By Richard Walrath
I’m not sure abot this, but I think the idea of getting a pardon for Scooter Libby soon — as in right away — is so Libby doesn’t tell Fitzgerald what else he knows about the Valerie Plame leak case. What was the name of the guy Clinton pardoned as he was leaving office — Rich? Libby helped arrange the pardon for him. Now Libby is the fall guy for Dick Cheney. But is Libby willing to go to jail for Cheney? I don’t think so.
National Review’s Kate O’Beirne was on MSNBC’s Hard Ball with Chris Matthews as soon as the trial was over, pushing for an immediate pardon for Libby. But she couldn’t get it through her head that a pardon meant you must have been convicted of some crime because you had been found guilty.
Barry Goldwater went to Richard Nixon to tell him what Nixon already knew — his base had eroded. If impeachment proceedings were to continue, it was clear that not only was it very likely that Nixon would be impeached, but he would be convicted in his trial in the Senate. Nixon chose to resign. Ford granted Nixon a pardon for "any crimes he had or may have commited," but that was a unique case.
Now that Libby has been convicted, the right-wingers, the Wall Street Urinal, the National Standard and the National Review are huffing and puffing with indignation. These are the same specimens that were dancing in the streets over the impeachment of Bill Clinton.
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