right-winger by the way, apparently never intended on getting on the bottom of this, but the heat was on the administration, so they had to put up a front, which fitzgerald did to the satisfaction of the millions who fell for it. Why was nobody convicted for the crime being investigated?!? Just knowing what I know, (which obviously is much, much less than fitzgerald) from the investigation, I can see at least two that should have been indicted, Rove and Cheney. But Oh, no, this whole thing was just a front.
Which should we be angrier about: Rove and Cheney getting off for betraying their country, or the scapegoat getting his sentence commuted?
Either way, we all have one more item to add to our lists of things about which to be absolutely furious!
Maybe this will be the act to make the congress grow spines!

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Bush said the sentence was too much and too hard...
Posted by: kewpie on Jul 3, 2007 6:51 AM   
Current rating: 4    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
so he reduced it. It probably was a good thing too, you know it may have been a hardship for a spoiled rich skinny man to do hard time in a federal prison. Look what it did for Martha Stewart!

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» Liberals gone wild! Posted by: Conservasaurus
Pardoning the unpardonable
Posted by: Democritus on Jul 3, 2007 6:52 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Libby deserves a full pardon? When has obstruction of justice not been a crime? So many people were trying to influence the media to discredit Joseph Wilson's report, that it was unclear who engineered the "leak." Libby was one of the conduits, regardless of who "leaked" first. He then lied to a Grand Jury about it. That's a crime. Why in the interests of justice should that be worthy of a pardon?

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Pop quiz
Posted by: veive on Jul 3, 2007 6:55 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Question: Who has done more damage to the USA?

A) Osama bin Ladin
B) George W. Bush

(Hint: It ain't A)

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» RE: Pop quiz Posted by: Trazom
» Osama was just doing a favor Posted by: Artkansas
The Today Show interview of Wilson
Posted by: kewpie on Jul 3, 2007 6:55 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Did you see Lester interview Wilson on his reaction to Libby getting off? Lester was such an ass to Wilson during the interview. I wish The Daily Show would have Wilson and Plame on because at least the fake news would get the real the story and treat them with respect!

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Remember
Posted by: Empire on Jul 3, 2007 7:07 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

http://www.archives.gov/national-archives- experience/charters/declaration_transcript.html

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» RE: emember Posted by: SatanicJamboree
Why so shocked?!!!!!
Posted by: pito516 on Jul 3, 2007 7:06 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
With this latest smack to America's already severly bruised face I would think that this should not be surprising. And yet here we are ranting about an administration that has from day one of it's first term has done nothing but lie. When the first election had come down to Florida and "W's" brother being the gov at the time what was the lie: ballot casting and faulty equipment. The show was so staged even the Supreme Court bought it, rather Bushie bought off the Supreme Court.

Dare I even discuss 911 and the whole jar of lies we'd swallowed like bad aspirin because the administration along with "Super Rudy" made us so afraid to even look up in the sky after the towers fell. Everything from NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND to the war on MASS HYSTERIA is nothing more than fodder we keep feeding on. I say watch out for the N. Korea, Iran, and Russian nukes because it's probably another lie that Russia is our ally and Iranian and Korean nukes aren't going to rain down on us. Would that be a shock then?

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the last straw
Posted by: ggmurray on Jul 3, 2007 7:21 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is the last straw. It is time for we the American people to take away all his funds, all his toys, all his ability to wage war or any other crime.

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rule of law?
Posted by: solrev on Jul 3, 2007 7:21 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I love the Repuks spin for this one. There was never any real crime. Everyone knew who the original leak was. Persecuting Libby was a witch-hunt. If this is all true why would Libby even lie to a grand jury? It appears that the only reason he had to lie was that he knew he could get away with it. There is no such thing as the rule of law, people obey laws that they perceive as in their best interest and they disobey laws that they view as not being in their best interest.

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Democratic leaders are too stupid
Posted by: shangrilalad on Jul 3, 2007 7:22 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Democratic leaders are too stupid to realize there only two ways to get rid of a dictator. One of them is Impeachment. . .

.

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» RE: Democratic leaders are too stupid Posted by: kelly.nickell
» Definition?????? Posted by: Conservasaurus
No One Has To Follow Laws
Posted by: LeaderofMen on Jul 3, 2007 7:23 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
The office of the President is the pinnacle of the rule of law in the US. The officeholder must swear allegiance to uphold the Constitution.

This administration has had nothing to do with the Constitution.

Given that the entire administration has blatantly held up their middle finger to us, the world and our Constitution - and the entire administration has consistently and obviously made up their own rules, YOU TOO are free to do so as well.

Anarchy rules now. Not the rule of law. You can commit any white collar crime you'd like. Why? Because the office of the President is the beginning point, the absolute reference point.

