[DRB]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19570172/

 

[ohio]

Not surprising, and I know it's far from the first presidential pardon, but it still makes me feel all kinds of dirty.

 

[$tinkle]

glad to see america rewards its patriots

 

[Silver]

It's not like Bush's approval ratings can go down...

 

[JohnE]

D@mn, color me surprised! No hard time for Scooter...

 

[DaveW]

glad to see america rewards its patriots

To see that all you have to do is wander past your nearest veterans hospital.

 

[MMike]

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.

Oh he SO does not!!!

 

[MMike]

Well this is kind of interesting... Truman pardoned 1900 people???

July 2, 2007
Commutation computations
WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush’s decision to commute the sentence of former White House Lewis “Scooter” Libby marks the fourth time the president has exercised his power to reduce criminal sentences. Here’s where the president stands compared to other modern presidents, according to the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the Department of Justice.


George W. Bush:
Pardons: 113
Commutations: 4 (including Libby)

Bill Clinton:
Pardons: 396
Commutations: 61

George H.W. Bush:
Pardons: 74
Commutations: 3

Ronald Reagan:
Pardons: 393
Commutations: 13

Jimmy Carter:
Pardons: 534
Commutations: 29

Gerald Ford:
Pardons: 382
Commutations: 22

Richard Nixon:
Pardons: 863
Commutations: 60

Lyndon Johnson:
Pardons: 960
Commutations: 226

John F. Kennedy:
Pardons: 472
Commutations: 100

Dwight Eisenhower:
Pardons: 1,110
Commutations: 47

Harry Truman:
Pardons: 1,913
Commutations: 118

– CNN’s Robert Yoon, Shawna Shepherd, and Alan Silverleib

 

[N8 v2.0]

who cares about Libby?

The only REAL news that the entire world cares about is right here:

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/03/arts/NA-A-E-CEL-US-Paris-Hilton-Trash.php

 

[DRB]

Well this is kind of interesting... Truman pardoned 1900 people???

I guess post WWII presidents are considered modern era....

[History lesson]
1500 or so of those were draft evaders from WWII. That was out of some 15000 cases that were reviewed by a civillian panel. However, all of those had either served or were serving time in prison.

He also pardoned a number of prisoners that had volunteered for military service and served for a year or more and had earned honorable discharges.

What's interesting about Truman's are 7 that he granted as he was leaving office. They were government officials that had been convicted of a variety of crimes and had completed there sentences. They were done without any DOJ recommendation which until that point was pretty much not done. That led to Eisenhower's attorney general to make the pardon process a "fish bowl" so that everyone could see the pardons and who had recommended them with everything being vetted by the DOJ. That pretty much stayed in place until Clinton. [/History Lesson]

 

[jimmydean]

I think it's a joke. Had it been any other jackass that leaked a CIA Ops identity, my guess would be prison. But for a guy they call "scooter", he's too pretty for hard time.

 

[blue]

The pardon should be done away with and considered an abuse of executive power. Then again, abusing executive power is this administrations motto...

 

[JohnE]

And again, how much taxpayer money was wasted in the prosecution of someone everyone and his brother knew would be pardoned? This mis-administration deifies physics. They suck and blow at the same time.

 

[luelling]

The pardon should be done away with and considered an abuse of executive power. Then again, abusing executive power is this administrations motto...

The only good thing that may come of this is reopening the debate to allow Congress to override with a 2/3 majority. Some Congressmen were talking about it on the news.

 

[blue]

The only good thing that may come of this is reopening the debate to allow Congress to override with a 2/3 majority. Some Congressmen were talking about it on the news.

Unlikely it would happen, but it would be a cockpunch to Shrub if they did.

 

[Westy]

The pardon should be done away with and considered an abuse of executive power. Then again, abusing executive power is this administrations motto...

The pardon has it's place. I have a bigger problem with the last day of office pardon. They should just prevent pardons in the last 6 months of office. A pres should be forced to face the public with the decisions they make.

 

[$tinkle]

And again, how much taxpayer money was wasted in the prosecution of someone everyone and his brother knew would be pardoned?

i agree.

in situations like these (servant unambiguously belonging to a particular party), beyond indictment the funds for the both the prosecution & defense should be tapped from their respective war chests.

...or something that would discourage both frivolous suits as well as trying to defend the guilty through outspending the prosecution.

 

[luelling]

He may actually get a full pardon instead of a commuted sentence
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19583008/

I was hoping Bush would at least wait until the end of his presidency to pardon/commute....this way Libby would have served some jail time

 

[jimmydean]

I guess the bottom line is Scooter didn't do anything, he was just the sacrificial lamb. So for him to do hard time wouldn't be all that cool anyway.

 

[ohio]

Quick question to the eLawyers: can Valerie Plame bring civil suit against members of the Cheney cabinet? Like OJ, it would be much easier to prove liability and in the eyes of the public would prove guilt.

 

[DRB]

Quick question to the eLawyers: can Valerie Plame bring civil suit against members of the Cheney cabinet? Like OJ, it would be much easier to prove liability and in the eyes of the public would prove guilt.

Well that is what the lawyers are asking right now.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19584099/

But even though he will not have to report to prison to serve a 30-month sentence for lying and obstructing special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald’s investigation, the legal battle continues in U.S. District Court, where Wilson and Plame have filed a civil suit.

