Monday, July 02, 2007
Political Scum - Non-Accountability Edition
Let's say you are a high-ranking member of an administration and as part of your job you decide to try to discredit a person who is criticizing some of your positions or decisions. There are many ways one can do this.
You can have members of your administration make public statements arguing why that person is either incorrect or nuts. You can feed the same type of information to reporters friendly to your administration, which has the same effect. Or you can get real dirty and sneak out the name of their spouse (who happens to be a covert officer at the CIA) as the person who was the chief sponsor for that person.
Of course, the problem with option #3 is that it is possibly illegal. Certainly covering up truth of your actions to federal agents is very illegal. And thanks to a special prosecutor, charges are filed against you for actions in covering up your earlier dirty actions.
As time goes on, you are convicted and sentenced. An appeals court even goes so far as to deny your wish to stay our of jail while you appealed your sentence. Your next move should be to pack your bags and get in the SUV for a nice cushy federal prison.
But noooooo. Your president just happens to love to thumb his nose at everyone who would hold anyone under his branch of government accountable for their actions. So you get to stay home, as the President commutes your sentence. He keeps the fine, but that will be paid for by his lobbyist friends.
I would consider this to be hilarious in a sad sort of way, but the flood of news from the Bush administration that they are above the law of the land is making me ill. I would not be surprised if the next move is to impose martial law and suspend elections in 2008.
It has become obvious that President George W. Bush and his administration will do anything to avoid accountability. It is also obvious that they have every intention to do as they please without regard to what the American public, Congress or the Courts say on the subject.
The whole lot of them are POLITICAL SCUM!!!!!!
From the Washington Post:
President Bush Commutes Libby's Sentence
By Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff WriterMonday, July 2, 2007; 7:28 PM
President Bush today commuted the prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, sparing him the 30-month term to which he was sentenced last month for lying to federal investigators about his role in the White House leak of a CIA officer's identity.
Bush took the action just hours after a federal appeals court ruled that Libby was not entitled to remain free while he was appealing his conviction on four felonies.
"With the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision," Bush said in a statement issued by the White House early this evening. Although the president said he "respected" the jury's verdict, he added that he had "concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive."
Bush said he was letting stand a $250,000 fine that also was part of the sentence handed down last month by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, who presided over the month-long trial last winter.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mi.) released a statement saying that "until now, it appeared that the President merely turned a blind eye to a high ranking administration official leaking classified information. The President's action today makes it clear that he condones such activity. This decision is inconsistent with the rule of law and sends a horrible signal to the American people and our intelligence operatives who place their lives at risk everyday."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) added that "the President's decision to commute Mr. Libby's sentence is disgraceful. Libby's conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq war. Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone."
But former Sen. Fred Thompson, an unannounced candidate for president who has called for Bush to pardon Libby, said he is "very happy" for Cheney's former top aide. "I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children. While for a long time I have urged a pardon for Scooter, I respect the President's decision. This will allow a good American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life."
In their one-paragraph order earlier in the day, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit had denied Libby's request to remain free while he appealed his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice.
The judges said that Libby's appeal did not raise "a substantial question" close enough that it was likely his conviction would be overturned.
The appeals court ruling prompted Bush to abandon the hands-off posture he had adopted towards the criminal proceedings against Libby, a 56-year-old lawyer who was Cheney's right-hand man and an architect of the administration's national security policies. As pressure from conservatives to give Libby a reprieve mounted on Bush over the past several months, the White House had, until now, said that it was not appropriate to intervene.
The judges' order had upheld a decision by Walton, who presided over Libby's month-long trial. In mid-June, Walton ruled that the defense had not raised any issues that were so likely to prevail on appeal that they warranted allowing Libby to remain free on bond.
At the time, Walton estimated that Libby would have to report to prison within 45 to 60 days, after federal prison officials determined where he would serve the sentence.
In March, a federal court jury found Libby guilty of four felonies for lying to FBI agents and the grand jury that investigated leaks to the media by administration officials of the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame. In a trial that featured high-ranking officials and an A-list of Washington reporters as witnesses, the jury convicted Libby of two perjury counts and one count each of obstructing justice and making false statements about when and how he learned Plame's identity--and what he told journalists about her.
The appellate judges who ruled today included two appointed by Republican presidents and one Democratic appointee. They were David Sentelle, selected by President Ronald Reagan; Karen LeCraft Henderson, appointed by President George H.W. Bush; and David Tatel, chosen President Bill Clinton.
