Pardon Me, You Left Your Tears On The Jukebox…
…and I’m afraid they got mixed up with my perjury conviction.
Wow! Was that weak or what? But all the good pardon jokes have already been taken. With all the buzz about whether George W. Bush will pardon Libby (answer: yes, he will, provided Libby loses his appeals – or earlier, if he’s forced to jail while awaiting the outcome of said appeals – and second answer, by God, he better!), TIME has a look at some of the more notoriouis presidential pardons (and yes, Marc Rich is in there)…
Why should Libby be pardoned?
Because he can. Remember Ford pardoned Nixon. Maybe he will just commute his sentence.
Oh, I just feel he should be…regardless of whether you think PlameGate was serious or much ado about nothing, it’s clear Libby is taking the fall. That’s not to excuse his behavior – it was stupid and criminal…so if he does do time, well, that’s what you get for lying to the FBI and the grand jury…
Most of the arguments I’ve seen for pardon — including the op-ed in today’s Journal — miss the mark. Others also leaked? Irrelevant: I don’t get a free pass to drive 90 because others do and don’t get caught. Victimless crime? No: the victim of perjury and obstruction is the system of justice. No charges brought for exposing Plame? Tell that to Martha Stewart.
I think the case to pardon him is that I don’t see what good it does to send him to prison. Preventing repeat occurences? You send a rapist to prison so he doesn’t rape again. Libby will not be a serial perjurer. Bad example to others? I don’t think that a pardon will incite others to perjure and obstruct justice. Retribution on behalf of society: he has suffered enough.
By all accounts, Libby was an upstanding citizen until this happened. That should be taken into account. True justice comes from looking at each defendant and the circumstances which led him to a conviction, and then finding a punishment which is suitable for the crime and the defendant. In my view, the appropriate punishment is disbarment.
I just don’t think he’s going to get off that light, and that’s where the pardon comes in. If it was just disbarment, fine, no pardon necessary…but I feel he’ll be made an example of…
I don’t think he will get off that lightly either. The judge will follow the sentencing guidelines. Bush can’t pardon him (at least until after the elections) because a pardon will be interpreted as a way to silence Libby from testifying against Cheney. (Whether or not this is true, that is how it will be perceived.)
If I had to bet on it, I would predict that he will serve time in jail and then be pardoned between election day and 1/20/09.