Scooter Libby
Amnesty for Scooter
Never in my life had I even considered choosing a political party, but I did so out of concern for what I saw in the Republican Party, particularly with regard to the Iraq War.
You see, as a veteran of the Iraq War, I am angry that the Administration and the Republican Party who have continually chosen to mislead the people on the true nature of the insurgency. When I returned from my second tour, in October 2004, I thought it was the highly charged political atmosphere of a presidential election that was essentially forcing the Administration to make claims about the war that I knew were untrue. However, I learned that half truths and outright lies are common with this Administration, and their talking points are loyally repeated by those in the Republican Party.
Despite my disappointment in the Administration I honestly didn’t want to believe that they would go so far as to overturn the decision of the jury and the court. They did!
The Administration, and the Republican Party who supported the Libby pardon, have once again let me down. They have proved that there is a different justice system for those in power and the rest of us. For if I had leaked that there was no evidence of WMD in Iraq before the war started, I can guarantee you that I would be thinking about that decision in Leavenworth Federal Prison for the next several years of my life.
But not Libby.
Not a person who was part of outing a convert CIA agent, and then lied to investigators about what the VP’s office had done. And after being convicted by a jury of his peers, he is essentially pardoned by the President. Apparently personal responsibility only applies to those people who are not in the Republican Party! I am ashamed of this Administration, and I know, in my heart, that this is not what I fought for when I went to war for my country.
Fortunately, I now know that I have made the right decision to become a Democrat. As much as I am not a fan of the two party system, I know that opposing this type of misguided power is the right thing to do, and it is the responsibility of the American people to change course.
Amnesty seems to be a dirty word these days, particularly to the Republican Party, but in the case of Scooter Libby amnesty has made conservatives proud of the President. Go Figure!
This letter has not been edited.
The person who did the "outing" was not prosecuted. Libby was convicted of perjury because he couldn't remember details of a year of conversations about which he didn't have notes.
Before you pass judgment on Bush for his pardon, you should look at the history of presidential pardons. Libby comes out looking like a saint in comparison.
Posted by Yaakov Watkins on July 23, 2007 03:53 PM"The person who did the "outing" was not prosecuted."
Wrong: Libby was one of a half-dozen or so Rove foot soldiers sent out to leak the name. Armatage may have been first to out her, but each instance was a traitorous act. Why would you defend someone revealing the names of our covert assets?
" Libby was convicted of perjury because he couldn't remember details of a year of conversations about which he didn't have notes."
He was convicted of obstruction of justice and perjury by a jury of his peers, and sentenced by a Republican judge.
Yaakov, why do you think you know more about the case than the judge and jury?
How many times do your talking points need to be knocked down before it penetrates that you simply don't know what you are talking about?
I know the answer: You're a Authoritarian Bush Cultist. You just defend him no matter what. He could be filmed eating puppies alive and you would rationalize it.
Sad.
Posted by Charles B on July 23, 2007 05:06 PMShould have let the CIA handle this themselves. Bullet behind the ear.
Posted by on July 23, 2007 05:06 PMJust because the "smokiing gun" of WMD was not found does not mean there were none there. I challenge Lous NBC trainning then. Anthrax, nerve, and yellow cake were found. Just because they were fortunately not used against the Allies does not mean they were not present. If Lou was in the military then basic NBC trainning tells him of the nature of these weapons and the FACT they were there.
Posted by on July 23, 2007 05:11 PMJust because the "smokiing gun" of WMD was not found does not mean there were none there. I challenge Lous NBC trainning then. Anthrax, nerve, and yellow cake were found. Just because they were fortunately not used against the Allies does not mean they were not present. If Lou was in the military then basic NBC trainning tells him of the nature of these weapons and the FACT they were there.
Posted by on July 23, 2007 05:13 PMCharles B--
Very well stated. Thank you for your comments.
Posted by B. Stuckey on July 23, 2007 05:29 PMLou, Nice letter I agree with you in all areas, this administration is corrupt and rotten to the core. We are just scratching the surface, it will take years to uncover the depth of corruption with this crew. Now be prepared for the attacks against you for speaking out, the followers of this administration will defend them to the end no matter what they do. Clinton's name will be mentioned alot in future posts against you.
Posted by Michael D on July 23, 2007 06:10 PMI am an x-Republican and while I say X am still saddened and embarrassed by the current administration which will undoubtedly go down as either the worst in history or very close to it.
Posted by Bob on July 23, 2007 06:35 PMScooter Libby. Hmmm. Seems like I've heard that name before somewhere. Could it have been on this forum? Isn't he Yaakov Watkins' brother or something?
Posted by Truth on July 23, 2007 06:51 PMI challenge Lous NBC trainning then. Anthrax, nerve, and yellow cake were found.
Posted by on July 23, 2007 05:13 PM
Gee if they were found 5:13 then how come the rest of the world didn't hear about it? You would tend to think that that would be the kind of news that would validate George Bush and his miserable mistake in Mesopotamia.
The alternative explanation is that 5:13 has been swigging too much Kool-Aid again. These Bush addicts will believe anything and forgive everything. This letter is really about the descent of the Republican Party from a position of moral clarity to condoning the flagrant disregard for the Rule of Law by their elected officials. Anything done by Republicans is OK and everything done by Democrats is an outrage. Such utter blatant hypocrisy.
Posted by Wes on July 24, 2007 06:58 AMhe was guilty of having a bad memory. how many of you have a spotless memory for what happened last year?
look at berger and his punishment. his actions were much worse than having a bad memory. he put our country at risk with stealing classified documents.
shut up about libby and start looking at the real issues.
Posted by ktr on July 24, 2007 10:10 AMktr:
Why do you think you are a better judge of Libby's guilt than the jury that convicted him and the Republican judge who sentenced him?
Posted by Charles B on July 24, 2007 04:07 PMLou, I hope you aren't expecting the Dems to be any less corrupt and inept as the Republicans. If so, prepare to be very disillusioned. After all, a whopping 14% of Americans approve of the job congress is doing.
They're (almost) all dirty on the hill.
Posted by RU Serious on July 24, 2007 07:41 PM"They have proved that there is a different justice system for those in power and the rest of us"
Haven't there been thousands of people pardoned by presidents in history?
Haven't there also been pardons to drug smugglers, sexual predators and others in politics?
Why is Libby such an exception? He's just another of the thousands that get pardoned.
And there will be many more in the decades to come.
Posted by KW on July 25, 2007 11:41 AMI am an Gulf and Iraq War vet too, and I recently retired from the US Air Force.
Until I read your post, I thought that I was the only Liberal military person in existence.
The Republicans have done such a good job of smearing their opposition, everyone seemingly believes that Liberals and Democrats hate the military and people of faith.
It's too bad that there are so many people who don't question the status quo.
Rather than listen to the rumor mill that got this whole ridiculous thing started and ended with Libby being convicted for perjury, find out how Robert Novak, the original source of the entire episode, feels about what took place. In short, it all started out as a very innocent question asked by Novak and innocently answered by Richard Armatage. Libby simply repeated an answer a similar question in the very same fashion, but rumors got going that Libby had outed Plame.
Charles B is absolutely wrong in suggesting there was a conspiracy by the Bush administration to disclose Valerie Plame out of revenge.