Off The Cuff

Scooter Libby Is Free Via Bush Commute

Posted by: From Arkansas in Commentary on Jul 02 2007

Welcome back!

Former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was spared the two and a half year prison sentence today by President Bush. This comes shortly after a federal appeals court told Mr. Libby that his sentence was to be carried out and not delayed any longer. Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald denied that the sentence was excessive contrary to Mr. Bush whose reason for commuting the sentence was due to the jail term being too harsh.

I have to say here that while I may agree with the idea that the sentence could be somewhat excessive…maybe….it is also a problem for me that after due process, however fair or unfair, the man should at least show up for his prison term. Then let the lawyers fight it out like the rest of us would have to do if we do not know the President of the United States. I am certainly unhappy that things are turning out this way since we laypeople are not allowed such things. If one of us had done something that serious, or not since we continually protest our innocence, we would still be facing that jail term and no lawyer in the country would touch it with a ten foot pole.

I do realize that rank has it’s priviledge but some such are not advised to be acted on. While I have believed in what Mr. Bush stands for and I do believe it is possible Mr. Libby is innocent, it is flat out wrong to circumvent the courts to get a personal friend out of jail in this manner. But then, congress does this too. They protect their own instead of dealing with the dishonesty that is rampant in that so-called august body.

So, where does this take the country? It says that no matter what a politician does, they have a shot at getting a sentence commuted like Mr. Bush did today….like other Presidents have done over the years during their last months in office. After all, if you can’t use your pen while in office, what good is it? I guess you can tell that I am not certain how I feel about this one. Did our President let us down or did he save an innocent man from an injustice? Maybe some day we will find out.

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