July 02, 2007

The Libby reprieve

The President has an unlimited power of pardon and reprieve which may be exercised solely accordingly to his judgment that a particular party needs relief. Compare Bush's commutation of the prison term aspect of Libby's sentence with his immediate predecessor's exercise of this power, particularly at the end of his second term. If any of the presidential candidates offers an opinion on the Libby reprieve, the question should come back at them: "How does the Libby reprieve compare to the Marc Rich pardon?" Anyone? Senator Clinton? Bueller?

Yips! from Robbo: I agree with Jonah's assessment:

On the merits I think Bush probably got it about right. On the politics, I think Bush would have been smarter to give Libby an outright pardon. But, having just watched Joe Wilson sputter in pompous rage on the Today Show, I'm tempted to argue that Bush should have used eminent domain to take Wilson's convertible Jaguar and give it to Scooter Libby.

Heh.

Posted by LMC at July 2, 2007 11:08 PM | TrackBack
Comments

Scooter Libby deserved a pardon, and I hope he will get one before Jan 20, 2009. But the commutation of his prison term will do for now.

Posted by: kmr at July 3, 2007 06:06 AM

Both the Rich pardon and the Libby commutation are abominations. Being in the rich and powerful club should never get you special treatment. One of you lawyer types can comment, but doesn't a pardon remove the ability of Libby to take the 5th? Seems to me commuting and not pardoning buys the pres and the VP some protection...

Posted by: LB Buddy at July 3, 2007 10:11 AM

It's just amazing seeing the Phlegmocraps do cartwheels over this decision, especially in light of Bubba's huge pardon machine. I mean, do they really think for a minute that we're not going to remember that, and ram it down their throats... or cram it up their asses?

What miserable garbage libtards are.

Posted by: Hucbald at July 3, 2007 10:42 AM

Weeeeeell,

We've got a couple of things going on here. By commuting only one part of the sentence President Bush has done several things.

a) Kept Libby out of jail for the present and no matter what the resolution of the apeal(s).

b) Left open the possibility of a full pardon at a later date.

c) Taken the heat off of Chief Justice Roberts, who would have had to decide about something as mundane as bail in a double-quick manner, thereby effectively pronouncing that no matter what the appeals court decided the Supremes would be looking into the matter.

d) Smacked Reggie Walton in the face for using information excluded from trial in sentencing.

e) Ensured that the appeals process will be undertaken with the appropriate serious mien by the appeals court, instead of a knee-jerk, politically driven reaction.

f) Driven Lyin' Joe Wilson into fits of apoplexy that are wonderful to behold.

g) Made Hillary!!! open her mouth and fall in.

h) Brought Cindy "Goofball" Sheehan back into the limelight, thus damaging all of the Demorat contenders.

All in all, not a bad days work.

Posted by: Uncle Pinky at July 3, 2007 07:28 PM

If Jeb Bush made a commission on the Libby commutation, it might begin to approach the Rich pardon.

The last 72 hours of the Clinton administration were as corrupt as a Borgia papacy.

Posted by: The Colossus at July 3, 2007 07:53 PM