The lawsuit accuses Libby, Cheney, White House senior counselor Karl Rove and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage of revealing Plame’s CIA identity in seeking revenge against Wilson for criticizing the Bush administration’s motives in Iraq. Libby was convicted of lying about his role in covering up the leak, which was eventually traced to Armitage.

Attorneys for Cheney asked a federal judge in May to dismiss the civil suit, arguing that Cheney had absolute immunity. In any event, they said, talking with reporters is part of the vice president’s normal duties, and he was engaging in an appropriate “policy dispute.”

At the hearing, U.S. District Judge John Bates asked: “So you’re arguing there is nothing — absolutely nothing — these officials could have said to reporters that would have been beyond the scope of their employment?”

“That’s true, Your Honor. Mr. Wilson was criticizing government policy,” said Jeffrey Bucholtz, a Justice Department attorney. “These officials were responding to that criticism.”

 

[$tinkle]

Quick question to the eLawyers: can Valerie Plame bring civil suit against members of the Cheney cabinet? Like OJ, it would be much easier to prove liability and in the eyes of the public would prove guilt.

i think it might help her case if everyone working for cheney changed their names to richard armitage.


* edit: beaten by the DRB

 

[$tinkle]

having some fun

"Nonviolent offenders should not be serving hard time in our prisons. They need to be diverted from our prison system."

"Today's decision is yet another example that this Administration simply considers itself above the law. . . . This commutation sends the clear signal that in this Administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice."

that she would offer an opinion on cronyism as it relates to presidential power does indeed demonstrate she has the balls necessary for high office.

 

[ohio]

that she would offer an opinion on cronyism as it relates to presidential power does indeed demonstrate she has the balls necessary for high office.

Bill and Hill did their law-dodging as well as any presidential couple, but you can't possibly think that the Clinton administration went to the same extremes for their cronies as this one.

Enron, Halliburton, and treason are slightly bigger fish than a small real-estate scandal.

 

[Westy]

Bill and Hill did their law-dodging as well as any presidential couple, but you can't possibly think that the Clinton administration went to the same extremes for their cronies as this one.

Enron, Halliburton, and treason are slightly bigger fish than a small real-estate scandal.

Don't forget the blowjob that directly threatened democracy as we know it.

 

[$tinkle]

Bill and Hill did their law-dodging as well as any presidential couple, but you can't possibly think that the Clinton administration went to the same extremes for their cronies as this one.

Enron, Halliburton, and treason are slightly bigger fish than a small real-estate scandal.

i think there's slightly bigger fish than a small real-estate scandal.

i hate when you make me take off the pumps & go N8 on you.

 

[ohio]

i think there's slightly bigger fish than a small real-estate scandal.

i hate when you make me take off the pumps & go N8 on you.

I'm still looking for anything in there about starting a war because your buddies want you to...

 

[N8 v2.0]

*yawn*


the sooner you dorks get back to paris hilton the better!

 

[BurlyShirley]

Could someone post some pics of Plame please?

 

[N8 v2.0]

Could someone post some pics of Plame please?

google image search yeilds:

 

[luelling]

google image search yeilds:

yup, lets further bash someone who served her country and was then dishonored by it. I think its really unfortunate that the people who are patriotic and work hard for this country are sh!t on (Plame, Walter Reid, etc..)

 

[N8 v2.0]

yup, lets further bash someone who served her country and was then dishonored by it. I think its really unfortunate that the people who are patriotic and work hard for this country are sh!t on (Plame, Walter Reid, etc..)

look there is ample reason to do this...

 

[luelling]

look there is ample reason to do this...

Dishonor patriots? I would like to hear it.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Dishonor patriots? I would like to hear it.

 

[luelling]

I shouldn't have expected anything less. I did go and search down various Bush terms on google images and links....some interesting stuff. I saw a sticker with a picture of Bush and,
"Like a rock! only dumber"

I like it

 

[Transcend]

I shouldn't have expected anything less. I did go and search down various Bush terms on google images and links....some interesting stuff. I saw a sticker with a picture of Bush and,
"Like a rock! only dumber"

I like it

I have this magnet on my fridge.

 

[$tinkle]

yup, lets further bash someone who served her country and was then dishonored by it. I think its really unfortunate that the people who are patriotic and work hard for this country are sh!t on (Plame, Walter Reid, etc..)

Son, we live in a world that has walls, and those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Whose gonna do it? You? I have a greater responsibility than you could possibly fathom. You curse the marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know. That death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives. You don't want the truth because deep down in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall, you need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty. We use these words as the backbone of a life spent defending something. You use them as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, and then questions the manner in which I provide it. I would rather you just said thank you, and went on your way, Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon, and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you are entitled to.

 

[N8 v2.0]

I have this magnet on my fridge.

with ur photo next to it?

 

[Transcend]

with ur photo next to it?

Bush on one side, you on the other in that homo-erotic flowerey shirt you so love to wear.

 

[N8 v2.0]

Bush on one side, you on the other in that homo-erotic flowerey shirt you so love to wear.

jeez... just admit it... you know you want to blow me..

..while that's not my bag, baby, "Gay is ok.."