Bush commutes Libby sentence

[Kataphraktoi]

everyone knew he would do this since square one

[Joseph]

Hey the election is 16 months from now. No big deal. The Demo congress is at 14%. Reid is at 17%, Nancy is at low 30's, Bush is at low 30. More and More people are going Independent. The only reason that I will not go Independent is because I like voting in the Primary.

[Cyclotron]

Originally posted by Drake Tungsten
Duh. A Democrat made that pardon...

It's harder to maintain outrage at a guy who's hours from leaving office. I thought that pardon was obscene, but practically by the time it made the papers, he was already out the door. Bush makes himself an easy target by taking this step a good long time before he gets to vanish from the center stage.

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by Kuciwalker
I don't think any normal person ever cared in the first place, or even understood why anyone else cared.

Of course. The only people who might have cared were those who associated with her or were suspected of having associated with her — especially those in foreign countries where she was stationed during her formerly covert CIA years.

I'm sure those folks (and their families and friends) are just fine, though. So don't worry about it. After all, they're not (generally speaking) your family or friends. Nope. Just numbers, nothing more.

Gatekeeper

[Berzerker]

I see you finally arrived at my point.

that was my point, you just agreed with it.

[Drake Tungsten]

I made the point first, in response to Odin. You're agreeing with me.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Gatekeeper
Of course. The only people who might have cared were those who associated with her or were suspected of having associated with her — especially those in foreign countries where she was stationed during her formerly covert CIA years.

I'm sure those folks (and their families and friends) are just fine, though. So don't worry about it. After all, they're not (generally speaking) your family or friends. Nope. Just numbers, nothing more.

Gatekeeper

You're right. They're just numbers, and small numbers at that. There are much bigger numbers our government needs to be worried about.

[Thue]

This is blatantly pure corruption. In Denmark the right thing would have happened, and nobody who had touched this would ever have any political influence again.

But in the USA some people seems to think it is all right. Boggles the mind. Your system seem to be in complete moral collapse. As far as I can tell the moral collapse is more advanced in the republican camp, where people seem unable to tell the difference between right and wrong when their own interests are involved, and getting away with it with the US public.

From http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com...gton-responds/

After evaluating the facts, the President came to a reasonable decision and I believe the decision was correct. -Rudy Giuliani

From a mainstream presidential candidate. Totally corrupt!

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by PLATO
I'm shocked and outraged!

It should have been a pardon!!

Damn you, I was about to post this and then reread the thread.

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by Thue
But in the USA some people seems to think it is all right. Boggles the mind. Your system seem to be in complete moral collapse.

He wasn't charged with any leaking. IIRC, the prosecutor knew from early on who actually leaked the info (and he was never charged with a crime) yet seemed to continue his investigation so he could play a game of gotcha with someone. Libby seemed to have been the one unfortunate to been caught and wasn't even the source of the leak. Why shouldn't the President commute his sentence/pardon him?

[Imran Siddiqui]

Originally posted by DinoDoc
He wasn't charged with any leaking. IIRC, the prosecutor knew from early on who actually leaked the info (and he was never charged with a crime) yet seemed to continue his investigation so he could play a game of gotcha with someone. Libby seemed to have been the one unfortunate to been caught and wasn't even the source of the leak. Why shouldn't the President commute his sentence/pardon him?

Because he commited perjury? A felony. For someone who is "tough on crime", it's a complete joke.

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui


Because he commited perjury? A felony. For someone who is "tough on crime", it's a complete joke.

Why do you advocate Clinton serving prison time?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

POTUS statement

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT



The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected Lewis Libby’s request to remain free on bail while pursuing his appeals for the serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice. As a result, Mr. Libby will be required to turn himself over to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his prison sentence.



I have said throughout this process that it would not be appropriate to comment or intervene in this case until Mr. Libby’s appeals have been exhausted. But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision.



From the very beginning of the investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame’s name, I made it clear to the White House staff and anyone serving in my administration that I expected full cooperation with the Justice Department. Dozens of White House staff and administration officials dutifully cooperated.



After the investigation was under way, the Justice Department appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald as a Special Counsel in charge of the case. Mr. Fitzgerald is a highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged.



This case has generated significant commentary and debate. Critics of the investigation have argued that a special counsel should not have been appointed, nor should the investigation have been pursued after the Justice Department learned who leaked Ms. Plame’s name to columnist Robert Novak. Furthermore, the critics point out that neither Mr. Libby nor anyone else has been charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act, which were the original subjects of the investigation. Finally, critics say the punishment does not fit the crime: Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service and was handed a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury.



Others point out that a jury of citizens weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice. They argue, correctly, that our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable. They say that had Mr. Libby only told the truth, he would have never been indicted in the first place.



Both critics and defenders of this investigation have made important points. I have made my own evaluation. In preparing for the decision I am announcing today, I have carefully weighed these arguments and the circumstances surrounding this case.



Mr. Libby was sentenced to thirty months of prison, two years of probation, and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.



I respect the jury’s verdict. 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.



My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting.



The Constitution gives the President the power of clemency to be used when he deems it to be warranted. It is my judgment that a commutation of the prison term in Mr. Libby’s case is an appropriate exercise of this power.

[Imran Siddiqui]

A. Where did I ever say Clinton shouldn't have been held to account for perjury?
B. Clinton was never charged with the crime for whatever reason.
C. Why does the right always have to say "CLINTON DID IT?" to everything rather than actually answer the question?

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
A. Where did I ever say Clinton shouldn't have been held to account for perjury?

You didn't because presumably you see how idiotic it would have been

B. Clinton was never charged with the crime for whatever reason.

See A above as pretty much everyone realized how idiotic it was. Unlike the case today where a little guy needs to be sacrificed to the gods of partisan hatred.

C. Why does the right always have to say "CLINTON DID IT?" to everything rather than actually answer the question?

Because it highlights how unhinged people have become. Even in the throws of Clinton hatred did people understand that the Starr investigation was a trumped up POS investigation. The gotcha game was a means to embarass Clinton but yet everyone realized that there was no way no how the president was going to do time.

So by power of grand jury to investigate for investigation sake (with no crime being charged) do we set the traps for the inevitable slipups of misremembering. Good show, justice served. Stunk to high heaven then and now.