The In-Between

I wish I could let the commuting of Scooter Libby's sentence just pass quietly into the night, but I can't. However, my thoughts are few, and, I think, nonpartisan.

First, I find it humorous that Mr Bush, who happily had the mentally retarded put to death when he was governor of Texas, thinks that 30 months of easy time for Scooter is too harsh. What of the people who--by the administration's own admission--are completely innocent of anything except being in the wrong place at the wrong time and are being held indefinitely in Guantanamo Bay? Shouldn't they share a small bit of the President's new-found compassion? Just a smidgen?

Of course, the interesting thing is that the sentence was commuted rather than a pardon being given. This is a matter of distancing. Giving a pardon would have been an admission of guilt, as well, and this is not an administration that likes to admit to its own wrongdoing no matter how gross or trivial. Those who hoped for a pardon were fools.

Since there is still a hefty fine and disbarment left, it will be interesting to see whether Scooter sees the light and flips on his erstwhile benefactors. I make the odds even.

Finally, I would like to say that I think that were one of the Democratic candidates for President savvy about this stuff at all, they would put a plank on their platform that promised Justice Department investigations of all the wrongdoing by the current crowd of reprobates. That could mean jail terms for a whole bunch of these vultures, and no on-the-payroll president to pardon them. Justice just might be served after all.

I'm making the odds on that happening about a million-to-one.