HOW COULD HE?!

[TemporalWisdom]

How could Bush commute Libby's sentence?! Okay, I know I've asked a question with an obvious answer. Bush is the most corrupt President we've ever had. But what a rude shock upon coming home from vacation. I was mostly out of touch so I didn't hear about it until today.

Remember when shameful behavior for a President was getting blown and then lying about it?

[HGervais]

Remember restoring "honor & dignity to the White House"?

A couple of things, a commutation makes no sense. Bush is saying the accepts the verdict as being just, which means he accepts that the Chief of Staff to the Vice-President lied under oath. He accepts the financial penalty, which Libby will never have to pay out of his own pocket and he accepts the probation period but he didn't accept the sentence. None of Bush's actions match up with the DoJ guidelines for a commuted sentence.
I suppose the only silver lining is at least Bush is abusing a power actually granted to him by the constitution.
And for those who will try to use the this-was-just-a-partisan-witch hunt crap. Let us not forget the investigation was begun under a DoJ headed up by John Ashcroft. A Republican Deputy Attorney General assigned the case to a Republican appointed USA. The trial judge was a Republican appointed by the Bush administration and two of the three judges who denied Libby's appeal were also Bush appointees.
And for those who will try to point to Clinton's pardons, two things...apples & oranges and if Clinton is the evil & abusive bogeyman, are his actions something Bush wants to use to help justify his own actions?
And in the isn't-it-funny how everything revolves around file, anyone know who Marc Rich's lawyer was when Clinton gave him that pardon? Yup. Scooter Libby.

[The Omen]

And for those who will try to point to Clinton's pardons, two things...apples & oranges and if Clinton is the evil & abusive bogeyman, are his actions something Bush wants to use to help justify his own actions?
And in the isn't-it-funny how everything revolves around file, anyone know who Marc Rich's lawyer was when Clinton gave him that pardon? Yup. Scooter Libby.

Doesn't that right there prove what bs the entire system is? I mean, granted this is high and dry ultimate bs. But how many presidents do you think would have shied away from doing same exact thing? The problem with elections is someone has to win, and quite often both parties are the same(yep, only two parties in this democracy). Until people really decide to become independent, and don't toe the company and party lines I will continue to laugh at Bush critics(a man I voted for once). And Clinton critics (a man I voted for twice).

[molly1216]

How could Bush commute Libby's sentence?! Okay, I know I've asked a question with an obvious answer. Bush is the most corrupt President we've ever had. But what a rude shock upon coming home from vacation. I was mostly out of touch so I didn't hear about it until today.

Remember when shameful behavior for a President was getting blown and then lying about it?

um.....pirate.

[TemporalWisdom]

How could Bush commute Libby's sentence?! Okay, I know I've asked a question with an obvious answer. Bush is the most corrupt President we've ever had. But what a rude shock upon coming home from vacation. I was mostly out of touch so I didn't hear about it until today.

Remember when shameful behavior for a President was getting blown and then lying about it?

um.....pirate.

?

You know, Paris Hilton must be upset. If she'd done Bush, he might have commuted her sentence. Seriously, she gets sent up for being a spoiled rich bitch, whereas Libby leaks classified information for political gain and then lies about it. Not that I wasn't happy to see Hilton get hers, but....

There's a sliver of hope. Bush has refused to respond to a subpoena by the Judiciary Committee, AND he's refusing to explain why he's invoked executive privilege by refusing to refuse to invoke his refusal....uh, anyway, it's only a sliver of hope - I'm sure the documents will have been shredded by the time Congress can force them out of him.

[Chris_Sax]

You know, Paris Hilton must be upset. If she'd done Bush, he might have commuted her sentence. Seriously, she gets sent up for being a spoiled rich bitch, whereas Libby leaks classified information for political gain and then lies about it. Not that I wasn't happy to see Hilton get hers, but....

the Jury Room is dead. Bury the corpse and move on, everyone.

[AutoAym]

the Jury Room is dead. Bury the corpse and move on, everyone.

Agreed. Meet the new Jury Room. (Hopefully not the) same as the old Jury Room.

[The Butcher]

You know, Paris Hilton must be upset. If she'd done Bush, he might have commuted her sentence. Seriously, she gets sent up for being a spoiled rich bitch, whereas Libby leaks classified information for political gain and then lies about it. Not that I wasn't happy to see Hilton get hers, but....

the Jury Room is dead. Bury the corpse and move on, everyone.