You can have members of your administration make public statements arguing why that person is either incorrect or nuts. You can feed the same type of information to reporters friendly to your administration, which has the same effect. Or you can get real dirty and sneak out the name of their spouse (who happens to be a covert officer at the CIA) as the person who was the chief sponsor for that person.
Of course, the problem with option #3 is that it is possibly illegal. Certainly covering up truth of your actions to federal agents is very illegal. And thanks to a special prosecutor, charges are filed against you for actions in covering up your earlier dirty actions.
As time goes on, you are convicted and sentenced. An appeals court even goes so far as to deny your wish to stay our of jail while you appealed your sentence. Your next move should be to pack your bags and get in the SUV for a nice cushy federal prison.
But noooooo. Your president just happens to love to thumb his nose at everyone who would hold anyone under his branch of government accountable for their actions. So you get to stay home, as the President commutes your sentence. He keeps the fine, but that will be paid for by his lobbyist friends.
I would consider this to be hilarious in a sad sort of way, but the flood of news from the Bush administration that they are above the law of the land is making me ill. I would not be surprised if the next move is to impose martial law and suspend elections in 2008.
It has become obvious that President George W. Bush and his administration will do anything to avoid accountability. It is also obvious that they have every intention to do as they please without regard to what the American public, Congress or the Courts say on the subject.
The whole lot of them are POLITICAL SCUM!!!!!!
From the Washington Post:
President Bush Commutes Libby's Sentence
By Amy Goldstein
Washington Post Staff WriterMonday, July 2, 2007; 7:28 PM
President Bush today commuted the prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Cheney's former chief of staff, sparing him the 30-month term to which he was sentenced last month for lying to federal investigators about his role in the White House leak of a CIA officer's identity.
Bush took the action just hours after a federal appeals court ruled that Libby was not entitled to remain free while he was appealing his conviction on four felonies.
"With the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision," Bush said in a statement issued by the White House early this evening. Although the president said he "respected" the jury's verdict, he added that he had "concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive."
Bush said he was letting stand a $250,000 fine that also was part of the sentence handed down last month by U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, who presided over the month-long trial last winter.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mi.) released a statement saying that "until now, it appeared that the President merely turned a blind eye to a high ranking administration official leaking classified information. The President's action today makes it clear that he condones such activity. This decision is inconsistent with the rule of law and sends a horrible signal to the American people and our intelligence operatives who place their lives at risk everyday."
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) added that "the President's decision to commute Mr. Libby's sentence is disgraceful. Libby's conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq war. Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone."
But former Sen. Fred Thompson, an unannounced candidate for president who has called for Bush to pardon Libby, said he is "very happy" for Cheney's former top aide. "I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children. While for a long time I have urged a pardon for Scooter, I respect the President's decision. This will allow a good American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life."
In their one-paragraph order earlier in the day, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit had denied Libby's request to remain free while he appealed his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice.
The judges said that Libby's appeal did not raise "a substantial question" close enough that it was likely his conviction would be overturned.
The appeals court ruling prompted Bush to abandon the hands-off posture he had adopted towards the criminal proceedings against Libby, a 56-year-old lawyer who was Cheney's right-hand man and an architect of the administration's national security policies. As pressure from conservatives to give Libby a reprieve mounted on Bush over the past several months, the White House had, until now, said that it was not appropriate to intervene.
The judges' order had upheld a decision by Walton, who presided over Libby's month-long trial. In mid-June, Walton ruled that the defense had not raised any issues that were so likely to prevail on appeal that they warranted allowing Libby to remain free on bond.
At the time, Walton estimated that Libby would have to report to prison within 45 to 60 days, after federal prison officials determined where he would serve the sentence.
In March, a federal court jury found Libby guilty of four felonies for lying to FBI agents and the grand jury that investigated leaks to the media by administration officials of the identity of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame. In a trial that featured high-ranking officials and an A-list of Washington reporters as witnesses, the jury convicted Libby of two perjury counts and one count each of obstructing justice and making false statements about when and how he learned Plame's identity--and what he told journalists about her.
The appellate judges who ruled today included two appointed by Republican presidents and one Democratic appointee. They were David Sentelle, selected by President Ronald Reagan; Karen LeCraft Henderson, appointed by President George H.W. Bush; and David Tatel, chosen President Bill Clinton.
# posted by Kevin @ 9:31 PM 
