Scooter Libby and the State of Political Blogging

As we relaxed and truly enjoyed the Fourth in very traditional style--hot dogs, hamburgers, a little parade, and, of course, the fireworks--with friends and family, we spent a little time surfing the net to see what was up.

Not much: political blogs were flooded with opinion on the commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence. That's a lot of bloviational energy fixated on what, in the larger scheme of things, is really a pretty trivial issue.

Democrats are, of course, predictably outraged. How dare President Bush commute Libby's sentence! They've come up with a number of other cases to show that persons convicted of similarly serious crimes have done jail time, although the facts of each case are difficult to compare.

On the conservative side, bloggers have filled their pages with rationalizations for Libby to skate, while further urging a full pardon. This weekend we met one of those conservative bloggers, Tom Maguire, a Connecticut conservative who writes the popular Just One Minute blog. A likeable fellow who is certainly fun to debate over politics, Tom couldn't resist posting something on the Libby matter yesterday while the rest of us sipped margaritas and watched tornado warnings scrawl across the television screen.

We should've asked him, "hey, Tom, what's the big deal on Libby?" but we didn't.

To us, a bigger story is the British terrorism scare. This should certainly be a big story for Muslims living in the U.S. and Europe. It's one thing for radical young Saudis, Yemenis and Pakistanis to enter a Western country and commit acts of terrorism, but quite another when seemingly respectable, westernized physicians start plotting mass mayhem in the name of their religion. That type of activity casts suspicion on all Muslims living in the West, and can eventually lead to even more serious persecution of even the most westernized of Muslims. There can be no "religious tolerance" for a religion that preaches "death to all infidels."

Going back to Libby, here's the key point: he was convicted of lying to the grand jury. Nothing, including a pardon by the man he lied for, will change that. His career is ruined. True, he could, like his near namesake, Gordon Liddy, turn up as a successful conservative radio host, but his professional reputation is toast. Whether he serves time in jail or not doesn't change anything. Moreover, the truth of the matter is that it was a pretty severe sentence. Putting Scooter in jail doesn't change the fact that "W" and Cheney are still in power, destroying our country, for another year and a half.

Perhaps even more importantly, the Libby trial revealed just how desperate the administration was to mislead Americans on the War in Iraq, and the obsessiveness, particularly of the Vice President's office, in going after anyone who threatened to expose those lies. The right can blog all they want about some perceived miscarriage of justice in the Libby case (the same right wing that fanned Whitewater and the Starr investigation for years) but it won't change the big picture: Bush lied to get us into an absolutely disastrous war that has cost a trillion dollars, killed thousands of Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, made us less secure than before 9/11 and tarnished our image in world relations.

(And now we've added to all the wasted bloviational energy on the Libby topic.)

Scooter Libby Sentence Commuted

Now really, you aren't surprised are you?

I can't wait to hear the howling on the right about how he should've been pardoned, not just had his jail time waived!

A Poem For Scooter Libby

Libby Lied.
His Lawyer Cried.
Bush Will Set It All Aside.

No New Trial.
No Good Appeal.
No Jail Due To Pardon Deal


(Thanks to our good friend and terrific trial lawyer Mike Jones at K&E for this little rhyme.)

Right Wing Hypocrisy on Libby And U.S. Attorneys

Today we look at a couple forms of right wing hypocrisy when it comes to the judicial system.

1. Pardon Me! Libby Hypocrisy.

No sooner is Scooter Libby convicted than the Wall Street Journal begins beating the drums for a presidential pardon in not one, but two, editorial pieces (one an official WSJ editorial, the other an op-ed piece they've obviously been sitting on just waiting for the verdict).

What hypocrisy. This is the same newspaper that went after Bill Clinton and every member of his cabinet with every piece of sleaze and dirt it could dig up, no matter how reliable. They relentlessly promoted books and videos produced by the most virulently paranoid right-wing fanatics and pushed for the expenditure of hundreds of millions of dollars on questionable special prosecutions. The cheerleaded a silly impeachment proceeding.

But now the WSJ intones that Bush "owes" Libby "a pardon and an apology." Evidently, the WSJ doesn't think it's serious business when Republicans lie to grand juries and obstruct justice.

[Fox News had its own unique take on the Libby trial yesterday, running a banner across the story declaring that Libby had been acquitted, which of course was true as to one count, but not the real story. Fair and balanced, as always.]

To be sure, we do feel sorry here for Libby, who certainly is a scapegoat. But Libby's problem was that he was too loyal to his boss, Dick Cheney. All Libby had to do was tell the truth to the FBI and grand jury. As it turns out, if he had told the truth, there would have been no consequences.

We don't share the WSJ's casual--and partisan--disregard for the legal process.

Partisan Politics With U.S. Attorneys

Another side of right wing hypocrisy is the unfolding scandal over the Bush Administration's dismissal of a number of U.S. Attorneys around the country. (See Washington Post story here.)

Of course the Bushies and their congressional allies are in full-blown spin mode on this one, claiming that no one was dismissed for political reasons.

We hardly need congressional hearings to know that's false. If we've learned anything about this administration over the past six years, it's that EVERYTHING is political. Clearly, when it comes to personnel appointments, loyalty to the White House and the Rove machine is valued over all other traits. That's one reason the administration is so incompetent. They don't care if you can do the job, man--just that you're loyal.

So now we're learning that various federal prosecutors received calls from Republicans in Congress about the status of their investigations into certain political figures. It's not yet clear whether those calls were instigated by Rove's office--we wouldn't be surprised. But you can bet that AFTER those calls, follow-up complaints were made to Rove, who in turn got friendly Justice Department officials in meting out discipline, Rove style.

The most obvious case, so far, is that of New Mexico prosecutor David Iglesias, who received a call one day AT HIS HOME from Sen. Pete Domenici, a Republican. Domenici pointedly asked Iglesias whether charges would be filed against a local Democrat, under investigation, "before November" (i.e., before the election). When Iglesias said no, Domenici reportedly said "I'm sorry to hear that" and hung up.

Domenici claims he didn't ask that Iglesias be fired over the issue. We're sure he didn't put it in exactly those words--Washington is a bit more subtle. But we'd love to put Domenici under oath. We're pretty sure he managed to convey his displeasure to the appropriate officials in the White House and at Justice, and that, as they say, those officials "got his drift."

Of course, none of this is really new. Instead, it's just larger pieces of the political corruption iceberg that's been coming into view over the past two years as we've learned how the Republicans operated in the Capital during their reign.

Have they learned anything since the election? Evidently not--see 1. above!