David Henninger: Pardon Libby for the Good of the Country

[Cronopio]

Of all of the braindead RW op-eds I've read this year, this one takes the cake.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123197743355383591.html

... I think there is a good legal argument for the Libby pardon, but others have done that well, making a credible case that he in fact is innocent. But there is another dimension to this that deserves consideration.

Washington is on thin ice. The American people could not be more disgusted than they are with the tenor and conduct of politics in Washington. The long Libby case was more muck. When the vice president's chief of staff was convicted, financially ruined and professionally destroyed on the basis of a conversation, my first thought was, this is going to make it hard to attract the best people to serve in Washington.

Why wouldn't the spouse of anyone offered a similar job argue that if the system can let a Scooter Libby wash over the falls for this, the price is just too high. "You aren't going to put our family's future at this much risk. We won't serve. We can't."

Yes, a pardon would set the anti-Bush chorus to howling. So? They've done plenty to turn the city into a viper's nest. ...

These were hard years, and required hard decisions. It's time to let Scooter Libby get back to work. Like the rest of Washington.

[Lint Head]

1. Pardon marijuana users for the sake of the country.

:dem:

[jimshoes]

2. Correct me if I'm wrong but

aren't these same people ready to place Blagojevich's head on a pike over a mere conversation?

[bluestateguy]

3. If Libby is not pardoned, he'll spill the beans

I'm not sure what beans he'll spill, but I'm sure he'll spill them.

It's not like he'd have to worry about incriminating himself, as he's already a convicted felon.

[rpannier]

4. FISCALLY RUINED ????????!!!!!!

They raised more than 1/2 a millions bucks for his defense.

According to many sources at the time, I think his attorney fees were in the neighborhod of 300K.

Fiscally ruined my ass.

I'd like to be fiscally ruined like that.

[Cirque du So-What]

5. They pulled this same shit after Nixon resigned in disgrace

calling for 'national healing' and letting bygones be bygones. I curse the day that advice was followed, setting the stage for Cheney, Rumsfeld, et. al., to wriggle their wormlike way through the offices of power in government and the military-industrial complex - only to emerge ready to grasp the reins of power years later.

I don't want the slimy neocon enablers from these past eight years to emerge 10-20 years hence ready to wreak some new horror upon our nation and the world. Fuck reconciliation! Exact some measure of justice while there's still time!