Since that office has not had much to do with the traditional rules associated with how to run the country you have precedent to do as you wish.

Have fun, America!

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BUSH MAKES A MOCKERY OF OUR SYSTEM OF JUSTICE
Posted by: VZEQICVA on Jul 3, 2007 7:31 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
No small matter. The jury for this case took alot of time from their lives, jobs, and other responsibilities to "serve" the cause of justice. It certainly is a slap in the face to decent, sincere people all over the country who take jury duty seriously and live with the inconvenience because it's the right thing to do. I wonder what they have to say. Thanks, ANNA

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BUSH MAKES A MOCKERY OF OUR SYSTEM OF JUSTICE
Posted by: VZEQICVA on Jul 3, 2007 7:31 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
No small matter. The jury for this case took alot of time from their lives, jobs, and other responsibilities to "serve" the cause of justice. It certainly is a slap in the face to decent, sincere people all over the country who take jury duty seriously and live with the inconvenience because it's the right thing to do. I wonder what they have to say. Thanks, ANNA

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ECLECTICIST- S JIM RODRIGUEZ
Posted by: SJR505 on Jul 3, 2007 7:39 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
WHY IS EVERYONE WONDERING WHAT " EL PENDEJO" BUSH WAS GOING TO DO ABOUT "LA RATA LIBBY..."...???IT WAS A QUESTION OF WHEN, NOT WHAT...WELL HE HAD ALSO TO PROTECT HIS BOY, U.S. ATTORNEY SUTTON, WHO PROSECUTED THE TWO INS AGENTS AND DICK "THE SLICK" CHENEY" AND HIS CAST OF SO-CALLED AMERICAN PATRIOTS- NEOCOMS, RE-PUG-NICANS, AND CONSERVATIVES, CORPORATE EXCUTIVES/LOBBYISTS,ETC...

IF ONE HEADS IN ANY DIRECTION, CACA FALLS DOWNHILL ESPECIALLY AROUND THE NEW OUTHOUSE...THE WHITEHOUSE...WE ARE OW GETTING THE TASTE OF HOW MON0LITHIC GOVERNMENTS -ALL BRANCES ARE UNDER THE CONTROL OF ONE CENTRAL AUTHORITY - EXECUTIVE, JUDICAL AND LEGISLATIVE...ALL WE HAVE TO DO IS LOOK ACROSS THE BORDERS TO MEXICO AND THE AMERICAS AND TAKE A GLIMPSE AS TO WHERE OUR BELOVED COUNTRY WILL WIND UP- BEGGARS.DEBTORS ASKING FOR JOBS AND HANDOUTS, WHAT ELSE...

ALTHOUGH I HAVE GREAT DISTASTE FOR "HUGO CHAVEZ. I WILL HAVE TO AGREE WITH HIS STATEMENT "...EVERYTHING IS FOR SALE IN THE UNITED STATES..."
NOW WE DO NOT HAVE TO CORRECT CORRUPT GOVERNMENTS, WE HAVE ONE OURSELVES...

JIM RODRIGUEZ+++ ECLECTICIST SPIRIT SEEKER+++

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Two Words
Posted by: InsertNameHere on Jul 3, 2007 7:44 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
America, I've got two words for you:


Street Justice!

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» RE: Two Words Posted by: rfrancis@godisdead.com
» RE: Two Words - Street Justice! Yeah! Posted by: rfrancis@godisdead.com
Get ready
Posted by: chaoslegs on Jul 3, 2007 8:14 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
to have soft objects at hand this Sunday so you don't break your TV. I bet on everyone of the Sunday morning talk shows will have a bunch beltway pundits saying this was the right thing to do.

I for one will either shut the damn thing off, or install a plexiglass sheild so that in my frustration I don't destroy my TV.

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No Morals, No Ethics, No Surprise
Posted by: ecdumchus on Jul 3, 2007 8:17 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This administration has made it very clear from the beginning that they have nothing but contempt for morals and integrity, and see the American people as sheep to be fleeced to benefit themselves and their friends. There is nothing they could do in the way of demonstrating their lack of morals or scruples that would surprise me.

President Bush has made it clear that the only important value to him is blind loyalty; short of being caught with a smoking gun over a dead body, I doubt any member of his administration will ever be held accountable.

It appears the Democrats are not willing to impeach Bush and Cheney because they believe that keeping the two "masterminds" of the Iraq and Afghanistan fiascoes in power will give them an advantage in the next election.

I think we need a viable third party. Get rid of all the incompetents who put the good of their parties above that of the nation.

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My goodness, watch Tony Snow tap dance.
Posted by: ABetterFuture on Jul 3, 2007 8:30 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
"We believe in the jury decision..."

"We believe the sentence was excessive..."

"This case is routine..."

"This case is spectacular because of the media attention..."

