Black Box Report

Justice is served! Now we can put this whole sordid affair of who-lied-to-what-grand-jury and who-covered-up-for-who behind us and move forward as a nation. At least that's the case if you listen to rightwing bloggers and Betltway pundits:

Libby was tried by an abusive prosecutor out for fame and name who knew Libby had nothing to do with the exposure of Valerie Plame's identity to the media, but all the same caught Libby in misrecollections of events.

It was just simple misrecollections! Mistakes anyone could make! There was no crime. Except the ones the jury found him guilty of. And it's that little detail that's not going to win Andrew McCarthy any friends by pointing out to the rest of the crack staff at The Corner:

Witnesses have varying recollections, and juries sort it out. The evidence that Libby lied, rather than that he was confused, was compelling. And the jury was dilligent...on the one count where the evidence was considerably weaker than the others, they acquitted him. They convicted him on the other four charges, reluctantly, because they had no choice if they were going to honor their oaths.

Now, as much as Bush respects the jury and the legal process, he felt this was a time for a classic Bush "compromise". A judge says "30 months." Bush says, "Hmmm. Seems like a little too much. How about...nothing?" Some would call that hypocrisy. Others would call it obstruction of justice. The Carpetbagger Report has another interesting word for it:

Perhaps we should call this what it is: "amnesty." In conservative circles, there's a standard approach to law and order: we need tougher sentences, inflexible mandatory-minimums, and harsh punishment for those found to have broken U.S. law. But if you help expose the identity of a covert CIA agent during a war, lie about it, and are convicted by a jury on multiple felony counts, those standards no longer apply.

But those standards are for other people. Scooter's not like the rest of us, he's special. And so is the editorial board at the Washington Post. And sensible pundits like David Brooks and David Broder, who are very pleased that Scooter doesn't have to sully himself in a common jail, they're special too I'll let Jane Hamsher explain how special:

Demonstrating his complete contempt for trial by jury, rule of law and his own Department of Justice appointees, George Bush thumbed his nose once again at the very concept of democracy and the Beltway Brahmins are cheering. The dirty unwashed masses who populate our juries are fit to judge each other, but evidently not the ruling class. David Broder can breathe a sigh of relief that People Like Him are safe from those overly zealous US Attorneys who might want to hold them accountable to the same absurd standards that the little people must live by.

How quaint.

Nobody's surprised Scooter skated. No one's surprised Bush gave the rule of law the same respect Rodney Dangerfield's wives gave him - none. But just because you can see it coming doesn't make it any less galling when it arrives:

UPDATE - Atrios had an excellent idea:

Call the White House

Politely tell them what you think about the commutation.

Comments: 202-456-1111

Light 'em up.