More Scooter Libby silliness

The silliness comes out of the mouth of the President and anyone suggesting that this was not a partisan act protecting a crony. From today's New York Times:

...Mr. Bush explained his clemency philosophy in Texas in his 1999 memoir, “A Charge to Keep.”

“In every case,” he wrote, “I would ask: Is there any doubt about this individual’s guilt or innocence? And, have the courts had ample opportunity to review all the legal issues in this case?”

In Mr. Libby’s case, Mr. Bush expressed no doubts about his guilt. He said he respected the jury’s verdict, and he did not pardon Mr. Libby, leaving him a convicted felon. And Mr. Bush acted before the courts had completed their review of his appeal.

“As governor, Bush essentially viewed the clemency power as limited to cases of demonstrable actual innocence,” said Jordan M. Steiker, a law professor at the University of Texas who has represented death-row inmates.

“The exercise of the commutation power in Libby,” Professor Steiker continued, “represents a dramatic shift from his attitude toward clemency in Texas, and it is entirely inconsistent with his longstanding, very limited approach.”

***

Jeanie Mamo, a White House spokesman, said on Saturday that Mr. Bush “has been very careful and deliberative in the use of his pardon powers.”

“The president commuted — not a pardon — the sentence of Mr. Libby based on thoughtful and deliberate reasoning and acted within the lawful authority granted to him under the Constitution, which he has used very sparingly,” Ms. Mamo said. “As the president has said, he respects the jury’s verdict and he felt the punishments that the judge determined were adequate which included a $250,000 fine, two years probation and a felony conviction. However, in this case, the president considered the 30-month jail sentence for Mr. Libby to be excessive.”As governor, Mr. Bush did not issue formal statements giving reasons for granting or denying clemency. But in his memoir, Mr. Bush wrote that he considered clemency requests carefully.

Something I have not heard anyone else mention is that the White House can no more come up with a good story and stick with it regarding Libby than they have done with the U.S. Attorney mess. Whether they will keep talking until the whole truth becomes known or they will keep talking till they have created their own scandal over Libby. What an inept bunch of idiots we have let run the country.