{"id":499,"date":"2007-07-03T10:47:54","date_gmt":"2007-07-03T17:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=499"},"modified":"2007-07-03T10:47:54","modified_gmt":"2007-07-03T17:47:54","slug":"the-scooter-libby-fan-club","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=499","title":{"rendered":"The Scooter Libby Fan Club"},"content":{"rendered":"

Newspapers are spitting out editorials on the Bush commutation of Scooter Libby’s jail sentence like bullets from an AK-47. Editor & Publisher<\/a> has compiled a bunch already and there are a couple of strikingly notable standouts in the group. See if you can spot them:<\/p>\n

New York Times:<\/strong> “…in this case, Mr. Bush did not sound like a leader making tough decisions about justice. He sounded like a man worried about what a former loyalist might say when actually staring into a prison cell.”<\/p>\n

Washinton Post:<\/strong> “…reducing the sentence to no prison time at all, as Mr. Bush did – to probation and a large fine – is not defensible.”<\/p>\n

Seattle Post-Intelligencer:<\/strong> “President Bush’s commutation of a pal’s prison sentence counts as a most shocking act of disrespect for the U.S. justice system.”<\/p>\n

Denver Post:<\/strong> “Libby should be held accountable for his crimes.”<\/p>\n

San Francisco Chronicle:<\/strong> “President Bush sent the message that perjury and obstruction of justice in the service of the president of the United States are not serious crimes.”<\/p>\n

Wall Street Journal:<\/strong> “By failing to issue a full pardon, Mr. Bush is evading responsibility for the role his administration played in letting the Plame affair build into fiasco…”<\/span><\/p>\n

New York Post:<\/strong> “Bush knows a pardon is warranted. He should grant it.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel:<\/strong> “The trial amply demonstrated that he stonewalled. Like President Clinton’s 11th-hour pardons of an ill-deserving few, this commutation is a travesty.”<\/p>\n

New York’s Daily News:<\/strong> “Thankfully, Bush did not pardon Libby outright, but time in the slammer was in order. Sixty days, say, wouldn’t have hurt the justice system a bit.”<\/p>\n

Chicago Tribune:<\/strong> “Bush sent a terrible message to citizens and to government officials who are expected to serve the public with integrity.”<\/p>\n

Arizona Republic:<\/strong> “President Bush whipped out a get-out-of-jail-free card. This is the wrong game to play on a very public stage.”<\/p>\n

San Jose Mercury News:<\/strong> “Other presidents have doled out pardons and the like […] But few have placed themselves above the law as Bush, Cheney and friends repeatedly have done by trampling civil liberties and denying due process.”<\/p>\n

Sacramento Bee:<\/strong> “[Bush] has done himself no favors on that count by commuting the prison term of I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby.”<\/p>\n

Dallas Morning News:<\/strong> “…the last thing this president needed was to further antagonize Capitol Hill regarding abuse of executive power.”<\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain News:<\/strong> “…the president should have restrained his compassion – and delayed his commutation – for at least a few more months, lest he be perceived as subverting justice”<\/p>\n

Did you spot them? That’s right, Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post, and his object of desire, the Wall Street Journal. I can hardly wait to see what Sean Hannity, Bill O’Reilly, and the rest of the Fox News law and order crowd have to say.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Newspapers are spitting out editorials on the Bush commutation of Scooter Libby’s jail sentence like bullets from an AK-47. Editor & Publisher has compiled a bunch already and there are a couple of strikingly notable standouts in the group. See if you can spot them: New York Times: “…in this case, Mr. Bush did not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-499","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general","category-propaganda"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4Ijg-83","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":500,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=500","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":0},"title":"Strange Bedfellows: Scooter Libby And Marc Rich","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/3\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence has rocked Washington and the rest of the nation. Everybody's got something to bitch about. Democrats are incensed that the President exhibits such contempt for law and order. Republicans are inconsolable that Libby didn't get a full pardon. One name keeps coming up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":501,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=501","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":1},"title":"Another Runaway Quarter For MSNBC","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/4\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The 2nd quarter of 2007 (PDF) has delivered another in a string of victories for MSNBC. The network's growth of 50% over its 2006 performance far outshines CNN (4%) and Fox (5%). The chart below tells the story for the past four quarters. While still in third place, there is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1307,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1307","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":2},"title":"The Daily Show Defense","author":"Mark NC","date":"6\/21\/2009","format":false,"excerpt":"A new legal precedent has been introduced by the Obama Justice Department. If permitted by the court, defendants nationwide may have a powerful new tool to assert in pursuit of legal vindication. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington filed a Freedom of Information Act request for documents containing statements\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":368,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=368","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":3},"title":"The Scooter Libby-Ration Front","author":"Mark NC","date":"3\/7\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"The right-wing apologists in the press have launched a virtual Pardon-palooza on behalf of their favorite former hill staffer, Scooter Libby. You only have to read to the second paragraph of Howard Kurtz' column in the Washington Post to understand the level of criminality in the DC press corps: \"When\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=1"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":504,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=504","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":4},"title":"Happy Birthday: Freedom of Information Act Is 41 Today","author":"Mark NC","date":"7\/4\/2007","format":false,"excerpt":"July 4, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Its purpose was to ensure the public's right to access information from the federal government. For the first time, the government would bear the burden for certifying why requested information should not be released, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Free Press"","block_context":{"text":"Free Press","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?cat=14"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1033,"url":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=1033","url_meta":{"origin":499,"position":5},"title":"Vote For John McCain For A Prison-Tested President","author":"Mark NC","date":"8\/27\/2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Running for president requires great strength and stamina. The race is long and treacherous. John McCain has been forcefully pushing his argument that he is better qualified for the job than his opponent, Barack Obama. In fact, McCain contends that Obama is not qualified at all. 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