The loyalty and legacy of the Bushies

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Creature -- the assistant editor of this here blog -- has been posting my words today, but allow me now to post some of his:

I say the pardon will come sooner rather than later. Libby will never spend a day in jail. The only thing that could stop a pardon is if Congress chooses to investigate what Patrick Fitzgerald called "a cloud" around the Vice President and the White House. If that happens then I would not be surprised if the president throws Cheney under a bus--and a Libby pardon under it with him. The president may have a reputation for loyalty, but I'm betting his legacy and his need to scapegoat someone will prove to be more important than loyalty. He's spoiled like that.

I agree that Libby won't go to jail -- if Nixon didn't, how can Libby? It's only a matter of when Bush will issue a pardon, not if. But what I find interesting here is that Creature has highlighted the tension at the core of George W. Bush (and indeed of the Bush Family generally):

Loyalty vs. Legacy

The Bushies obviously prize loyalty -- those who are loyal are rewarded handsomely -- but above all they seem to prize self-preservation, or selfish reputation. Given Libby's ties to Cheney, it seems quite unlikely that Bush would throw him under a bus, and he likely would rather have Cheney resign (citing health reasons as the excuse) than expose a rift at the top (the Bushies also prize secrecy and control), but a congressional investigation could force Bush's hand and postpone a seemingly inevitable pardon -- in which case the scapegoating of Libby would continue in earnest.

Anyway, here's how Dickerson puts it at Slate today: "Libby is the highest-ranking White House official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal of the mid-1980s. Will he get a pardon, as Caspar Weinberger did in that case? Who knows? If he gets a pardon, it will suggest the president is rewarding him for taking a fall for the White House and the vice president. If he doesn't, it will suggest that President Bush, who said he was sad for the Libby family, isn't sad enough."

Or, if he doesn't, that Bush only gives a shit about himself.

All I can say is: Let there be more investigation. Do not let Libby's guilt be the end of it. The cover-up was serious, but the crime was worse -- and that's where the focus needs to be.

[Creature's Note: You know the drill. Ignore all references to me below. And thanks, Michael, for making me sound smart above.]