If you ever wanted some assurance that the free-ride is finally over for our beloved bubble boy, the reaction from left to right is bound to make you smile. While there’s a thick fog surrounding the most vehemently childish portion of the right-wing and James Carville’s bald head, it isn’t going to spread so easily anymore. This is the United States of America. In this country you cannot swear to tell the truth, and then lie under oath. It is against the rules. To argue against that logic, in my mind, makes you an unethical shill. Now I’ll share the opinions of some political writers who, unlike the child-cons I just described, will still be relevant in 10 years:
Frank Rich – A Profile in Cowardice: “There was never any question that President Bush would grant amnesty to Scooter Libby, the man who knows too much about the lies told to sell the war in Iraq. The only questions were when, and how, Mr. Bush would buy Mr. Libby’s silence. Now we have the answers, and they’re at least as incriminating as the act itself. They reveal the continued ferocity of a White House cover-up and expose the true character of a commander in chief whose tough-guy shtick can no longer camouflage his fundamental cowardice.”
Andrew Sullivan – Why The Perjury?: “It means of course that they knowingly exaggerated the causes for war. That’s why this story still rankles, because it’s the closest the outside world has really gotten to the real nexus of decision-making on Iraq that obviously took place in Cheney’s circle. I can still just about believe that Bush thought the WMD case was sound. I can’t believe, given all that we now know, that Cheney did. He’s too smart. The data he read, we now know, was far more equivocal than the data the public was provided with. He’s not new at this. He probably never wanted to make the WMD argument anyway, put it in to appease the UN crowd, and certainly wasn’t going to query its validity. We may never know, of course, because Cheney will have destroyed the evidence, but if I had to guess, I’d say it’s obvious Cheney knew all along that the WMD line was a cover, not a real threat, but realized by the summer of 2003 that any hint of this leaking (even from a two-bit blowhard like Wilson) needed swift and brutal rebuttal. They were embarrassed enough by the WMD bust, but if it was revealed that they had ignored all the caveats beforehand, it could get really dicey.” (Response posts 1, 2)
Pat Buchanan – How Scooter Skated?: “Will the student deferments for these fellows never end?”
Matthew Yglesias: “Is ‘I broke the law to help my boss cover-up embarrassing but non-criminal conduct’ a reasonable case for lenience? No. Is ‘he broke the law to help me cover-up embarrassing by non-criminal conduct’ a reasonable case for granting someone clemency? Also no.”
Here are the numbers (h/t Andrew Sullivan)
Oppose Pardon = RED
Great graphic, Al. What’s up with those that answered “Don’t Know”? Hey, What is your reaction to Cindy Sheehan’s possible challenge to Pelosi in ’08? I think Cindy has a great chance in this district. Many voters here are leaving the democratic party and putting down “decline to state” as an alternative in their registration.
Pelosi will try to cut a deal, but Sheehan won’t back down. This will be nasty. If she runs as a Democrat, it’ll be an uphill struggle, and especially so if these new GOP Senate defections from the Iraq strategy end up giving Reid what he needs to get a draw-down on legislation that can survive the veto. If every Democrat in the House votes for the bill, I don’t see where Sheehan will be able to grab a hold of Pelosi in the campaign.
I’m on her side when it comes to the Democrats having sold out on their compromise (minimum wage) with the last suplemental, and I’m still pissed about that. If I had the money, I’d donate to her campaign. That said – the type of campaign she will have to run…say for instance, she’s asked about subprime mortgages, relations with Venezuela, and earmarks. How can she get those positions out there to enough people before the 30 second spots are already tearing them up as being “naive”?
Maybe you could guest-blog on this story, being that you’re right there in the thick of it?
The thing about Libby is that in 2003 Bush said he would fire anyone on his staff who leaked Plames identity. Why is Rove still there?
I still think it’s all about her District (Pelosi’s), pretty liberal in my book (Oh, sure you have some of them Hollywood types living in Marin County). The sheep…err…I mean the voters will flock to Sheehan like some Cunt-struck Sheriff that resided in a place called Deadwood. When Cindy “retired” 6 weeks ago, I knew something was up; I just couldn’t put my finger on it. This move is so clever. Think Globally, Act Locally. Impeachment is becoming more and more spoken…it’s deja vu all over again.
I can’t get amy winehouse out of my skull!
Will Bonds give a shit and hit in the derby?
Damn it! Tom Lantos is my Rep., but I’m still closer than most on this new congressional race. Any time you need me to contribute, I will. C. Sheehan will always be fodder for the left $ Right Blogs. Yet, She will always be a Gold Star MoM. You can’t take that away. If she is focused, like I know she is, she will win and the war will finally end.