Enraged
by digby
So Bush did it. The bastard commuted little Scooter's sentence, leaving the conviction in place. I'm not a lawyer, but I have to assume that this means he can still appeal --- which means he can still take the fifth if the congress calls him to to testify. Very convenient.
Suzanne Malveaux (who is suffering from Stockhom Syndrome as the white house correspondent) said that "a lot of people" were in favor of this. Bill Schneider actually set her straight by saying that a large number of Democrats, Independents and even some Republicans were going to be enraged. Their last poll had 72% saying they didn't think Libby should be pardoned and only 19% saying he did.
I don't know about you, but I'm pretty enraged. What can we do about it?
And by the way -- Sentelle was in on this. No doubt in my mind.
Update: Marcy Wheeler agrees about the fifth ... and says Bush is obstructing justice:
Well, George did it. Made sure that Scooter wouldn't flip rather than do jail time. He commuted Libby's sentence, guaranteeing not only that Libby wouldn't talk, but retaining Libby's right to invoke the Fifth.
This amounts to nothing less than obstruction of justice.
I hope nobody's expecting the DC press corps to see it that way. From what I'm seeing, this is just more good news for Republicans, like everything else.
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