Bush Commutes Libby's Sentence

This is one of those "half-a-loaf" situations. I've long felt that Scooter Libby should have been pardoned, so the word that Bush has agreed to commute the prison part of his sentence is a good start. Libby was the victim of an out-of-control prosecutor who knew he was chasing a lost case from the start (at least after he found out that Richard Armitage was the source of the Plame "leak"), but he needed a scalp to justify the months of effort and millions of taxdollars spent on this wasted effort. Since he couldn't prove that anyone had committed the crime which he was supposed to investigate, he pounded away until he came up with a charge completely unrelated to the leak case.

Libby was overcharged by the prosecutor, and oversentenced by the judge. Bush's commutation will not relieve Libby of the $250,000 fine, and he will still be on probation for 2 years. He'll also have a felony conviction on his record forever. However, he will not be imprisoned.

I still believe he deserved a pardon, but this is the next best thing.

Of course, the most enjoyable part of this whole this is the unhinged reaction of the Dems. A few examples:

Sen. Charles Schumer, D-New York
“As Independence Day nears, we are reminded that one of the principles our forefathers fought for was equal justice under the law. This commutation completely tramples on that principle.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada
“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. Judge Walton correctly determined that Libby deserved to be imprisoned for lying about a matter ofnational security. The Constitution gives President Bush the power to commute sentences, but history will judge him harshly for using that power to benefit his own Vice President’s Chief of Staff who was convicted of such a serious violation of law.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California
“The President’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the American people. The President said he would hold accountable anyone involved in the Valerie Plame leak case. By his action today, the President shows his word is not to be believed. He has abandoned all sense of fairness when it comes to justice, he has failed to uphold the rule of law, and he has failed to hold his Administration accountable.”

Somebody call the Waaaaahmbulance!

Somebody on the radio suggested that the president will pay a political price for this. How? He already has rock bottom approval ratings, so the folks that already hate him will still hate him. Among the few that still support him, I'd suggest that most of those will approve of this move, and some of those who have abandoned him over other issues might be inclined to return to the fold, at least briefly. If anything, I think Bush might get a bit of an uptick in his approval numbers because of this.

Glenn Reynolds describes the commutation this way:

FITZMAS: NOT WITH A BANG, BUT WITH A WHIMPER.

UPDATE: White House Won't Rule Out Libby Pardon
Let's see what happens in January of 2009 as Bush is leaving office.