Scoot Gets a Commute

The actual surprises in Bush commuting the sentence of Scooter Libby are subtle. The biggest one is that anyone would be surprised that Libby, a powerful member of the insider club and a loyal sycophant to Cheney-Bush, would be given a get out of jail free card.

An earlier apparent surprise, from back in the trial phase, was that Scooter was claiming he was a fall guy for Cheney, and he would be calling Cheney as a witness. That was his opening pitch to the jury, that he was going to show Cheney was behind the Plame outing and left Scooter holding the bag. But that defense was ignored in the trial itself, Cheney was not called, Scooter's defense was reduced to “I’m a busy guy and can’t remember who I talked to or what I said”, and he was convicted of perjury and obstruction. Some pundits wondered back then whether a deal had been struck by Scooter to drop the Cheney angle in return for a guaranteed pass on jail time. No need to wonder any longer.

Another surprise is that some apparently sincere conservative commentators, who should have enough sense to know better, actually think Scooter got a raw deal and should be pardoned, though they are satisfied with the commutation for now. I suppose this shows these people either are not sincere, or really don’t know better, or both.

The commutation of just the prison time might be considered unexpected, though further reflection shows it is a clever obfuscation of the type the Bush advisors continuously devise. To the less discerning, a commutation seems like a reasoned compromise when compared to a pardon. But unlike a pardon, commutation makes it harder for the prosecutor to force Scooter to testify under immunity if the prosecutor wants to pursue the Plame outing case further. The probation portion of the sentence may fall by the wayside or be converted to a token, since there does not seem to be a recognized federal procedure for handling probation when a sentence is commuted. The fine will be paid or reimbursed by right wing donors.

As for the lasting consequences of not being pardoned, I expect those to last only until the final days Bush is in office. Speaking of pardons, here is the biggest surprise to me. The Libby commutation is being compared by many to the Clinton pardon of international fugitive Marc Rich, for which Clinton continues to receive immense criticism - and the attorney who helped Rich obtain that pardon was none other than “Scooter” Libby.