Bush + Libby + Hillary = STFU!
Some Guy
Analysis: Hypocrisy abounds on all sides of Libby case
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The hypocrisy is unpardonable. President Bush's
decision to commute the sentence of a convicted liar brought out the
worst in both parties.
In keeping I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby out of jail, Bush defied his promise
to hold wrongdoers accountable and undercut his 2000 campaign pledge to
"restore honor and dignity" to the White House. And it might be a
cynical first step toward issuing a full pardon at the conclusion of his
term.
Democrats responded as if they don't live in glass houses, decrying
corruption, favoritism and a lack of justice.
"This commutation sends the clear signal that in this administration,
cronyism and ideology trump competence and justice," said Sen. Hillary
Rodham Clinton of New York, a leading candidate for the Democratic
presidential nomination.
It was a brazen statement from a woman entangled in many Clinton White
House scandals, including the final one: On his last day in office,
President Clinton granted 140 pardons and 36 commutations, many of them
controversial.
One of those pardoned was Marc Rich, who had fled the country after
being indicted for tax evasion and whose wife had donated more than $1
million to Democratic causes.
Clinton's half brother, Roger, who was convicted of distributing cocaine
and lobbied the White House on behalf of others, also received a pardon.
Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, was paid tens of thousands of
dollars in his successful bid to win pardons for a businessman under
investigation for money laundering and a commutation for a convicted
drug trafficker. Her other brother, Tony, lobbied successfully for
clemency on behalf of a couple convicted of bank fraud.
It's hard to fathom that those pardons had absolutely nothing to do with
cronyism or ideology, but Hillary Clinton defended them. She drew a
distinction between her husband's pardons and Bush's commutation.
In an interview with The Associated Press, the senator said Bill
Clinton's pardons were simply a routine exercise in the use of the
pardon power, and none was aimed at protecting the Clinton presidency or
legacy. "This," she said of the Libby commutation, "was clearly an
effort to protect the White House."
Indeed, there is ample evidence that Libby's actions were fueled by
animosity throughout the White House toward opponents of the president's
push to war against Iraq.
But Hillary Clinton will have a hard time convincing most voters that
her brother-in-law would have gotten a pardon in 2001 had his name been
Smith. Or that Rich's pardon plea would have reached the president's
desk had he not been a rich Mr. Rich.
The hypocrisy doesn't stop there.
Bush vowed at the start of the investigation to fire anybody involved in
the leak of a CIA agent's identity, but one of the leakers, adviser Karl
Rove, still works at the White House. Libby was allowed to keep his job
until he was indicted for lying about his role.
The president said Libby's sentence was excessive. But the 2 1/2 years
handed Libby was much like the sentences given others convicted in
obstruction cases. Three of every four people convicted for obstruction
of justice in federal court were sent to prison, for an average term of
more than five years.
Want more hypocrisy? Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney
praised the commutation for Libby, quite a departure for a guy who brags
that he was the first Massachusetts governor to deny every request for a
pardon or commutation. Romney even refused a pardon for an Iraq war
veteran who, at age 13, was convicted of assault for shooting another
boy in the arm with a BB gun.
What about all the Republican politicians who defied public sentiment
and insisted that President Clinton be impeached for lying under oath
about his affair with Monica Lewinsky? Many of them now minimize Libby's
perjury.
What about all those Democrats who thought public shame was punishment
enough for Clinton lying under oath, basically the position adopted
today by Libby's supporters? Many of those Democrats now think Libby
should go to jail for his perjury.
"There appears to be rank hypocrisy at work here on both sides of the
political spectrum," said Joe Gaylord, a GOP consultant who worked for
House Speaker Newt Gingrich during impeachment. "It causes Americans to
shake their heads in disgust at the political system."
The Libby case followed the same pattern of hype and hypocrisy
established during Clinton's impeachment scandal. It's as if we're all
sentenced to relive the same sad scene:
A powerful man lies or otherwise does wrong.
He gets caught.
His enemies overreach in the name of justice.
His friends minimize the crime in pursuit of self-interest.
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And the powerful man hires a lawyer.
Marc Rich had a high-priced attorney for his battles with the justice
system. His name was Scooter Libby.