President Bush yesterday commuted the 30-month sentence of former vice-presidential aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby. On the one hand, Bush could have done worse in the eyes of his critics: he could have granted a full pardon. A commutation gets Scooter out of a lengthy prison term, but he still has this stain on his record. On the other hand, the president has been very stingy with pardons, commutations, clemency, and other such powers. For garden-variety felons, the Christmastime tradition of pardons and commutations hasn't been much of a tradition during the Bush presidency. But for one of his cronies, Bush quickly dipped his dry commutation pen into the inkwell. Perjury, obstruction of justice, and lying to investigators, all those things that really, really mattered to Republicans during Whitewater/Monicagate, and didn't really matter to Democrats, now don't really matter that much for Republicans and really, really matter for Democrats.

The correct response would have been a full pardon. Libby was a scapegoat fall guy, convicted of a crime for which the prosecution never presented a shred of evidence, as part of an investigation which uncovered no crime, so that liberals could feel that they walked away with something.

Hoaw can anyone take someone names "Scooter" seriously, anyway? How can anyone use his college frat nickname professionally?

Someone should be checking El Presidente Jorge Bush for testículos.

You're right asdf. Also they need to shoot Bush too. He commuted the sentence of "Scooter" but yet Jose Alonso Compean and Ignacio Ramos; the 2 Border Patrol Agents, still rot in prison FOR DOING THEIR JOB!

That IS outrageous. In that light, I suppose if Libby were convicted of lying about border security or the illegal movement of Illegals or some other related matter, he would have been pardoned by El Presidente.

Meanwhile, check out Clinton's Executive largesse....

http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/clintonpardon_grants.htm

Libby's sentence was harsh compared to what Sandy Burglar got. I think what Burglar did was much more serious that what Libby did. In the end the special persecutor didn't find any wrong doing in Plame-gate. Libby stole *classifed* documents.

Is there a "fairness doctrine" regarding the assessment of crimes and doling out punishment for the perps? Apparently not.

Should have been a full pardon.

Just noticed a mistake in my earlier comment. I meant to say *Sandy Berger* stole classified documents.

No, you were right the first time.

I'm surprised Al Sharpton with his big-old negroid-water head hasn't shown up to protest.
Is it any wonder why people think black people are stupid, shifty, dishonest, smelly, violent, did I mention smelly?

Pack up your disgusting racism and take it elsewhere, please.

Agreed. I was just going to not acknowledge it.

frank, thats funny.

Folks, comments about the race of an individual are not cool and definitely not appreciated.

How come Armitrage (the real leaker)
wasn't indicted? Hmmm?... Could it be that
this whole "Plame blame game" was nothing more than a fishing expedition designed to embarrass the Bush Administration by any means necessary?
Scooter Libby is guilty of a faulty memory-as were others who gave testimony in the case.
But those others didn't happen to be Republicans-or in any position to damage the Bush Administration.
Bill Clinton lied to a grand jury but-oh yeah-he's a Democrat; Perjury doesn't seem to apply to
people with "D"'s next to their names.