Planet Abell

W hat makes the commutation of "Scooter" Libby's sentence so appalling is that it perpetuates the appearance at least of a conspiracy that now reaches the Oval Office. Even the mother of all presidential interventions, Ford's pardon of Nixon, bears up better: at least it helped to expedite a national healing process. A Bad Boy, But A Good Boy Yes, President Bush said in his statement that Libby had been a bad boy and had to be punished, and the fine and probation Is this proof that the Bush White House has devolved into a collection of dead- enders , slogging through their last throes? were left untouched. But Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff is family. He was a part of a what looks very much like a big effort to spread the administration's war propaganda by attacking critics with smears and dirty tricks. Political crimes are particularly heinous because they are about stealing power. They are ideological and self-justifying. By ensuring tha...

It's a little hard watching law-and-order types contort themselves to argue that "Scooter" Libby shouldn't do time. Talk about jury tampering. Here's a great quote from an article at The Politico : A well-connected Republican whose views have reached Bush’s inner circle said that if Libby goes to prison, "It would be seen by the religious and policy conservatives as the president abandoning his loyalty virtue for the hedonistic pleasure of political expediency." Wow. So respecting a jury verdict and enforcing existing laws -- you know, the ones movement conservatives always say are enough to deal with immigration, gun control, marriage -- is a weakness, a fix for a pol. Real men are ... loyal. Libby Has To Go To Jail A respite wouldn't upset me, with a Sword of Damocles still hanging by a thread above him. Once he's in the slammer there's much less chance he'll be inclined to cooperate. On the other hand, it is downright fun watching Pat ...