No way. No way.
I guess I'm not too surprised. Just extremely upset and disgusted.
George W. Bush is an incompetent President. He has lied to the public in order to go to war with Iraq. The two elections he has “won” have been heavily disputed, with multiple recounts showing he would have lost in 2000 and accusation of extensive voter fraud in Ohio in 2004. His Vice President is a power hunger man who tramples the Constitution for personal gains. Administrators in the White House have fired judges because their political beliefs were not in line with those of the neo-conservatives. This administration is about as bad as it gets with abusing power, secrecy and lying.
And now President Bush has commuted I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby. The man who leaked the name of an undercover CIA operative and faced up to 30 months in prison will serve no time thanks to his buddy getting him off the hook. So add to the list of abuses commuting prison sentences.
President Bush explained, "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."
Wow! Probation and fines! That is harsh. But President Bush has always been a bad-ass when it comes to getting tough on crime. For example, he was very harsh when he was the Governor of Texas; he executed 141 people during his time in office all the while protecting the sanctity of life too.
How much longer will this jackass be President? (I know until 2008, but can’t he just leave early and apology for being so bad?)
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how much longer? just long enough for us to elect another jackass...unless...oh never mind. we will have another jackass, authoritarian, fear-mongering, collectivist, neocon president. only this time it will most likely be democrat flavored.
I agree that this is absolutely ridiculous. For a man and an administration that has hung on by the skin of their teeth on freedom and justice, this totally contradicts and discredits (if there even was a smidgen of credit left) those principles. This is truly an administration that made every blatant attempt possible to put themselves above the law. It is gross misconduct and since there is nothing we or anyone else can do, we will have to take whatever comfort we can in knowing it will go down in history as such, and no one will ever be able to forget these incompetencies. Here are some interesting comparative numbers (that in no way take away from the utter ridiculousness of the Libby case):
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
that's some good info jon. i know clinton went nuts right before he left office. he also let some guys off the hook for some pretty serious stuff. that made me mad, but not in the same way this does. and i'll be honest, i'm a little (actually very) biased).
good point as well jacob. i'm not sure anyway in the mainstream political parties do anything but pander to their bases. annoying.
I think that is the most I have talked about politics in my life put together.
that's probably a good thing
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