President Bush said:
In a written statement issued hours after that ruling, Bush called 30-month term “excessive.†But he also rejected calls for a pardon for Libby, and said the onetime adviser will still have to pay a $250,000 fine and remain on probation for two years.
Which is more than President Clinton received for lying under oath. And more than Sandy Berger got for stealing secret documents.
This commutation came after a Federal Appeals Court decided the Libby could not remain free during appeal. Which is harsher than John Gotti got; Gotti walked free for years on appeal.
The best explanation on why this should not gone as far as it did is given by Emperor Misha:
I am, of course, extremely happy for Scooter and his family. At least he won’t have to go to jail for not remembering the correct sequence of conversations from years ago in a case about a non-crime committed by somebody else: Dickhead Armitage, something that was known to the prosecutor at the time.
In the old days these sorts of actions were called Witch Hunts.
Others blogging:
Blue Crab Boulevard, Captain’s Quarters, Patterico’s Pontifications and just to see heads explode visit TalkLeft.
(Can someone ask the ur-viles over at TalkLeft what should have happened to Sandy Burglar?)
As an amusing commentary on this, I made a brief comment to this effect in the discussion over on Slashdot. It was moderated as a “troll” comment, as were 2 followups.
Go figure. Young punks. Can’t live with ‘em, can’t shoot ‘em.