...and then wow...watch that press corps chew on his toenails!

Meh. That was probably a pretty harsh sentence for a fallguy with a criminally deficient memory, but the fact that this moves our society further from a nation of laws towards a nation of men should not be overlooked.

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There's more here than meets the eye.
Posted by: BobCP on Jul 3, 2007 8:57 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Because Libby's sentence was commuted and not "voided" by pardon, Libby will continue his appeal. As long as the case is alive, he can continue to avoid questioning in front of any Congressional committees. I suspect that was a big part of Bush's madness: to stop any further investigation into the Plame affair.

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In Shock and Awe-Struck!
Posted by: minjiwe on Jul 3, 2007 9:04 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This is d--n DEEP! Though not at all unexpected. I was wondering how long it would take for the rest of the world to know Libby was not going to set foot in jail!

The recklessness, contempt for rule of law, contempt for the United States Constitution and all it used to stand for makes my mouth sag in awe. I am amazed that the American people, no; that the Congress has not called for the impeachment of this band of incompetents and meglomanicas. I repeat , DEEP!!!

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loubranch
Posted by: loubranch on Jul 3, 2007 9:09 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
You aint seen nothing yet. Wait until the boy king leaves the
White House on 1/20/2009 and on his way out drops a full
pardon for "Scooter". Case closed! See you in Crawford,
Scooter.

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One CRIMINAL pardoned another
Posted by: Nick on Jul 3, 2007 9:21 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Where are f....n DEMOCRATS?
The must be in it together.

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» RE: One CRIMINAL pardoned another Posted by: freethink7
I URGE YOU TO CALL THE WHITEHOUSE JULY 4TH
Posted by: stephanie1973 on Jul 3, 2007 10:26 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
202-456-1414

HERE IS THE NUMBER. THE IDEA IS TO FLOOD THE WHITEHOUSE TOMORROW.

LET OUR VOICES BE HEARD.

THERE SHOULD BE A CRIME FOR THIS...IMPEACHMENT FINALLY?

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Scream for Impeachment
Posted by: shangrilalad on Jul 3, 2007 10:33 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This isn’t just about lying, that was just the beginning of the Republican Crime Spree which began with a Supreme Court Decision to appoint George Bush president. The treason and multitude of crimes that began at that point has swept America into a feeding frenzy of corruption. Sharks rip into our Constitution day after day, tearing off ever greater chunks of our flesh, and swallowing our rights whole.

This is a bout a Republican coup d’etat, that is now a fait accompli. We aren’t becoming a dictatorship, it’s already a done deal.

Are content with this deal?

If not, scream for Impeachment.

.

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Pardon, Commute, Forgiveness, Absolution,
Posted by: freethink7 on Jul 3, 2007 10:40 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
acquittal, allowance, amnesty, anchor, clemo, conciliation, condonation, discharge, exculpation, excuse, exoneration, forbearance, freeing, grace, indemnification, indemnity, indulgence, justification, mercy, release, remission, reprieve, vindication

Enough of the euphemisms!....these are corrupt criminals masquerading as politicians. Fire all these arses and send them to the joint for life for this obvious treason.

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The I. [Scooter] Lewis Libby Story. Project for the New American Century
Posted by: Betsy L. Angert on Jul 3, 2007 10:44 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Dearest David Corn . . .

I thank you for furthering the tale, and sharing the Bush/Libby story.

July 2, 2007 is for me a day that will live in infamy. Throughout the trial and supposed tribulation, I heard many question the importance of this case. Yet, for me, the story of I. Lewis [Scooter] Libby is legendary. The dealings, doings, and deeds affect us all. I do not think this is merely a moment in time, or a travesty of justice. I think this is the culmination of years of planning.

The Project for the New American Century is almost complete. Scooter may have skated through. For an instant, we might have imagined that the former Chief of Staff slipped. Libby almost was left behind as collateral damage; nevertheless, we all knew that would never happen. I. Lewis Libby will survive.

The powers that be, the fellow founders of the PNAC will not lose a man or momentum. Welcome to the New American Century. I invite you to meet one of its makers. Please review and reflect, share your thoughts on The I. [Scooter] Lewis Libby Story. Project for the New American Century.

Betsy L. Angert
BeThink.org

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Talk And Not Go To Jail, Be Silent And Go To Jail
Posted by: hole11 on Jul 3, 2007 10:48 AM   
Current rating: 1    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I don't believe Scooter should go to jail. But I don't believe people who don't talk to grand juries should go to jail either.

Bush is on his last leg anyways. We should just move the elections up to next month and show the British what it means to have a republic.

