http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cia_leak_trial;...lQxV.2BA5Ws0NUE

Pure fucking bullshit.

Not really. It's just too bad Bush and Cheney couldn't be cooling their heels in prison.

Frankly, for what he was convicted of and why, 30 mos was ridiculous. A few years back the son of the head of the WA Dept. of Corrections raped his infant daughter. He got 6mos in the slammer, and would have gotten NONE had he not had a prior for trying to steal an ATM machine. In light of many factors, that sentence was beyond stiff and Bush actually probably chose one of the fairer routes.

Ah, Bush... he never ceases to irritate me.

Correct!!! Bullshit!

This administration has no shame!

He should've done the 5 years that his offense calls for, but let's face it. The real reason Bush commuted the sentence is to ensure that Libby didn't fall under the pressure to make a deal for a lesser sentence provided he turn state's evidence that would incriminate Bush and Cheney.

You gotta love the double standard set by the government. Non-civil servant citizens would not be enjoying such a slap on the wrist with a wet-noodle.

It was 30 months. And I'm glad you said "government", because corruption and hypocrisy are non-partisan. Had you committed perjury ala Clinton you'd also have become acquainted with the graybar hotel.

Once again though, 2.5 years? On par with burglary, assault, and sex offenses? I'm not convinced. And frankly, for a man of his stature and in his professional life, the felony conviction alone is crippling.

Oh well... if you do something bad, you're gonna be punished for it. Karma has an odd way of working things out.

This was a non-issue. Plame WASN'T undercover, it was widely known in those circles exactly who she was. Libby's SENTENCE is what was bullshit. This was nothing but a partisan grandstand.

The sentence was COMMUTED, which doesn't mean that his record goes away, or that he's absolved from financial responsibility, either.

Why wasn't Pres. Carter indicted when he outed 2 CIA agents in Greece, getting them brutally MURDERED right after he made known their identities? THAT'S the very definition of double-standard.

Oh, and Clinton was NEVER required to answer for all of the PARDONS he was responsible for, too may to list here, so here's a linky for THAT mess: http://www.usdoj.gov/pardon/clintonpardon_grants.htm

Personally, I was a little perplexed when I heard the Judge handed down a 30 month sentence ESPECIALLY when I discovered the Judge had been personally appointed by the Bush White House.

This information bothered me until I saw what Bush just did in commuting the sentence of Libby. Now it all makes perfect sense to me! Bush claimed the reason he did it was because the Judge was too harsh with the sentence. Well, who do you suppose 'advised' the Judge to be so harsh? It looks like this Judge can look forward to a bright future for doing his job so well!

Thanks to this outcome my view of this Administration once again makes perfect sense to me.
_____________________
"If there is one basic element in our Constitution it is civilian control of the military." President Harry S. Truman

And the status quo lives on.

We should want accountability from the elected regardless of party affiliation and excusing one bad actions of one Republican by bringing up the bad actions of two, three, (whatever) Democrats is futile and gets nothing done.

It's like a bad relationship, that dredges up the past to justify their current mistakes. Woman, "you did this bad thing". Man, "only because you did that".

Divided we fall.

We need to realize that administrations though they take the name of the President-elect are comprised of all members of the three branches of government.

Your not feeling sorry for this guy are you? You do realize that he has more than enough money to take care of this so called financial burden.

You must also understand that this matter is far from being over, as time moves on I would not be surprized if Bush goes for a full pardon next before he goes out of office.

It is true that Carter wasnt indicted, and Clinton didnt have to answer for his pardons, but look at all the crap that has happened within the time frame of this administration being in office.

Like I said, this was a non-issue. Plame was no longer an undercover operative & was well known. Libby didn't do anything particularly wrong, and the trial & sentence were a joke in the first place. This was, and always has been, a partisan snow-job. Y'know... like the Lewinsky case was nothing but partisan politics. This is the same kind of bullshit.

Libby SHOULD be pardoned. No actual crime was commited.

Perjury leads to obstruction of justice and both are crimes.

I know where you're coming from about the Lewinsky case. However, it's like I said, going back-n-forth like this ignores that there is a serious problem going on and will continue.

How do we expect the system to change for the better so that everyone will be treated EQUALLY? Isn't that the ultimate goal. EQUALITY for all.

Besides, by Bush saying that the sentence is too harsh, he's basically acknowledging that a crime was committed.

Dear Fellow Forumites: why is it all such a surprise. It is a longstanding tradition to pardon Christmas turkeys. There shall likely be a few more. Every president does it if one studies history. I always pardon myself after burping or if I forget to bring my standard issue Nasa diapers along on special missions. Pardon moi!:tease:

Obstruction of WHAT justice??? No harm was done to anyone. There's no particular justice to be served.

