Scooter
by Scott Hardie on July 3, 2007
Headline: Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Sentence
Yeah, there are complicated legal and political factors involved, but to the average citizen (me) it reads like "President's friend gets out of jail free." Man, I gotta track down George's MySpace and add him as a friend.
Two Replies to Scooter
Kris Weberg | July 3, 2007
You've got it exactly backwards, Aaron: no charges will be filed because Libby lied. His lies prevented the court from deciding fairly whether or not there was an underlying crime.
The average citizen will never know whether a crime was committed because I. Lewis Libby acted deliberately to conceal the truth fot he matter from the court. To assume no wrongdoing occurred because "no charges were filed" is like assuming a murder didn't occur because the killer's buddy successfully incinerated the corpse and cleaned up the crime scene. "Sure, he was standing next to a furnace, covered in soot, and he has no alibi, but there's no body, so there must not have been a murder."
In the case of something like the Plame investigation, and of white-collar crime in general, there's no physical evidence. There's just testimony. And if someone's testimony doesn't add up, charges can't be filed because the contradictions in the testimony prevent it.
Ask yourself this, Aaron: if no one did anything wrong here, why did Libby bullshit the grand jury?
Logical Operator
The creator of Funeratic, Scott Hardie, blogs about running this site, losing weight, and other passions including his wife Kelly, his friends, movies, gaming, and Florida. Read more »
Grousing About the Mouse
Kelly and I still have our annual passes to Disney World, but we've had more trouble going recently because of disabilities that slow us down. A friend suggested joining a busy Facebook group for Disney World fans like us who struggle with disabilities and share advice with each other. I clicked the button to join, and up popped a 4-question form asking questions that are required for membership. Go »The Weekend of Soup
This has been a miserable week. Monday: I woke up dizzy with a high fever and couldn't stay standing up. There were no cold or flu symptoms, but it wouldn't go away, so I worked the day from home. Go »Eww
Gross is dreaming about eating a bagel slathered with rich cream cheese, then waking up and realizing that "taste" is the bacterial film in your mouth. Go »Redundancy
Can we add "information overload" to the list of phrases retired from the language due to clichéd overuse? It is apparently now used to describe anything remotely intense. Go »Fantastic
The 20th Century Fox sequel "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" debuted as the No. 1 weekend flick with $57.4 million in sales, slightly surpassing the $56.1 Go »
Aaron Shurtleff | July 3, 2007
Not to bring the complications in here, but I'd be more concerned if Libby were getting in trouble for something. I think until someone is charged for actually blowing Plame's cover, it's asinine to punish someone for being deceptive during the inquiry to find out if someone did something wrong. If no one blew Plame's cover (which, if charges aren't being filed, is what the average citizen who isn't anti-Bush should think, in my opinion), Libby should not be in jail, I don't think.
And a $250,000 fine for being deceptive (or forgetful, if you buy that story) isn't getting out of jail free in my book.