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Standby for another act of treason by King George.
Posted by: HughScott on Jul 3, 2007 10:58 AM   
Current rating: 3    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As predicted by many comments on this tread, next on the White House's quid-pro-quo obstruction of justice list will be a full pardon of Scooter Libby by President Bush in January 2009 and there isn't a damn thing we can do about it.

Meanwhile, thousands of federal prisoners must serve out terms that are grossly excessive -- such as 20 years for possessing five ounces of crack cocaine. For those inmates, no commutation will be granted -- certainly not by King George, an elitist aristocrat who believes rich and powerful people should live by separate rules and regulations, always to their benefit.

At the very least, you’d think Dub-ya would have shown the same “conservative compassion” he campaigned on in 2000 by pardoning Border Patrol agents Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos who are federal prisoners because they did something Bush has refused to do -– protect our border with Mexico.

In case you forgot, Compean and Ramos got 12 and 11 years respectively despite a plea by their attorney for a new trial after three jurors said they were coerced into voting guilty, according to the Washington Times.

Why are the agents still in prison? Because Shrub is a lying, born-again hypocrite.

He has revealed his corrupt colors numerous times -- as shown by the following list of transgressions, distortions and outright lies:

Bush’s falsified White House biography.
So-called Iraqi WMDs.
"Immediate" threats.
Yellow-cake uranium.
Aluminum tubes.
Mobile biological weapons labs.
Ties to Al Qaeda.
A 9/11 connection.
The Valerie Plame/CIA leak case.
Secret overseas prisons.
Torture.
Warrantless wiretaps of United States citizens.
Phony Al Qaeda plots.
False claims that America is safer now from terrorism than before 9/11.
Concealing the real cost of Gulf War 2.
Understating Iraqi civilian casualties.
Embellishing U.S. successes in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Misrepresenting the only wartime tax cut in American history.
Economically betraying senior citizens, the middle class and working poor.
Downplaying global warming.
Bush going on vacation during Hurricane Katrina while fellow Americans drowned in New Orleans.
Claiming wounded GIs got the best treatment possible at Walter Reed.
Preventing the coffins of returning GIs from being seen by the public.
Hiding injured Iraq veterans from the press after landing stateside.
Declassifying intelligence information for political purposes.
Firing U.S. attorneys for the same reason.
Obstructing justice by destroying White House emails, allowing AG Gonzales to lie
before Congress, claiming Cheney wasn’t part of the executive branch and commuting
Scooter’s sentence.

The first item on my list was reported by the Boston Globe on February 28, 2004. Headlined, ”Bush Bio on Web Inflates Guard Service,” the story told how I scooped thousands of Web-surfing journalists by finding a fabricated presidential biography someone in the White House had inadvertently posted on a State Department website.

For NEW AlterNet visitors unfamiliar with George W.’s fabricated Guard history, it claimed he flew F102s almost SIX years when the actual time was 27 months. The text contained other misrepresentations as well -- all intentional, not typos or mistaken dictation.

Again for NEW AlterNet readers, you can learn more about the “Bogus Bush Bio Caper” by visiting my NONPROFIT investigative website, King-George.biz, which features 60 cartoons, photos and other Bushwhacking illustrations.

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Bush must have thought that "freedom and liberty"...
Posted by: babs on Jul 3, 2007 11:28 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... meant "freedom for Libby". It's really easy to confuse the two.

give W a break. I mean he's admitted that he doesn't read much and leaves the comprehension to his lackeys.

Nero had nothing on this bunch of thugs. Hell, even the mob has more honor, with the exception (of course) of Guiliani.

just another day in paradise!

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President Who Cried Wolf
Posted by: theointment on Jul 3, 2007 11:40 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
This really is a case of the President Who Cried Wolf. Claiming he was going to root out the bad guys. Well, now we know what he really thinks. To see what I mean, WATCH the timeline here: http://theointment.com/?m=20070703. Not sure if it's funny or sad.



Enjoy,

Steve

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Austin Avery
Posted by: Bizby on Jul 3, 2007 11:45 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
I am appalled at the President's decision to commute Mr. Libby's sentence.

It reeks of

(1) hypocrisy --witness the new federal sentencing guidelines that will not allow federal judges to have the same power to make judgment calls based upon their perception of individual cases;

(2) elitism--a separate rule of law for the wealthy and powerful;

(3) partisanship--Martha Stewart served time for the very same offense and the President did not commute her sentence (she votes Democratic); and

(4) guilt--it makes one wonder whether or not Mr. Libby knows facts that will embarrass the President and his administration, and this commutation (coupled with fact that Mr. Libby's defense fund will cover all of Mr. Libby's out of pocket costs)

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Civil Solutions?
Posted by: sgtstan on Jul 3, 2007 11:50 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
According to Nancy Pelosi, the Democratics should just wait until 2008 and finally be rid of Bush and company; that Bush isn’t worth impeachment. Or is it that the Dems are afraid that, once criminal allegations are made, Bush will extend his pardons to all of those who have served the Republican master plan so well? Bush, apparently, can not pardon any in regards to impeachment proceedings, but if Cheney would resign before indictment, Bush could wave his magic wand for him. Are the Dems so sure of a victory in ’08? What would stop an incoming Republican President from administering pardons to the outgoing President and his cabinet?