This is a Clinton pardon and the reason was his wife was a big campaign donor. Look at his crimes and judge what was worse.

White House Slams Clintons over Libby Commutation Remarks

By KEN HERMAN
Cox News Service
Friday, July 06, 2007
WASHINGTON — The White House lashed out Thursday at Bill and Hillary Clinton for their biting criticism of President Bush's decision to save former aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from serving any prison time.
Administration spokesman Tony Snow referred to President Clinton's last-day-in-office pardon of political supporter Marc Rich and said the former president and his wife are ill-positioned to criticize the Libby commutation.
Snow said there was "not much investigation" before the Rich pardon. "Now you've got President Clinton and Senator Clinton complaining about this, which, I've got to tell you, I don't know what Arkansan is for chutzpah, but this is a gigantic case of it," Snow said.
In an interview on Tuesday on WHO radio in Des Moines, the former president said, "I think the facts were different" in the Rich case compared with the Libby case.
Bill Clinton said Bush administration officials "believe they should be able to do what they want to do, and the law is a minor obstacle."
Sen. Clinton, D-N.Y. and a 2008 presidential candidate, said the commutation "arose from the administration's politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies."
"This commutation sends the clear signal that in this administration, cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice," she said in a statement.
Libby, former chief of staff for Vice President Cheney, had been sentenced to 30 months in prison, a $250,000 fine (which Libby paid Thursday with a check) and two years of probation. Bush on Monday let the conviction stand, but used his commutation authority to erase the prison time. Libby was convicted of lying to investigators looking into the White House leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.
Rich was indicted in 1983 for evading $48 million in taxes. The 51 counts included allegations of having illegal oil transactions with Iran while that nation held U.S. hostages in 1979-80. Rich fled to Switzerland to avoid trial.
Denise Rich, his ex-wife, was a high-dollar donor to the Clintons and Democratic candidates.
In a peculiar twist, Libby was Rich's lawyer from 1985-2000 and had urged Clinton to issue the pardon.
In February 2001, after leaving office, Clinton said the pardon was justified because several lawyers, including Libby, "made a persuasive case" for it, including noting that the federal government usually files only civil lawsuits against people accused of doing what Rich allegedly did.
The pardon was among 141 granted on Clinton's last day in office, and among more than 200 granted after the 2000 election.
"When you think about the previous administration and the eleventh-hour, fire-sale pardons ... it's really startling that they have the gall to criticize what we believe is a very considered, a very deliberate approach to a very unique case," said White House spokesman Scott Stanzel.
Also Thursday, the White House offered a defiant response to House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers' decision to investigate the Libby commutation.
"Fine," said Snow, advising Conyers, D-Mich., to "knock himself out."
"And while he's at it, why doesn't he look at Jan. 20, 2001?" he said, referring to Clinton's last-day pardons.
Conyers' committee gave the White House until Monday to explain the basis for the commutation. The committee hearing is scheduled for Wednesday. Conyers told Fox Radio News on Thursday that his committee would look into presidential clemency issues dating back several administrations, including President Ford's pardon of President Nixon.
"We're trying to examine the use and misuse of the clemency power and the commutation power and we'll be examining it of all presidents because that's the only way we can determine whether they've been used properly and whether there should be changes considered," said Conyers, who does not question Bush's constitutional authority to commute Libby's prison sentence.
But Rep. Robert Wexler, D-Fla., said he has drafted a resolution censuring Bush for taking an action he called "an unconscionable abuse of authority."
"Congress must step forward and express the disgust that Americans rightfully feel toward this contemptible decision," Wexler said in a statement.
Stanzel said the White House would "respond appropriately" to the committee's request for information but said that the Democrats controlling Congress seem more intent on investigating the administration than passing laws.
"They've launched over 300 investigations and had over 350 requests for documents and interviews since taking over," Stanzel said, adding, "and in that time, what they have to show for it, if you're taking a generous look at it, is six bills, six major bills passed."
Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told the Associated Press these numbers were wrong but did not offer his own.
Snow said White House lawyers remain confident that Bush's decision to erase the prison time does not affect the probation.
But U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, a Bush appointee presiding in the case, said in a Tuesday order that federal law "does not appear to contemplate a situation" allowing for probation for somebody who has not completed "a term of incarceration."
The judge asked lawyers in the case to address the probation issue by Monday.
Snow said White House lawyers believe the probationary period begins soon, as if Libby had served time in prison.

I must admit that I do agree with that statement.

At this point in time I do believe that it doesn't matter which party you support Democrat or Republican they are all the same, and they always have been.

Its all smoke and mirrors to make us think that they actually give a damn.

Its just so irritating how the current group of government officials have no shame in how they flaunt their corrupt power day in, and day out.