Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Report: Cheney lobbied Bush for Libby pardon

By Michael J.W. Stickings

The Daily News is reporting that "[i]n the waning days of the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney launched a last-ditch campaign to persuade his boss to pardon Lewis (Scooter) Libby -- and was furious when President George W. Bush wouldn't budge."

Really. There's a shock. (Libby was the Waylon Smithers to Cheney's Mr. Burns, but with a touch of evil of his very own.)

And, yes, the whole incident, if true, makes Bush look good, at least relative to Cheney -- but, then, he always looked good relative to Cheney, didn't he?

But let's not make too much of this. Remember that Bush had already commuted the 30-months-in-prison part of Libby's sentence. At the time, Bush claimed that he was "[leaving] in place a harsh punishment for Libby," but that punishment was essentially reduced to the destruction of his public reputation, which is a punishment of sorts, though one that Libby had already brought upon himself with or without Bush's intervention. So while it's all good that Bush didn't let Libby entirely off the hook -- a full pardon would have exonerated him but would hardly have resurrected his reputation -- doing so didn't exactly carry the same weight it would have had Bush not intervened already to commute the most significant component of Libby's sentence.

Bush may have decided against a full pardon out of regard for his own historical reputation, that is, for his legacy. And, yes, there may well have been an intense disagreement between him and Cheney. But, in the end, Bush still proved that the Bushies and their loyalists, including Bush himself, do what they need to do to protect their own -- and to remain above the law. In that respect, over and against Cheney's last-ditch objections, Bush was nothing if not a good team player all along.

Labels: , , , ,

Bookmark and Share

3 Comments:

  • Now at least we know how Cheney ended up in a wheel chair on inauguration day. Too much groveling. How pitiful.

    By Blogger creature, at 9:29 AM  

  • So by not granting a full pardon Bush proved he's above the law? You are aware that Libby broke the same law Clinton broke? Yes, lying to federal prosecutes during an investigation. Please spin that one away...

    After you've done that look at the pardon list from Clinton. I'm sure your faux outrage won't be quenched.

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 12:37 PM  

  • Failure to pardon Libby is a bitter disappointment which reflects poignantly upon Bush's character.

    Libby should have been pardoned because he is a decent guy who became the victim of a ludicrous political witch hunt.

    Pathetic Patrick Fitzgerald prosecuted him, even after Fitzgerald already knew who leaked the identity of Plame: Richard Armitage.

    But since Armitage was buddies with the Libs, the bogus charges were dropped.

    But Libby was sent to prison because the woolly-headed jurors didn't believe he didn't remember exactly when someone said something to him.

    This is one of the most disgusting examples of political farce in the history of the U.S.

    By Blogger Freedom Fan, at 4:38 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home