My only hope is that, once Bush’s term has expired, the families of those soldiers killed in Iraq come together to litigate civilly against all involved in promoting the invasion of Iraq under known false pretenses. Can this be done? Or is there some legalese that excludes the President and his "kin" from responsibility for criminal abuses of power in office once he’s left office? Let me know.

There are a lot of hungry lawyers out there. It seems to me that a lot of law degrees could be put to use examining civil repercussions of Presidential action. I have no idea if this is even feasible. But if our “checks and balances” system is not checking or balancing, maybe its time to let the civil dogs of law out.

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But Clinton...blah blah blah
Posted by: texshelters on Jul 3, 2007 12:03 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
What we now here from the right-wing in this nation is that Clinton lied on the stand, so why wasn't he arrested? Clinton pardoned criminals too, and Bush is just communting a sentence.

So, Clinton lied about sex, Libby lied about putting a woman's life in danger and ruining her career for a political vendetta. There's a BIG difference here. Moreover, just because Clinton pardoned criminals, doesn't make it okay to do so. This is a big cover-up. Isn't there any judicial check on pardons and commutations?

Joe Tex

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Not to defend Bush, but...
Posted by: aonghus36 on Jul 3, 2007 12:15 PM   
Current rating: 2    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
At the end of his administration, Bill Clinton pardoned a bunch of people who shouldn't of been pardoned, but no doubt helped him some way. People, this is "bait the liberals" time, and we should beware. All we liberals have to do is scream about Bush, Cheney and Libby, and I promise you, they'll put the Clinton pardons in our faces. They'll come out "sitting pretty", and we'll look like hypocrits.

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» RE: Not to defend Bush, but... Posted by: SatanicJamboree
» RE: And besides... Posted by: SatanicJamboree
» RE: And besides... Posted by: aonghus36
» Incorrect Assumption Posted by: CatDad
» RE: Incorrect Assumption Posted by: SatanicJamboree
» RE: Incorrect Assumption Posted by: aonghus36
» RE: Not to defend Bush, but... Posted by: aonghus36
Traitors in Plain Sight: Neocons on the attack in defense of Scooter’s free get-out-jail pass.
Posted by: HughScott on Jul 3, 2007 1:10 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Today, on MSNBC’s “Morning with Joe” show, its host, former Congressman Scarborough, launched a smear campaign against everyone who would dare protest Bush’s quid-pro-quo commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence, saying they were the “same leftwingers that support Hugo Chavez.”

To buttress his baseless straw-man argument, Scarborough invited a telephone response from Joseph E. diGenova, a former United States Attorney in the District of Columbia.

Parroting Scarborough, diGenova said Valerie Plame had not been a covert CIA operative during the fice years before the White House outed her in 2003. Previously, DiGenova’s wife, Victoria Toensing, a former Deputy Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal Division, U.S. Department of Justice, made the same false charge before Congress and was forced to backpedal when confronted with sworn testimony that Plame had indeed been a covert CIA agent prior to her outing.

And what kind of Americans are Joe diGenova and Victoria Toensing? The opposite of patriots, they are rightwing Republican members of the subversive neocon organization, “Committee on the Present Danger” (CPD).

Many current CPD were recruited from another neocon front organization, “Project for a New American Century” (PNAC).” which advocated an “all–volunteer” army to do its bidding

PNAC wanted the draft killed so future war protests would be eliminated, a key to the neocons' grand design of starting preemptive conflicts and dominating the world with U.S. military power. Not coincidentally, it was PNAC founder Don Rumsfeld who introduced legislation in Congress to kill the draft. He later joined with another PNAC founder, Dick Cheney, in the Pentagon and helped him create “singe-source” no-bid contracts which made them wealthy war whores

The influence of PNAC was especially pervasive in 2002. For example, how many AlterNeters know that Sen. Joe Lieberman chaired the White House Committee for the Liberation of Iraq (CLI) established that year by Bruce Jackson, a PNAC director?

A hawk in liberal clothing, Lieberman rubbed elbows at CLI meetings with PNAC members Jeane Kirkpatrick, Robert Kagan, Newt Gingrich, Richard Perle, William Kristol and James Woolsey.

The PNAC agenda that made the organization so dangerous existed long before its founding in 1997. If references to the neocon foundation disappeared from the Web tomorrow, PNAC would continue to be a threat in the form of its follow-on rightwing group, Committee on the Present Danger.

