Still burning over the Libby Commutation

I know this is ancient history as far as the MSM is concerned, but I only recently started blogging, and I still hear this half-baked argument from brainwashed friends and relatives, so I think it’s still relevant.

Conservative Myth #25: There was “no underlying crime” to charge Scooter Libby with in the CIA Leak Investigation since Richard Armitage leaked Plame’s identity, not Libby.

This one really galls me. When my right-wing buddy Jay at work tried to use this defense, I countered with my multiple assassins analogy. It goes like this: Four assassins are hired for a hit. They set up in different locations along a path they know the victim will travel. When the victim walks done the path, they open fire. Assassin #1 is a crack shot and shoots the victim square in the forehead, instantly killing him. Assassin #2 fires multiple shots but fails to hit the victim. Assassin #3 grazes the victim in the leg with his bullet. And Assassin #4 falls asleep and awakens to find the victim already dead. Which of the Assassin’s are guilty of a crime? Though only one Assassin fired the killing shot, all were guilty of at least attempted murder, and a wide range of lesser charges. I’m not a lawyer, but I’m sure a competent DA could convict all 4 guys of a number of crimes.

Suppose we carry the analogy further: Assassin #2 is caught by the police and arrested. The police find his gun, the shell casings, the bullets, and have the dead body of the victim, so they know #2 is involved, but forensics prove his gun didn’t fire either of the bullets in the body. Furthermore, the police find the money #2 was paid for the hit and info on the victim on his person. Disproving the theory that there’s no honor among thieves, #2 refuses to give up his accomplices, and the police never find or charge the real killer. The police charge #2 with attempted murder, obstruction of justice, etc. etc. He is eventually convicted and goes to jail for a long time. Justice is served, a criminal was convicted, but the person guilty of the actual murder and those who ordered and paid for the murder, remain free.

The analogy falls apart a little here because Armitage was revealed as Bob Novak’s source, and Novak testified as such. BUT, and its a big but, Libby LIED to the FBI and Special Prosecutor Fitzgerald about his role. His silence also prevented the prosecution from getting all the facts and parties involved with the leak, hence Libby’s conviction on the obstruction of justice charge. He obstructed the investigation, thereby making it impossible to discern if there was more serious crimes committed and who else was involved.

As for Armitage, he leaked, but due to his full cooperation with investigators, Fitzgerald’s inability to find any evidence that Armitage knew Plame was covert when he leaked her name, and some fancy lawyering he avoided criminal charges.

Personally, I think Armitage knew what he was doing, and was working alongside Libby and Rove to expose Plame-Wilson. I think he should be in jail too. I would add to his list of crimes aiding and abetting the administration’s falsified case for War with Iraq. But c’est la vie.

Libby is still guilty–as guilty as the fictional Assassin #2 in my analogy. He tried to get Plame’s name into MSM and while doing so must’ve known who she was and what she did for a living. He refused to reveal who told him about Plame being a covert CIA operative, when he learned this, and why he leaked her name to the press. He’s a crook and he was found guilty of being a crook. Only intervention by the most-powerful crook in the country saved his delicate bum from jail time.

No Law, No Justice, No Peace, No Liberty, No Security

There is no law. There is no justice.

From Bush Commutes Libby Prison Sentence, by Ben Feller:

WASHINGTON — President Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby from a 2 1/2-year prison term in the CIA leak investigation Monday, delivering a political thunderbolt in the highly charged criminal case. Bush said the sentence was just too harsh.

Bush’s move came just five hours after a federal appeals panel ruled that Libby could not delay his prison term. That meant Libby was likely to have to report soon, and it put new pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby’s allies to pardon Vice President Dick Cheney’s former chief of staff.

“I respect the jury’s verdict,” Bush said in a statement. “But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.”

Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald disputed the president’s assertion that the prison term was excessive. Libby was sentenced under the same laws as other criminals, Fitzgerald said. “It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals,” the prosecutor said.

. . .

The president noted Libby supporters’ argument that the punishment did not fit the crime for a “first-time offender with years of exceptional public service.”

Yet, he added: “Others point out that a jury of citizens weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice. They argue, correctly, that our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable.”

Bush then stripped away the prison time.

Deluge the White House with telephone calls if you can’t go to D.C. and march in the street. Tell President Bush this is not justice.

