Dubya commutes Scooter's sentence

By Edward Copeland

I guess the latest appeals court ruling saying that Scooter should stay in jail while he appeals was too much for the Idiot-in-Chief and he's commuted his sentence, but didn't pardon him. The alert just moving from AP says:

WASHINGTON -- President Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from a 2 1/2-year prison term on Monday, issuing an order that commutes his sentence.

Bush left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, according to a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the decision had not been announced.

Bush's move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case. That decision put the pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

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Update: Everyone who's pissed off, put up your hand. (For more, see CNN and ABC, as well as Firedoglake.)

From Bush's statement: "I respect the jury’s verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive." I realize that the president has the power to do this, but how is this respecting the justice system?

-- MJWS