Because the latest version of CPD was formed after Gulf War 2 began, its members can deny having influenced Bush’s unjustified invasion of Iraq. Not so with PNAC members, which makes the connection important. The paper trail of signed PNAC letters and reports is like stink on fresh cow dung. The members can’t shake it.

Of 104 CPD members, 15 signed PNAC documents:

Midge Decter (PNAC founder)
Steve Forbes (PNAC founder)
Frank Gaffney (PNAC founder)
Norman Podhoretz (PNAC founder)
Ken Adelman
Max M. Kampelman
Clifford May
Edwin Meese
Joshua Muravchik
Mark Palmer
Daniel Pipes
Danielle Pletka
Randy Scheunemann
Stephen J. Solarz
R. James Woolsey
Dov Zakheim

CPD members like diGenova and his wife are nothing less than traitors in plain sight. By spreading lies about Valerie Plame, they hope to divert attention from the ongoing White House obstruction of justice campaign.

Hugh E. Scott, Vietnam vet and editor of FreedomCentralUSA.com, a nonprofit investigative website dedicated to the destruction of neoconservatism using truth and the Internet as WMDs.

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» RE: I agree completely with Posted by: Betsy L. Angert
Hush Comutation
Posted by: Jersey Devil on Jul 3, 2007 3:15 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Lets see this for what it is, keeping Libby quiet. Libby knows where the "bodies" are buried in the White House and who said what and when. If he went to jail he would talk, keeping him out but holding an eventual presidential pardon over his head seals Libby's lips till February 2009. Was anybody surprised by President Yoo Hoo paying forward to keep Libby Quiet?

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The Silver Tongued Devil
Posted by: kelly.nickell on Jul 3, 2007 5:01 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Hey eagle more tunes for you...

I took myself down to the Tally Ho Tavern,
To buy me a bottle of beer.
And I sat me down by a tender young maiden,
Who's eyes were as dark as her hair.
And as I was searching from bottle to bottle,
For something un-foolish to say.
That silver tongued devil just slipped from the shadows,
And smilingly stole her away.

I said: "Hey, little girl, don't you know he's the devil.
"He's everything that I ain't.
"Hiding intentions of evil,
"Under the smile of a saint.
"All he's good for is getting in trouble,
"And shiftin' his share of the blame.
"And some people swear he's my double:
"And some even say we're the same.
"But the silver-tongued devil's got nothing to lose,
"I'll only live 'til I die.
"We take our own chances and pay our own dues,
"The silver tongued devil and I."

Like all the fair maidens who've laid down beside him,
She knew in her heart that he'd lied.
Nothin' that I could have said could have saved her,
No matter how hard that she tried.
'Cos she'll offer her charms to the darkness and danger,
Of somethin' that she's never known.
And open her arms at the smile of a stranger,
Who'll love her and leave her alone.

And you know, he's the devil.
He's everything that I ain't.
Hiding intentions of evil,
Under the smile of a saint.
All he's good for is getting in trouble,
And shiftin' his share of the blame.
And some people swear he's my double:
And some even say we're the same.
But the silver-tongued devil's got nothing to lose,
I'll only live 'til I die.
We take our own chances and pay our own dues,
Ah ha ha ha.

The silver tongued devil and I.

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Too harsh
Posted by: Maryanne on Jul 3, 2007 6:00 PM   
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Mr. Bush has observed that the penalty imposed on Scooter Libby, who was found guilty after a trial of his peers, in which he heard the evidence against him and had an attorney, was too harsh. Therefore, he needed this commuted, and now there is talk of pardon.

On the other hand, there are a number of people, some very young, who have been swept up in actions in Afhanistan and Iraq, who may be innocent, who have not had a trial, who have not had access to an attorney and who do not even know the charges against them, yet they are incarcerated at Guantanamo, often tortured, with no hope of freedom in the forseeable future, if ever. However, Mr. Bush does not think this is too harsh.

Too harsh for one convicted of a crime, but not to harsh for one innocent (after all, we are all innocent until proven gulilty) of a crime? Totally illogical. This is not the reasoning of a logical, thinking individual. so of course, there is something behind this communtation. No question.

But if Mr. Bush is free to commute Mr. Libby's sentence, he should be pressured into freeing everyone in Guantanamo and in all those black holes that people have been hidden in the past several years. The same law should apply to all.

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Pardon moi?
Posted by: pingoo on Jul 3, 2007 7:20 PM   
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I am a bit confused. I don't really understand the idea of a pardon. Isn't this clear evidence that there is one justice for some and another justice for others?

How can a pardon possibly be justified by any means? If one has broken the law, and the courts have decided that there is enough evidence to back the claim and convict that person, shouldn't they serve their term fully? I can understand if one is let off after having spent some time in jail and has shown good behaviour, but to let someone off before they have even begun to serve their sentence seems decisively silly.