So nice to see you. I'm looking forward to some hilarious posts, step up!

[TemporalWisdom]

It's a shame. The threads on politics, the ones that didn't get vicious, were the most interesting. Maybe in future, as more people come back? Not that I expected this one to generate much discussion. It was vent here or put my fist through the wall.

[molly1216]

How could Bush commute Libby's sentence?! Okay, I know I've asked a question with an obvious answer. Bush is the most corrupt President we've ever had. But what a rude shock upon coming home from vacation. I was mostly out of touch so I didn't hear about it until today.

Remember when shameful behavior for a President was getting blown and then lying about it?

um.....pirate.

?

please don't tell me i have to explain that.

[TemporalWisdom]

How could Bush commute Libby's sentence?! Okay, I know I've asked a question with an obvious answer. Bush is the most corrupt President we've ever had. But what a rude shock upon coming home from vacation. I was mostly out of touch so I didn't hear about it until today.

Remember when shameful behavior for a President was getting blown and then lying about it?

um.....pirate.

?

please don't tell me i have to explain that.

Fine. I won't. But I don't understand it.

[molly1216]

How could Bush commute Libby's sentence?! Okay, I know I've asked a question with an obvious answer. Bush is the most corrupt President we've ever had. But what a rude shock upon coming home from vacation. I was mostly out of touch so I didn't hear about it until today.

Remember when shameful behavior for a President was getting blown and then lying about it?

um.....pirate.

?

please don't tell me i have to explain that.

Fine. I won't. But I don't understand it.

gawd......
Pirates of the Caribbean?

basically it translates to "what did you expect?"
like the Aesop tale about rescuing the snake and it goes and bites you and you ask it why and it's says....'well i AM snake idiot.'

[TemporalWisdom]

like the Aesop tale about rescuing the snake and it goes and bites you and you ask it why and it's says....'well i AM snake idiot.'

As I recall, it was a frog who carried a scorpion across a stream and got stung.

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean but once. The line sounds vaguely familiar, but typing it doesn't convey Jack Sparrow's swagger. It would have helped, though, if you'd put it in quotation marks.

[Andrew Forbes]

like the Aesop tale about rescuing the snake and it goes and bites you and you ask it why and it's says....'well i AM snake idiot.'

As I recall, it was a frog who carried a scorpion across a stream and got stung.

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean but once. The line sounds vaguely familiar, but typing it doesn't convey Jack Sparrow's swagger. It would have helped, though, if you'd put it in quotation marks.

Um, yeah, I had no idea what Molly meant, either. So you aren't alone.

[HGervais]

like the Aesop tale about rescuing the snake and it goes and bites you and you ask it why and it's says....'well i AM snake idiot.'

As I recall, it was a frog who carried a scorpion across a stream and got stung.

I saw Pirates of the Caribbean but once. The line sounds vaguely familiar, but typing it doesn't convey Jack Sparrow's swagger. It would have helped, though, if you'd put it in quotation marks.

Um, yeah, I had no idea what Molly meant, either. So you aren't alone.

Not to pile on but me three.

[Future Man]

It was pretty unclear to me too. Still is.

[HGervais]

In his first public remarks since President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's prison term, Judge Reggie Walton said he was "perplexed" by the president's belief that Walton's sentence was "excessive."

Walton, a Bush appointee to the D.C. district court, wrote yesterday in a court filing that while he doesn't question Bush's constitutional authority to commute prison sentences, Libby's 30-month sentence was "consistent with the bottom end of the applicable sentencing range as properly calculated under the United States Sentencing Guidelines." Underscoring his displeasure with the commutation -- which calls his professionalism into question -- Walton referenced Alberto Gonzales's June 1 statement that sentencing guidelines should be considered "a minimum for judges, not merely a suggestion." By ordering the commutation, Walton wrote, Bush has "has effectively rewritten the statutory scheme" for sentencing "on an ad hoc basis." Perhaps appropriately for a Bush appointee, Walton is basically explaining that judicial restraint compelled him to follow the sentencing guidelines -- and that 30 months in jail is rather merciful, considering what the guidelines require.

Libby will have to report to the federal Probation Office with "all requisite haste." If he doesn't, he might actually spend a night in jail.

You can read Walton's statement here.