No Pardon For Scooter

by Steve

According to Newsweek's Michael Isikoff, Bush has issued his final pardons, and he didn't pardon Scooter Libby. Conservative allies are furious, because they claim Libby took a "knife in the heart" from administration critics for his treasonous act to expose an intelligence asset in violation of federal law. Libby should be so lucky to only have a rhetorical knife in the heart; he and his boss should be in shackles at Guantanamo.

As for Bush, the spin seems to be that Bush didn't pardon Scooter because he lied under oath, even though he lied to protect Shooter and Shrub. If Bush values truthfulness and honesty so much, then Obama should use this as a guide when he asks the Holder Justice Department to evaluate any past Bush administration acts that might merit prosecution. If a former president based his pardon decision, even the self-serving commutation of Libby's 30-month sentencing, on the basis that a lie is a lie, then why shouldn't Holder and Obama use this as a starting point?

Any Bush administration officials who lied to Congress, namely Alberto Gonzales and a slew of DOJ sycophants, should immediately face prosecution. How many Agency and Defense officials lied to the Intelligence and Armed Services Committees about Abu Ghraib, rendition, domestic surveillance, and torture?