This is not something that has happened only under the Bush term. Many other presidents have used the pardon to let off other likewise law offenders. Its baffling that this is repeated hundreds of times during each term of presidency.

Seems to me that this totally flies in the face of justice.

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» RE: Pardon moi? Posted by: blitzmesser
» RE: Pardon moi? Posted by: pingoo
Recourse?
Posted by: Jeanne on Jul 3, 2007 8:48 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Is there any recourse to this travesty? In the words of Doonesbury "Congress? That's just a fairy tale for school children."

I don't think that most of the public is aware of the deeper implications. I don't think most Americans care that the so-called democracy we live in is merely an act. It's performance art. And it's not very well done.

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Who gets the $250.000 ?
Posted by: blitzmesser on Jul 3, 2007 8:59 PM   
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Does anyone really think he will pay any money back?
There will be another "commuted sentence."

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one law for them and a bunch of laws for you
Posted by: unity1 on Jul 3, 2007 9:03 PM   
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haven't you noticed, its only we the people that are forced to be accountable for our actions - the higher up the chain of fools you go the less accountablity there is - these elites love to make the laws that our fellow citizens enforce but stand in solidarity against us when we - justifiably OUTRAGED at all the illegal traitours behaviour of our said elites - try to recalim truth and justice

if you haven't noticed yet, understand that governments are for the elites by the elites - and they will lock down anyone who stand in their way - they will sick their dogs (police and military) made up of your brothes and sisters uncles and aunts against you to protect themselves from our OUTRAGE and call us terrorists - like all media calling the people of Iraq fighting an illegal invader insurgents when the real term resistence - would expose the truth - words hide and coneal the true emotional content needed for expanding human growth

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Click here to find out something interesting
Posted by: Mojoe on Jul 3, 2007 11:57 PM   
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surprise surprise

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Happy Birthday USA
Posted by: Col. Jackleg on Jul 4, 2007 2:35 AM   
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Libby is just another stench in the dungheap that has been amassed since 11/23/62. We mourned JFK, but we tolerated our government's inane response and were served with MLK and RFK as our just desserts. Contemplate what followed in the Oval Office: Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush-1, Clinton and now Bush-2. Each one was a seeming antidote to his predecessor and in contemporary analysis I think it is fair to say that none succeeded except in the limited context of perpetuating myths associated with the "pristine bullet" that rid this nation of its heart and soul on a very sad day in Dallas. America was born on 7/4/1776, it died on 11/22/63 and it will not be reincarnated by an imperial presidency, feckless Congress and flag-waving morons calling themselves patriots. Ask yourself today-why was JFK killed and who did it? Conspiracy theories and liberal hatred aside, follow the progression to Nixon, Reagan and Bush 1,2. Look at their policies, alliances, influences and projections and then tell me that one honest-to-God hard-working American family has benefitted one iota from this array. The New Deal is scorned, as are the New Frontier and Great Society and we are witnessing calculated reversals designed and intended to subjugate the citizenry to a fealty that only the zealots in Anglo-Saxon England could extol. As we witness and tolerate the assassination of constitutional governance and spew hatred and epithets upon each other in the name of family and Christian values, among other inspirations, let us stand as a house divided on this 4th of July and acknowledge Lincoln's admonition-it can't stand. Happy birthday USA, we kill everyone that makes a difference and we have done it to ourselves. Who will wave the flag and cheer next year and how many more must die and suffer indignity and injustice while we wait for the answer?

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» RE: Happy Birthday USA Posted by: billfaster
Doesn't it seem odd...
Posted by: kelly.nickell on Jul 4, 2007 6:07 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Does anyone else think that the pardon of Rich reveals a link all the way back to Reagan? That he was represented by Scooter? That Clinton pardoned him with the express intention of repatriating cash via an open ended statute of limitations for civil infractions regarding tax evasion.

That Bush was just as anxious as his predecessor to see the matter buried?

That that there was speculation that Bush would redact the pardon, then suddenly backed back over it?

[snip]

More significant is the concern that public attention to tax evasion in the oil industry could be damaging to the section of big business with which Bush and Cheney are most closely aligned. Cheney himself could become the subject of such a probe, since there are reports that Halliburton, the giant oil services company he headed for five years, carried out operations in Iran which may be illegal under US law. During his tenure as Halliburton CEO, Cheney made speeches denouncing the very sanctions on Iran that Rich was prosecuted for violating.

The whole subject of presidential pardons is a touchy one for the Bush family. Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich is a squalid affair, but it pales by comparison, as an act of presidential malfeasance, with the pardons issued by President George Herbert Walker Bush in December 1992 to five of the principal figures in the Iran-Contra affair. The pardon of former Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger was a particularly flagrant case of politically motivated abuse of power.