Hopefully Bush’s latest mockery of justice will convince congress to put impeachment back on the table.

Romney won’t pardon War Hero, but he might pardon Libby

U.S. Army National Guard Lt. Anthony Circosta.

My former Governor Mitt Romney is back in the local papers, but not for some asinine comment about “doubling the size of Guantanamo” or saying we wouldn’t be at war with Iraq if Saddam hadn’t kicked out the weapons inspectors and violated U.N. resolutions pre-invasion (both known lies). No, Romney’s made headlines again in Massachusetts for NOT pardoning a decorated Iraq War Veteran while he was Governor.

The highly-decorated, unpardoned War Hero is Anthony Circosta. At age 13, he was convicted of assault for shooting another boy in the arm with a BB gun. Although the BB didn’t break the victim’s skin, Circosta’s conviction has cost him deeply. Circosta grew-up to a be a law-abiding adult who put himself through college and served his country with distinction in Iraq as a member of the U.S. Army National Guard, but because of his youthful offense he cannot fulfill his ambition of becoming a police officer.

So, this Bronze Star-awarded Iraq War Veteran petitioned then-Governor Mitt Romney–twice–for a pardon. At the time of his first petition, in 2005, he was leading a platoon in Iraq. Both of Lt. Circosta’s petitions were denied by Romney.

This story would be offensive enough without some recent comments by Romney in which he indicated his burning desire to issue a Presidential pardon if he is elected. At a CNN Republican Presidential debate of June 5th, Romney bragged to the party faithful that while he had NEVER issued a pardon while Governor of the state of Massachusetts, as President he would carefully examine the option of pardoning a certain high-profile, neo-conservative convicted criminal. This criminal, he believed, was a true patriot unjustly accused and convicted, a man truly worthy of a pardon. The patriot’s name? I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

Let’s put this in perspective: Romney refused–twice–to pardon a decorated Iraq War Veteran who shot someone in the arm with a BB Gun when he was 13. But, he is literally salivating with anticipation at the thought of pardoning a man who, with VP Cheney, concocted a plan to start an illegal, pre-emptive war against a country which was no threat to us. He would pardon a man who helped to start an illegal war for oil but never served in his country’s armed forces. A man who served as the “right-hand” to the most secretive, deceptive Vice President in history until he was forced to resign in dishonor. A man who was convicted of lying to the F.B.I and a Grand Jury and obstructing justice so as to derail an investigation into whether senior members of the Bush administration revealed the identity of a secret C.I.A operative as retaliation for her husband writing a New York Times Op-Ed piece that criticized said administration’s use of KNOWN FAULTY INTELLIGENCE to build a case for the previously mentioned illegal, pre-emptive war. A man who harmed national security by helping to leak the identity of said covert C.I.A operative, who at one time worked in Nuclear Counter-Proliferation in the Middle East. This guy–this CRIMINAL–he would pardon. That, my fellow Americans, is outrageous and contemptible and despicable.

In Romney’s own words, from the CNN Presidential debate of June 5, 2007 (full transcript available here):

ROMNEY: This is one of those situations where I go back to my record as governor. I didn’t pardon anybody as governor, because I didn’t want to overturn a jury.

But in this case, you have a prosecutor who clearly abused prosecutorial discretion by going after somebody when he already knew that the source of the leak was Richard Armitage.

He’d been told that. So he went on a political vendetta.

BLITZER: Was that a yes?

ROMNEY: It’s worth looking at that. I will study it very closely if I’m lucky enough to be president. And I’d keep that option open.

By his refusal to pardon Anthony Circosta and his intention to pardon Mr. Libby, Romney has thumbed his nose at our troops instead of supporting them. He refused–twice–to pardon a decorated Soldier for a youthful indiscretion. He would, however, fall over himself trying to protect someone rich and powerful like himself who has been tried and convicted of great crimes but shows no remorse and offers no apology.

A few weeks back, when Mitt Romney was shamelessly trying to court pro-gun NRA types, he bragged of his youthful hunting adventures and proclaimed his love of hunting varmint. But Mitt Romney is no varmint-hunter, he’s a varmint.

P.S. Governor Patrick–if you’re reading this–pardon Lt. Anthony Circosta.