Cheney's 'Agnew' Moment?

Mark Daniels wonders if the Libby verdict might become Dick Cheney's "Agnew" moment, the tipping point which pushes Cheney to resign. It's an interesting post and I encourage you to read it, but personally, I don't really think there's much comparison. Spiro Agnew was convicted of various wrongdoings while Cheney has been convicted only in the press.

But let's take Mark's proposition a little further. If Cheney resigned, who in the world could Bush appoint to replace him who could get confirmed by the current Senate? It couldn't be a conservative or anyone who might consider the job a stepping stone to a presidential campaign. If anything, the Senate Dems would probably be inclined to reject everybody in hopes of leaving the job open. After all, if something happened to Bush, San Fran Nan would become president (I'll pause to give you time to stop shuddering).

Meanwhile, I think Scott Ott probably nails the way the press and the Dems look at the Libby verdict:

(2007-03-06) — Former vice presidential aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, convicted today of four counts of lying to federal investigators about a law that he didn’t break, said he feels “very badly” that Vice President Dick Cheney now faces up to 30 years in federal prison, and President George Bush will be impeached.

“I know that this case wasn’t about me, or even about Valerie Plame,” said Mr. Libby, “so I don’t take it personally. But Dick Cheney and George Bush are fine men and I hate to see them suffer.”

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald celebrated the jury’s verdict as a “vindication of the American legal system.”

“It’s a good lesson to our children that we are a nation of laws,” said Mr. Fitzgerald, “and when serious charges are made about laws that haven’t been broken by high-ranking officials, justice demands that someone be convicted of something, and that someone goes to jail.”

There's a lot of truth in Scott's satire.