Weinberger had lied to special prosecutor Laurence Walsh, concealing for years his contemporaneous notes of White House discussions on the secret arms sales to Iran and the illegal war against Nicaragua. Weinberger's notebooks were eventually uncovered by investigators for Walsh, and the former Pentagon chief was about to go on trial for perjury and cover-up.

Walsh hoped that a conviction would induce Weinberger to testify against President Bush, who as vice president had famously claimed to be “out of the loop” where Iran-Contra was concerned. Weinberger's notebooks reportedly contained material contradicting Bush's denials of involvement in the illegal Iran-Contra operations.

Thus by pardoning Weinberger, Bush not only let a crony go scot free, he immunized against prosecution a potential witness against himself. This crude judicial “fix” was given far less examination by the media than the Clinton pardon of Marc Rich, and was quickly buried.


[snip]

Pardons, commutations, outright bullshit, and record keeping, just a little record keeping.

So why don't we all step down from our soapboxes for a moment and realize why we need good record keeping from the Dickster. Why we need to realize Scooter is guilty as shit, and why Clintons pardons are fairly innocuous in relative harm to the populace as compared to these farging bastiges of the New Right, blah blah blah.

Ok, screw the soapboxes, stay on them. The stories are all beginning to link together; that is a bad sign, and a sure sign we're going to need our soapboxes, a bullhorn, and a bullshit detector.

Long live the king.

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» RE: Doesn't it seem odd... Posted by: kelly.nickell
» RE: Doesn't it seem odd... Posted by: kelly.nickell
What's the score now?
Posted by: sasquuatch55 on Jul 4, 2007 7:47 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Add another reason to impeach Cheney and Bush. What the hell is everyone waiting for?

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The Link Between Libby and the Coming Iran War
Posted by: DCBeltway on Jul 4, 2007 9:42 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
http://tinyurl.com/2ogxxx

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Paris Hilton has more integrity than this White House
Posted by: lessbread on Jul 4, 2007 12:25 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
She did the time for her crime, but this White House thinks servility to the law is beneath it's glory...

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feel the need to point out... it's treason
Posted by: Ghoulman on Jul 4, 2007 2:53 PM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
... from what's known, it's clear Cheney and his staff conspired with Judith Miller and Bob Novak to reveal the identity of a covert CIA agent. The crime here is treason.

If the US is truly at war, as the White House constantly insists, then let the punishment fit the crime.

It's shocking that such a horrendous crime goes uninvestigated by the Senate. Valerie Plame was in a very sensitive position, working in a CIA front company with other agents to monitor the proliferation of WMDs, namely nuclear. With this criminal act, an entire CIA operation of vital national importance was destroyed by the White House. Agents lives put into danger, contacts and informants helping the US perhaps assassinated, the families of all involved put into mortal danger.

The irony is that it was George Bush Sr. who signed the current law that states this is a treasonous crime.

What is done with those who commit treason anyhow? Think about it. And really, think about what is truly important to those in the White House and the Senate. Hint; US interests aren't topping that list. ;p

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Praise GOD. GOD Rules
Posted by: Dustbin on Jul 4, 2007 8:58 PM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Who among us cannot forget and revere law and order scion, the blessed Bush, the then Governor of Texas, who in Jesus’ name, (everything our loved president does is in Jesus’ name,) would not in his righteousness commute the death sentence of a black retarded man.

America as the senior partner of the bloody Axis of Chutzpah (that would be righteous blood), now has a personal president of Chutzpah in its own right.

I say , I say praise Jesus’ America.

I say, I say, praise Moses’ Israel.

I say I say praise the new incarnation of the CIA.
CIA = Chutzpah + Israel + America.

Yesterday the Supreme Court;
Today the CIA;
Tomorrow we Nuke Iran!

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Impeach them!
Posted by: Dartagnan on Jul 6, 2007 9:55 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Let's get this one going!! Sign on!

Petition to Impeach! (Active petition on The Petition Site . com)

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Criminal Defense Attorney
Posted by: taclawcom on Jul 6, 2007 9:59 AM   
Current rating: Not yet rated    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
As a criminal defense attorney, I recommend all prisoners be released forthwith on general pardon.

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Crim. Def. Atty.
Posted by: taclawcom on Jul 6, 2007 10:07 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
Wasn't there a book entitled, "None Dare Call It Treason"?

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Clinton Rose to the Bait
Posted by: IPF on Jul 9, 2007 3:42 AM   
Current rating: 5    [1 = poor; 5 = excellent]
OMG can you guys believe Slick Willie and Hillie making a ruckus about this? Mr. pardon terrorists and tax evaders sure has a lot of chutzpah and absolutely no morals.

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