[hotrod]

Sooooo, what do you Republican, flag waving, Americans think of Dubya violating the constitution with Scooter's pardon?
The man was tried, found guilty, and sentenced according to federal guidlines - YET - Dubya (read Dick Cheney) didn't agree and pardoned him.

WHY? According to Dubya, he did not rule out a full pardon for Lewis "Scooter" Libby, a day after he spared the former White House aide prison time for his perjury conviction in the CIA leak case.

It should be apparent to any breathing AMERICAN that the current republican executive branch is above the law.

PLEEEEASE- we don't need to hear any more about Bill Clinton's sexual escapades.

They were no were near as damaging to the foundation of our constitution as Dubya's latest announcements.

[noleguy]

Not defending dubya but don't believe his action violated the constitution. Past presidents have pardoned many but normally wait till their last days in office.

[JohnZ]

with noleguy. The Prez was well within his executive power to pardon as were past Presidents who all have all used this privilage to some degree. First, I'm not a Bush fan....I once was...but no longer. Remember that our system of government has been constructed (executive, legislative and judicial branches) to ensure that power is distributed, controlled and limited with clear boundaries and procedural rules. Are we naive to think that the judicial and legislative bodies of our land are blind and/or powerless to react to any executive breach of procedure or illegal use of the power of presidential office? Lord Acton, England, is attributed the quote "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men." After having lived under the tyranny of King George, I think our founding fathers were aware of that truism long before Lord Acton penned it in 1887. Which leads me to this.....HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY EVERYONE!! "Up the Rebels.....down the British!!

[Duffer]

Once again the uninformed left siders go about and act like they have a clue. The President DID NOT pardon Mr. Libby, he cummuted the jail sentence but not the hefty fines that were imposed by the court. Also to what I think of the issue, about the same as I did when Clinton PARDONED over 60 CONVICTED felons during his tenure in office. Not much

[darbyduff]

This is just a question not a comment. .... Does anyone know if a jury decided on the jail time or the judge?

The answer matters to me.

[jjdees]

The judge did and he sentenced him to a longer period than the one reccomended by the prosecution.

[darbyduff]

Thanks, jjdees! As a Jury Commissioner I am concerned about anyone nullifing a jury's decision.

[hotrod]

For what it's worth, the sentencing judge was one actually appointed by Dubya.

Talk about not getting anything right.

[jjdees]

Who cares who appointed the judge? Where was the judge on the Sandy Berger issue? Where was the sentence? He stole classified documents from the National Archives and destroyed them. If it was one of Bush's boys that did that, he'd be in prison for 20 years.

Clinton issued 140 pardons as well as 36 commutations on his last day of office. Among the noteworthy ones were:
Carlos A. Vignali had his sentence for cocaine trafficking commuted, after serving 6 of 15 years in federal prison.

Almon Glenn Braswell was pardoned of his mail fraud and perjury convictions, even while a federal investigation was underway regarding additional money laundering and tax evasion charges. Braswell and Carlos Vignali each paid approximately $200,000 to Hillary Clinton's brother, Hugh Rodham, to represent their respective cases for clemency. Hugh Rodham returned the payments after they were disclosed to the public. Braswell later invoked the Fifth Amendment at a Senate Committee hearing in 2001, when questioned about allegations of his having systematically defrauded senior citizens of millions of dollars.

Marc Rich, a fugitive, was pardoned of tax evasion, after clemency pleas from Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak, among many other international luminaries. He was required to pay a $100 million dollar fine and waive any use of the pardon as a defense against any future civil charges that were filed against him in the same case. Critics complained that Denise Rich, his former wife, had made substantial donations to the Clinton library and to Mrs. Clinton's senate campaign. According to Paul Volcker's independent investigation of Iraqi Oil-for-Food kickback schemes, Marc Rich was a middleman for several suspect Iraqi oil deals involving over 4 million barrels of oil.

Melvin J. Reynolds, a Democratic Congressman from Illinois, who was convicted of bank fraud, 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice, and solicitation of child pornography had his sentence commuted on the bank fraud charged and was allowed to serve the final months under the auspices of a half way house.

On August 11, 1999, Clinton commuted the sentences of 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican nationalist group that set off 120 bombs in the United States mostly in New York City and Chicago, convicted for conspiracies to commit robbery, bomb-making, and sedition, as well as for firearms and explosives violations. They were sentenced with terms ranging from 35 to 105 years in prison for the conviction of conspiracy and sedition. Congress, however, recognized that the FALN is responsible for "6 deaths and the permanent maiming of dozens of others, including law enforcement officials.”

Scooter Libby? Give me a break.

[Frangyomory]

with jjdees! Clinton pardoned some really shaky mob type guys and the left wingers let that go without a comment. I don't agree with what W did in this case but it is is right to commute and even pardon if he believes it is appropriate. Presidents have been doing this for years but this only now bothers the LIBERALS who sneak around looking fr excuses to hate the Republicans!

[saratogaman]

Call it coincidence or irony, the attorney for one of Clinton's pardonees (Marc Rich) was Scooter Libby!
Forget about party affiliation or left-wing vs. right-wing -- it's all the same inside Washinton.