Bush commutes Libby's sentence

[MorningGlory]

You know, there's protocol for pardoning and commuting sentences. You'd think Bush could have at least followed that (i.e. waiting till the appeals process was over). Nope.

Yeah, or he could wait until he gets paid for the pardon, like Bill Clinton did on numerous occasions.

Careful, Marnie, the cliche police will take exception to mentioning Clinton!

[MorningGlory]

What Clinton did or did not do is NOT RELEVANT.

You mentioned precedent. He did perjure himself and was not punished.

Perhaps we could mention Sandy "I didn't know they were in my underwear" Burger.

[Vickilynn]

What Clinton did or did not do is NOT RELEVANT.

You mentioned precedent. He did perjure himself and was not punished.

Perhaps we could mention Sandy "I didn't know they were in my underwear" Burger.

Shalom,

OMGOODNESS, this is SO funny!! Marnie, you crack me up!

[Vickilynn]

You know, there's protocol for pardoning and commuting sentences. You'd think Bush could have at least followed that (i.e. waiting till the appeals process was over). Nope.

I would argue that Libby shouldn't have been required to go to jail till his appeals were exhausted. The only thing I am sorry for is that Bush didn't issue a full pardon. Libby was not guilty of leaking information. Supposedly he was convicted of perjury because the jury didn't believe him when he claimed he couldn't recall certain past events. I personally don't believe he did anything wrong, but was being made a scape goat because Bush's enemies were determined to find some type of crime against someone in the administration in reference to the Valerie Plame situation. My advise to anyone in a similar position is to plead the 5th even if you are innocent. You may come off looking guilty in the eyes of some people, but so what? They won't be able to convict you of perjury.

[georgesbluegirl]

I wasn't talking about precedent, I was talking about rules. The president is not supposed to be able to commute sentences unless all other options have been exhausted - i.e. Bush should have waited until the appeals process was over, at least.

[Burning_Ember]

You know, there's protocol for pardoning and commuting sentences. You'd think Bush could have at least followed that (i.e. waiting till the appeals process was over). Nope.

Yeah, or he could wait until he gets paid for the pardon, like Bill Clinton did on numerous occasions.

Careful, Marnie, the cliche police will take exception to mentioning Clinton!

Because blaming Clinton is LESS cliche then what I said. As for the relevance of Clinton, you may has well started discussing whether you considered a Unicycle furniture.

(5 points to who gets that reference.)

[Marnie]

What Clinton did or did not do is NOT RELEVANT.

You mentioned precedent. He did perjure himself and was not punished.

Perhaps we could mention Sandy "I didn't know they were in my underwear" Burger.

Shalom,

OMGOODNESS, this is SO funny!! Marnie, you crack me up!

Well, really! I mean, think about this. Clinton gets contributions from Mark Rich's wife, then pardons him. He gets donations for his library from a couple of other people and he pardons them. He pardons the husband of a client of one his lawyer cronies, but who brings that up? Clinton perjures himself (whether or not you think what he did was all that serious) and does he get fined? No. Sandy Burger burgles the Library of Congress (was it?) and makes off with a bunch of documents. Does he get punished? No. Democrats all over the country signed up dead people to vote for their candidates. What ever happened to them? Nothing.

So, if you are Democrat you are above the law in this country, apparently.

[kat8585]

I personally don't believe he did anything wrong, but was being made a scape goat because Bush's enemies were determined to find some type of crime against someone in the administration in reference to the Valerie Plame situation.

The same way they viciously savaged Newt and Delay, only much moreso with them, and will do with any rising star in the Republican party. I know Libby wasn't one of these, but it's just their MO. If they can bring down any Republican, or make the administration look bad in any way, they will, and they won't let up til they get the job done.

Any Texans remember what Ronnie Earl tried to do to Kay Baily Hutchison? He's the same one who went after Delay, I think.

[kat8585]

Sandy Burger burgles the Library of Congress (was it?) and makes off with a bunch of documents. Does he get punished? No. Democrats all over the country signed up dead people to vote for their candidates. What ever happened to them? Nothing.

So, if you are Democrat you are above the law in this country, apparently.

What Sandy Burglar did was very serious and very dangerous for the country, and he did it at Clinton's bidding. But I hardly saw a peep about it on the news.

[Marnie]

I personally don't believe he did anything wrong, but was being made a scape goat because Bush's enemies were determined to find some type of crime against someone in the administration in reference to the Valerie Plame situation.

The same way they viciously savaged Newt and Delay, only much moreso with them, and will do with any rising star in the Republican party. I know Libby wasn't one of these, but it's just their MO. If they can bring down any Republican, or make the administration look bad in any way, they will, and they won't let up til they get the job done.

Any Texans remember what Ronnie Earl tried to do to Kay Baily Hutchison? He's the same one who went after Delay, I think.

I agree. Dick Armitage outted Plame, and the whole case against Scooter was political, nothing more. IMO, the Bush Administration handled this poorly from the beginning and should be ashamed of themselves. He deserved better. We expect this kind of thing from Democrats, but I thought the GOP had more class.