After the 2004 election, I promised myself (and those of you who read this blog on a regular basis) that I’d refrain from discussing politics. I’m going to have to break that promise.
The man pictured here is Lewis “Scooter” Libby. Several months ago, he was sentenced to 30 months in jail, 2 years probation, and a $250,000 fine. Some of us in the public, looking on at this battle of the Beltway elite, felt like some small measure of justice was achieved, and that a message was sent to our fundamentally corrupt Executive Branch. (Even those who think they’re not part of the Executive…unless and until he decides he is again.)
Fast forward to today. After having learned about, among other things, the shadow government being run by our Vice President last week, our government decides to spit in the collective face of the American public by commuting Scooter Libby’s prison sentence. That’s right – the President who swore to “Get the leaker” just gave said leaker a ‘get out of jail free’ card.
“I respect the jury’s verdict,” Bush said in a statement. “But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.”
Or, in layman’s terms, the President of the United States just gave the Bronx Cheer to the federal court system.
Approximately a decade ago, the Republican-controlled Legislative Branch attempted to impeach the sitting president for an extramarital affair. We now have a sitting president who has both obstructed justice himself and served as an accessory to the obstruction of justice, invaded our privacy, and used falsified evidence to engage this nation’s military in a quagmire in Iraq. How, exactly, isn’t this worse than getting a hummer in the Oval Office?
My friend Kevin Lawver has done a fine job of establishing the rationale for this administration’s ouster. The blogosphere in general is going apeshit crazy with rage, and really, you can’t blame them – how can any rational human being continue to stand behind this President and call themselves ‘rational’?
I was particularly struck by something Keith Olbermann (who, incidentally, will call for the resignation of both the President and Vice President in a ‘Special Comment’ tomorrow night) used to segue into his coverage of the Libby debacle this evening, and I’m going to end this post with those words:
“You have sat too long here for any good you have been doing lately…. Depart, I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God,—go!”
-Thomas Carlyle, Oliver Cromwell’s Letters and Speeches, vol. 3, part 7, pp. 34–35 (1897).
Oliver Cromwell spoke these words to the Rump Parliament in 1653, as one man frustrated with a corrupt body’s unwillingness to cede power. Seems eerily prescient today, doesn’t it?
I will refrain from my Republican viewpoint on the grounds that I am still borrowing your Playstation 2. 🙂
Doobie – I would never dream of denying you your right to your viewpoint. I’m not saying that it wouldn’t go unchallenged, but you’re certainly welcome to express whatever you like.
(And no, I haven’t forgotten about the PS2.) =)
You need to understand that I’d probably label myself as a moderate – I’m conservative on some issues, like the economy, but liberal on others, like the arts and education. (Hell, I think I’m actually a registered Republican, based on a box I arbitrarily checked off back in high school.) So I’ve always been willing to hear both sides out. So for me to write this post, you need to understand just how frustrated I’ve become with the current administration. And, for the record, I’d be just as frustrated if it were a Democratic administration, because party doesn’t enter into it, as far as I’m concerned.
Actually I really refrained on the grounds that I hardly have enough free time to maintain my own blogs than I do to leave well-thought out replies on others. 🙂
But since my job now officially sucks and I have a little free time now that I’m working until 4 AM, I’ll posit a few of my views on this.
Believe it or not, I’m not 100% behind the typical Republican view on this. First, the whole Libby trial was a ridiculous Democratic manhunt that ended with Libby being strung up because they were unable to finger the key players they REALLY wanted to hang…but couldn’t…because Armitage was really the person who “leaked” the identity of a “covert” agent. Quotes definitely added for sarcasm.
Nevertheless, Libby was indicted for false statements and perjury. There’s no excuse for that. Still, if you look at the big picture, you could say that he was basically indicted for protecting someone who was innocent anyway over “leaking” questionably covert information. Let’s face it, if the Democrats/liberals didn’t have such a hard on for trying to stick it to the Bush administration, how far would this have really gotten?
The fact that Bush pardoned him should have come as no surprise to anyone. Usually lame duck presidents do it at the end of their terms, but Libby would have began serving before that so Bush had to act quickly. The fact that he DIDN’T also excuse the fine is a bit surprising…although I’m sure somehow money will be raised for him if not done already. What’s really amazing is the hypocrisy offered up by Hilary about the whole affair, especially considering her husband pardoned 456 people while in office…most of them on his way out the door. http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/clintonpardon_grants.htm
Clarification: When I said “there’s no excuse for that” above, I was referring to the false statements and perjury.
here’s my well thought-out response to it all: they’re evil.