Posted on 07/04/2007 5:28:50 AM PDT by Laverne
snip...
The case against "Scooter" Libby was a total fraud. Completely bogus. The publicity-mad demoness Valerie Plame was not a covert overseas agent at the time the whole megillah about her erupted. So there was no, none, nada, law breaking by reporting that she was a CIA employee.
snip...
But Mr. Bush saw a basic wrong. A man who should never have seen the inside of a courtroom as a defendant had been pilloried for no good reason and then sentenced to a Stalinist sentence. His basic decency overrode political and PR considerations. He simply did the right thing. He let an innocent man breathe the air of freedom. He used the power of his office to say "enough" to an out of control prosecutor, an out of control grand jury, and an out of control judge and jury. In a simple phrase, once again, he did the right thing regardless of cost.
I am not sure if this was his finest hour, but it was a fine hour.
(Excerpt) Read more at spectator.org ...
I think you will enjoy Ben Stein’s piece on Scooter and the commutation of the prison sentence.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus
I like it.
Thank you for posting this. Love Ben Stein. Love George Bush(most of the time).
Ben has this one right,but then he usually is right.
This whole thing was sponsored by the DNC. It was a political plot from the start. Rumors and inuendo about Administration members started and spread by the DNC and their media whores.
Fitzgerald should be proscuted, I have said it before,one more time wont hurt. He should face disbarment and prosecution for carrying out a political plot against this country.
The Democrats who are now screaming about the President granting commutation to Libby are the very ones guilty of collusion with Fitzgerald to keep this expensive fishing expedition alive. They too should be prosecyted.
The very chutzpah of a Harry Waxman,probably the biggest idiot ever elected to a responsible position, to start an investigation into the commutation is an insult to every Americans intelligence. There needs to be an investigation allright,but not about the commutation. The investigation needs to find out who was giving Fitzgerald the orders, to find out where all the money went. to find out why the democrat party carried out this mission to destroy Scooter Libby and to throw dirt on a reopublican administration.
The Democrats set off on a path of destruction and treason from day one of the Presidents term and it has never stopped. Why havent we won the war on Terror?? Because the democrats have fought their own war against our country and its President.
There was NO underlying crime. Scooter Libby should NEVER have been brought to trial in the first place. He did NOTHING wrong. What he was convicted of bore NO RELATION to the case Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed to investigate and who came up with NOTHING to show for it.You are absolutely right. And that raises questions:
In typical George W Bush fashion, he has done the bare minimum of the "right thing" when it would have been so much easier, and more fulfilling, to go all the way and act with complete righteousness.
He's not running for office again, ever. Why not for once in his life tell the liberals the truth about themselves, openly and publicly? Why not? What in God's name is he afraid of?
And please, I hope nobody here will say anything about "having to work with congress". Before you say it, be advised that I and many others don't believe that the stinking evil rats and RINOs who run congress will never substantively work with conservatives, no matter what conservatives do or say to placate them.
So for once in his life, why doesn't George W Bush act like a true conservative and publicly proclaim, on at least one issue, how absolutely wrong the liberals are?
Outright, straight up pardon is the only thing that will satisfy me in this infuriating affair.
That and prosecution of Mata Plamie and Goofy Wilson for perjury.
LIbby is still pursuing the appeals process, to overturn the verdict on the merits of the case; therefore, no pardon. Libby wants exoneration and he should receive it...but given the political nature of this whole case, who knows what will happen.
Now Judge Walton has issued yet another piece of paper claiming that because the President commuted the prison sentence but retained the probation, the judge doesn’t know what to do since probation only follows imprisonment.
Here is a link to Walton’s latest:
http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/files/libby_3583.pdf
I’m curious about Fitzgerald’s motivation for going forward with the investigation once he knew who the leaker was and also knew that Valerie Plame was not covered under the Intelligence Identities Protection Act. I suspect that it was either to do political damage to the Bush administration, or just to bask in the limelight of the media-driven prosecution. But neither of those is a legitimate reason. He must have some way to explain himself that sounds somewhat plausible. If so, I’ve missed it and wonder if anyone knows what it might be.
Doesn’t Libby still have pending appeals?...Wouldn’t it be better to have those clear his name, then the full pardon if that doesn’t happen?
the truth is that by first commuting and later pardoning Libby, the WH may be able to get some payback on this political witchhunt, particularly among voters showing "buyers remorse" if they voted Dim because of this farce
Fitzgerald == Mike Nifong
is an equation that could get some traction and start costing the Dims, particularly if the public start to study the real facts of the case.
the stupid Dims who comdemn Bush in this will just end up confirming what unfair fools they are...
Ford pardoned Nixon in advance of any trials. A pardon will work at any point in the process.
As for full vindication, the RATS & RINOs will never believe anything any appeals court says about this case, and the public won’t read the wording of an appeals court verdict (assuming that it’s favorable).
The best way to show how bogus this whole thing was is for the President of the United States to proclaim publicly, directly to the people, over the heads of the intervening commies who run much of the courts and all of the press, exactly how bogus this case was.
Nothing will work better to clear Libby’s name than a strongly worded condemnation of the entire case issued at the time of a full pardon, the earlier the better.
I don’t have a clue as to Fitzy’s motivation...and I don’t understand why this case was never thrown out of court in the early days: no crime = no obstruction.
Fitzy bought Wilson’s lies, lock, stock and barrel. Perhaps he was part of the overall ROckerfeller plan (remember the memo)?
Fat Dim Russert filed a false affidavit in this case, and he did so with Fitzy’s knowledge...and the judge still allowed Fat Dim to present himself as the pillar of truth. The judge kept the self acknowledged (albeit jokingly) drunk Andrea Mitchell to stay OFF the stand, and would not allow Team LIbby to introduce evidence that Russert lied on the stand (when he said he didn’t now you could not bring a lawyer into the grand jury). A travesty from start to end.
I’ll never understand it. I’m glad the President issued the commutation and I hope that Libby wins on appeal.
And so he granted relief to the beaten down, poverty stricken 20 million invaders from Mexico by granting them amnesty and a free ride on the backs of American taxpayers. Ooops, wrong issue. This is about Scooter Libby, the man who was railroaded by the liberals, and of whom Bush refused to grant a pardon to, but only managed to issue a commutation to his jail time, exactly one day after Rush Limbaugh, speaking for tens of millions of conservatives, demanded he pardon Libby. (Those of you who listen to Rush will know what I'm talking about).
I voted for Bush twice and if he could run a 3rd time I’d vote for him again versus any of the stinking losers the RATS are currently fielding (or any of the stinking losers they could conceivably field). I support the war and support W.
But you know what, I’ve got “master strategy” fatigue. All through this presidency, hundreds of times over, we’ve been told how W is outfoxing the opposition, how he’s a poker player, how there’s a big master plan at work behind his frustrating compromises.
Just once I would like to see him act with absolute unrestrained boldness. Just once I would like to hear him say the absolute unvarnished truth about who the liberals are, what they stand for, and what they do.
This is the perfect opportunity. This is that once.
But once again, he refuses. Once again he steps haltingly. And once again I will be told, big picture, strategy, poker game, blah, blah, blah.
Too bad.
LOL; so its RUSH’s fault? Too funny.
It was an opportunity to get up on his hind legs. But like other events during his presidency, W muffed it.Muffed it while doing the absolute bare minimum so that he and his advisors could pretend to themselves that he didn't muff it. And that goes for you, too, Tony.
He didn’t say it was Rush’s fault. He said that without Rush pushing for a Pardon, Bush might not even have done the bare minimum of commutation.
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