It's Mister Bush's Neighborhood! (where kids grow up fast, and cronies get a slap on the wrist!)

Here's another news flash!
Bush commutes Libby's prison sentence



WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush commuted Monday the prison term of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, facing 30 months in prison after a federal court convicted him of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.

Bush commuted the jail sentence of convicted White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby.

A commutation is distinct from a pardon, which is a complete eradication of a conviction record -- making it the same as if the person has never been convicted.
Bush has only commuted the jail term which means that the conviction remains on Libby's record and he must still pay a $250,000 fine.

Commutations are rarely granted, says CNN's chief legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin. A commutation is a total right of the president and it cannot be challenged by any attorney or court, he said.

Earlier Monday, a federal appeals court unanimously ruled that Libby could not delay serving his sentence, which would have put Libby just weeks away from surrendering to a prison.
In a written statement commuting the jail sentence, issued hours after Monday's ruling, Bush called the sentence "excessive," and suggested that Libby will pay a big enough price for his conviction.

"The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting," he said.
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The President, who has been under great pressure to pardon Libby, said Libby was given "a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury."

The commutation does nothing to prevent Libby from appealing his conviction. And if the appeal fails or is still in process at the end of Bush's term, there is nothing to prevent the President from granting Libby a full pardon before he leaves office.

Libby's conviction is linked to the investigation into the 2003 leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

An outraged Joe Wilson, Plame's husband, spoke to CNN shortly after the ruling. The former ambassador had openly questioned the Bush administration's basis for invading Iraq.
He and his wife contend her name was leaked to the media as retribution for Wilson's comments.

"I have nothing to say to Scooter Libby," Wilson said. "I don't owe this administration. They owe my wife and my family an apology for having betrayed her. Scooter Libby is a traitor."
Wilson also said Bush's action today demonstrates that the White House is "corrupt from top to bottom."

Reaction on Capitol Hill has been swift. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat from California, said the President had "abandoned all sense of fairness when it comes to justice."
"The President's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the American people," she said.
One of the few members of the GOP backing Bush, House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri, said the commutation was "the right thing to do."

"The prison sentence was overly harsh and the punishment did not fit the crime," said Blunt.
Plame's name became public when Robert Novak named her in his column on July 14, 2003.
Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage has admitted he disclosed the information to a reporter. Novak pointed to another "senior administration official" -- Bush political adviser Karl Rove -- as the second source for his column.

No one has been charged with leaking classified information in the case, but a jury found Libby guilty of trying to deceive investigators and a grand jury during the investigation.
Bush was under great pressure to grant a pardon to Libby.

Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, is the highest-ranking White House official ordered to prison since the Iran-Contra affair.

We all knew this was coming, it was just a matter of time as to how The Last Emperor was going to thumb his nose at justice and "decide" to, again, circumvent the law.

Of course, the administration and the puppet master broke many laws, but none are MAN enough to come out and admit what they have done.

It won't be long before a pardon is issued for Libby while two border patrol officers spend their time in prison with no pardon.

Let's see if this is right:

1. Out a CIA operative in retalliation for telling the truth, questioning the reason for invading a non-threatening country, already subdued by a previous war, lie to congress and a panel of federal judges, and become a scapegoat - means a slap on the wrist and a fine he could pay with corporate and "fan" donations.

2. Work for the Border Patrol, do your job according to orders while repelling known drug smugglers and drug king pins and go to jail for trying to stop them using extreme force.

Some compromise. Where's shrub's compassion for their families? Where's the concern for their well being? Why couldn't those two officers recieve a commuted sentence, as well?

It's no longer "We The People", the "decider" decided it's "Me The Leader".