Bush Confirms Reputation As An A-grade Weasel

[Pragmatopian]

Just when you think he can't sink any lower...

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6263616.stm

[grant]

"The BBC's James Westhead in Washington said the president's decision was a compromise between pardoning Libby outright and allowing his full sentence to stand."

 

Really, then again, is anyone going to be surprised by this! Disgusted yes, surprised no.

[Chinahand]

I just compare this with his refusal to commute any death sentences while he was governor of Texas. Its reported that he spent less than 1/2 an hour per case deciding that the death chamber was justified in all the cases that came across his desk.

 

And then there's all the fuss made over Clinton lying about consensual sex, clearly Bush thinks lying about manipulating national security and exposing a CIA agent is much less important.

[Tarne]

In Bush's defense, the actual leaker of Valerie Plame's name to the media was Richard Armitage, not Scooter Libby. In fact, the Democrats complete lack of interest in Richard Armitage shows that they seem to care less about the actual leak of Plame's name and cared more about using this so-called scandal to attack the Bush administration.

 

And the trial was a farce.

[Lonan3]

In Bush's defense, the actual leaker of Valerie Plame's name to the media was Richard Armitage, not Scooter Libby. In fact, the Democrats complete lack of interest in Richard Armitage shows that they seem to care less about the actual leak of Plame's name and cared more about using this so-called scandal to attack the Bush administration.

 

And the trial was a farce.

 

Utter bullshit!

Libby was questioned by the FBI in 2003 about the leak of the name of CIA officer Valerie Plame, whose husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, had publicly accused Bush and Cheney of falsely claiming that Iraqi agents had tried to purchase fuel for nuclear weapons in Africa. Wilson had been sent to the nation of Niger to assess the nuclear material claim and had found it baseless.

Libby denied that he had discussed Plame in June 2003, but nine witnesses later testified that he had spoken of her.

Libby was prosecuted for lying to the FBI and to a grand jury and for obstructing justice. In March, he was convicted by a jury in Washington, and last month, a (Republican) federal judge sentenced him to 2 1/2 years behind bars.

On Monday morning, Libby was on the verge of becoming the first high-level White House official to be sent to prison since the Watergate scandal of the 1970s. Three (Republican) judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit turned down his request to stay free, saying he had not raised a "substantial question" about his conviction.

[Chinahand]

Both Tarne and Lonan3 are correct! Armitage leaked it originally, I think to CNN Kovak (spelling?), but Libby then tried to drum up interest in it to the rest of the media - unsuccessfully!

 

When an investigation was undertaken Armitage admitted what he had done, Libby lied. The lying is what got Libby in court. The leaking, technically wasn't an offence, cause it was approved by Bush/Cheney.

 

If Armitage had been tried and found guilty, I'd understand Bush stepping in - Armitage was following orders and was honest enough to admit it - for him to be jailed for doing Bush/Cheney's bidding would be unjust. But Libby lied under oath and tried to pervert the course of Justice - a very different thing.

 

It is the deliberate merging of these issues which again shows how manipulative Bush/Cheney is - manipulating a legitimate investigation for their own political ends - that's what they did with WMD, that's what they did when they nobbled Plame, and that is what they are doing now with Libby.

[localyokel]

That this man has the gall to invade another country to bring it "democracy" when he himself acts in the most disgustingly undemocratic way is nothing short of flabbergasting. He's become a parody or a parody.

 

Where's the next Lee Harvey Oswald when you need him?

[Pragmatopian]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6266766.stm

 

What a thoroughly reprehensible man! If I was an American I would be thoroughly ashamed that this man represented me. I take comfort from the fact that, as an allegedly God-fearing man, he will spend the rest of eternity with something pointy buried deep into him. May the time come soon.