As record high fuel prices, category 5 hurricanes, and drowning polar bears have helped slap some sense into the reluctant minds of many science-denying troglodytes, so to must the record hubris, category 5 incompetence, and drowning integrity of this administration slap some sense into the reluctant minds of the remaining reality-denying Bush supporters.
Oddly enough, you'd think that pardoning a traitor would be the last straw -- even for these people. You'd be wrong. In fact, acting as savior for the American betrayer known as I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby might be the only thing that can salvage Bush's remaining barrel-scum protectorate. That is what they find important. So too must he.
And so, this single act of apologist, vicarious treason will be the defining moment in Bush's presidency -- encompassing within it all the lies, bullying and incomprehensible ineptitude that was the hallmark of this administration. This will be Bush's legacy.
He has no choice... and essentially nothing to lose.
That's the way it is. The chorus of prideless conservatives -- also known as Bush's remaining base -- are relentlessly pressuring Bush to Pardon Libby with nary a moment of time served. Heck, even Paris served a couple days.
They dismiss the irony that "the judge that gave Libby the 2 ½ year sentence was "one of the first appointments that Bush made to the federal bench" and fail to note that Libby's judge was known as a 'Tough Guy'. "That's Why Bush Appointed Him."
The Los Angeles Times notes, "That Walton would put the Bush administration in an uncomfortable position of having to consider a politically charged pardon for Libby is highly ironic."
Yes, being held accountable for your trespasses to humanity is always an 'uncomfortable' activity. And a Bush appointee respecting the rule of law is truly 'ironic'. Still, I can't help but feel that President Bush should be suffering far more discomfort than his widely televised, smirky, smirk-faced smirk suggests he is.
Seems 'discomfort' is something for which Bush and his beloved 29% must have little time. According to the New York Times, "a conservative with close ties to the administration" said, "Letting Scooter go to jail would be a politically irrational symbol to the last chunk of the 29 percent upon which he stands."
Irrational indeed. Bush has pandered to the AEI 29% with untouchable integrity over the last 7 years. Thus the royal screwing administered to the other 71% of us.
Maybe that's because Bush's 29% are an influential bunch -- people like potential future convict Tom Delay. Tom recently noted, "The President should pardon Scooter Libby. I mean, what -- what's he worried about? Is it his ratings? I mean, his approval ratings? ... This -- this is a travesty of justice."
Yes, like the 'travesty of justice' that will no doubt bare its ugly face if Mr. Delay fails to garner a Bush pardon when he's sized for an orange jumpsuit.
And then there are blind loyalists like former Justice Department official Victoria Toensing who offered a spin sure to be embraced by conservative traitor-lovers across the nation, "Patrick Fitzgerald abused his prosecutorial powers when he indicted Scooter Libby for a faulty memory. The only remedy is a presidential pardon."
"Faulty memory"? "Only remedy"? "Abused his prosecutorial powers"?
No matter. It's the 'conservative movement' that matters now. The New York Times opines, "a decision not to pardon Mr. Libby would further alienate members of Mr. Bush's traditional base of support in the conservative movement, a group already angry about his proposed immigration policy, his administration's spending and his approach to Iran."
Tim Russert concurs, "A lot of conservatives are saying to the President, you are antagonizing the base about immigration. This is the way to reach out to your base."
Reach the base, eh? Hmmmm. Who else is trying to reach this magic 29%?
The Libby pardon issue "has thrown a twist into the race for the Republican presidential nomination, forcing candidates to make an awkward choice between loyalty to a party stalwart and reverence for the rule of law."
Ohhhhhh. So that's it. Well, we all know which choice will be made here.
And that, my friends, will establish the legacy for the next generation of the conservative movement.
