Bush overturns court order - in short order

By Libby Spencer

It's no surprise that Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence, although the speed with which our Feckless Leader subverted the will of the courts is a bit dizzying. But it's a savvy political move. His ratings are already in the dumper so he only stands to gain a little bump among the dead-ender loyalists who insist a consenual blow job should be a hanging offense but breaching national security to avoid being exposed as liars is just aokay with them.

Frankly, I don't care that Scooter will never have to worry about living up, or down, to his name in the prison showers. This administration has already made such a mockery of the judiciary and the rule of law that this is just one more tiny cut, not a major blow to the jugular vein of justice. It's not that he doesn't deserve it, it's just that by rights it should have been Cheney and Rove doing the perp walk and we have too many people in jail anyway.

In fact, I like Bush's reasoning on this. He says he communted the sentence because he considered it excessive. Since it fell pretty much in the middle of the guidelines he and his pet AG Fredo are insisting should not only be kept intact but enchanced and more fully enforced, maybe he could explain why he won't also commute the sentence of every person incarcerated under those arbitrary guidelines.

Via Radley, here's a list of people whose cases could use some similar presidential mercy and there's thousands more where those came from. I've given up on seeing Cheney held to account out of this travesty. I doubt the press will now put the focus on why Libby lied in the first place, as it should have been right along. But if the commutation at least throws the spotlight on the horrendous practice of mandatory sentencing, it will be worth it in return for Scooter's skip.

(Cross-posted at The Impolitic.)