"The punishment is excessive," says Mr. Bush with regards to Mr. Libby's conviction by a jury of his peers. Of course, in Bush's world there are no peers. Those who decide can run roughshod over our judicial system. A fine of $250,000 would be impossible for most of us to pay. Do you think Libby will have a problem writing a check? If he does, his friends will help him out. Disbarment would normally mean a tougher life for most lawyers. Will Libby have a hard time getting a well-paying job?
Meanwhile, there are those guys in Guantanamo who have yet to have any sort of a trial in the years they have been there. Is their punishment 'excessive'?
12 comments:
You are right. Life is not fair. I really never expected anything different. On the other hand, Susan McDougal served her time in the cell reserved for the worst criminal the jail had.
And it was a cell in which the glass was so thick that if you came up and yelled at me, I couldn’t have heard you. It was a totally sound-proof, 24-hour-per day, lit, open toilet, me in this room. Twenty three hours a day. One hour a day I got to go out to a basketball court.
TRUTHDIG: No privacy?
MCDOUGAL: No privacy at all. And I couldn’t hear anything. I could look out and see the other women who were mostly charged with terrible, heinous crimes, who were going to church meetings, who were going to office visits. Not me—I was locked in. And that part was by far the part that I thought would break me.
This is not to defend democrats, I am just saying that even our own political prisioners get different treatments. Amd Susan says her only crime was dealing with a crooked banker.
This decision is unworthy of comment. Only a moron could justify it. Of course, it was a moron who justified it.
No doubt your readers saw links today on the DOJ website about the many controversial pardons made by President Clinton, the most controversial being the pardon of Marc Rich. To simply call Bush a moron is intellectually lazy. In some ways this brouhaha is similar to the recent attorneys general firings. Presidents have long had the privilege to make such decisions. Getting on a partisan high horse about it is just silly.
Will,
While I do not believe that Clinton acted properly re Marc Rich, however there is a difference between the Libby and Rich cases. Libby was convicted, Rich was indicted.
Further, sentences are usually commuted after they have been served. Libby has not spent a night in jail as far as I know.
Webster's defines "moronic" as 1. a mildly mentally retarded person, and 2. a very stupid person. It is not the one act that determines Bush as a moron, but the manner in which he has conducted, not just his whole presidency, but his prior political life. There was no justification for interfering in Libby's sentence. Anyone in Libby's position is expected, in any truly democratic country, to uphold and respect the law. Libby did neither and thoroughly deserved to serve his sentence. To excuse Bush's interference purely on the grounds he is the president, and as such has the legal privilege, is hardly an intellectual argument. To compare Bush to Clinton solely on the basis of presidential pardons, is not only "intellectually lazy", but narrow-minded. While Clinton's pardon of Marc Rich was an equally contemptible act, overall Clinton's presidency achieved far more than Bush's, which was hardly difficult. There can be few presidents in history with such a dismal record of failure on all fronts as that of George W Bush. No president before him has managed to isolate America so completely, or caused the nation he is supposed to represent to be viewed as a pariah throughout the civilized world.
To argue that Marc Rich's pardon was less egregious than clemency for Libby because Rich hadn't been convicted ignores the fact that Rich fled the country before trial partisanship.
And, instead of constantly railing against Bush & Co as the source of ALL the world's ills, how about applying some insight into new and better ideas to deal with the many formidable challenges we face as a nation and planet? Beating up on a President with approval ratings like Bush is no longer a fair fight.
Peace and Happy 4th. ;-)
I messed up my comment. Here's the complete one . . .
To argue that Marc Rich's pardon was less egregious than clemency for Libby because Rich hadn't been convicted ignores the fact that Rich fled the country before trial and that his wife Denise was a major Clinton and presidential library donor.
And, instead of constantly railing against Bush & Co as the source of ALL the world's ills, how about applying some insight into new and better ideas to deal with the many formidable challenges we face as a nation and planet? Beating up on a President with approval ratings like Bush is no longer a fair fight.
Peace and Happy 4th. ;-)
I really don't think that Bush is the source of all evil in the world. I just think he is the worst president under which I have lived.
I do not think that the Democrats are any better than the Republicans. The past six months have demonstrated that neither party has much to offer in terms of ideas to solve our many problems. In fact, most times it seems as though they are unaware that we have problems. Most of the presidential candidates on both sides have zero ideas of what is needed to resurrect America's promise.
How about these ideas:
Revoke Bush's tax cuts
Promote innovation
Evaluate whether our military spending is right for the 21st century
Practice what we preach
Restore the middle class
Reduce the deficit
Decide that we don't have all the answers for everybody in the world
Get serious about Israel and take an active role in resurrecting the so-called peace process.
Raise the tax on gas to promote conservation
Tighten campaign financing laws
Promote stem cell research
Spend more money on helping people heat their houses than promoting abstinence to teenagers.
Don't tie promoting abstinence to the granting of funds to combat Aids
Separate religion from the affairs of state
Obey the law
Tell the truth
Appoint competent people to positions of responsibility
Accept Truman's statement that the buck stops here
Stop calling it a war on terror; they are criminals that are trying to kill us.
Close Guantanamo
Honestly evaluate the situation in Iraq
Spend adequate resources in Afghanistan
Accept the reality that our climate is changing due to our dependence on oil
Look at the world as it is, not how you want it to be
I could go on but you get my point. I think that these and more ideas have been pushed on this blog. Where are the ideas from our leaders?
I bet you think I am making this up but Scooter Libby was Marc Rich's lawyer.
Yes, one of three "distinguished Republican lawyers" who all supported Rich's pardon, as written in a letter from Clinton to the New York Times. (see 'Marc Rich' - Wikipedia.)
Small world, isn't it?
Al - There are many good ideas here. What do you mean about getting serious about Israel?
Will,
Israel has been the favorite child of the US since 1948. It is hard trying to bring peace to an area if you always favor one side.
We need to recognize that all sides in this dispute have good and bad points
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