Bush commutes Libby's sentence Options

[Spectatrix]

This is more than a little bit pissy, but completely unsurprising: http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/03/lib...ence/index.html

Actually, I take that back. I'm surprised that Bush only commuted his sentence rather than granting a full pardon.

[James]

Presidents do this kind of thing all the time. The only difference is that Bush did his in the middle of his administration instead of at the last hour. *shrug*

[impala454]

well $250,000 + probation + felony conviction aint exactly a light sentence. politicians get off scott free on perjury charges all the time *cough* clinton *cough* not sayin it's right just nice to see that he at least left the hefty fine and conviction intact.

[Spectatrix]

Definitely in agreement with you there, but there's still a chance that Bush will pardon him completely if his appeal fails... *shrugs* The whole pardon system seems pretty fucking warped to me and abused to high hell by Democrats and Republicans alike.

[Dogmeat]

Bush couldn't pardon him right now while he's still in office because of political backlash for the next year.

I would be willing to bet he pardons him his last day in office.

[James]

Bush doesn't care about political backlash or he never would've commuted that sentence.

[pebkac]

Bush couldn't pardon him right now while he's still in office because of political backlash for the next year.

I would be willing to bet he pardons him his last day in office.

Meh, I don't see why not. Bush's approval ratings couldn't get any worse, so he might as well go ahead and pardon him.

This post has been edited by pebkac: Jul 3 2007, 12:23 PM

[Dogmeat]

Meh, I don't see why not. Bush's approval ratings couldn't get any worse, so he might as well go ahead and pardon him.

They could be %30 worse

[impala454]

who cares about approval ratings anyhow. some company calls 10,000 random people and asks "do you like the president?". the answer doesn't have so much to do with the president as it does what happened to the country during their presidency.

[Testm0nkey]

and the state of the country has nothing to do with the president

[impala454]

terrorist attacks dont. wars are always generally unpopular and will subtract from their approval ratings.

stuff like gas prices too. believe it or not, the president does not have a dial which turns gas prices up or down, but people are dumb enough to go "omg gas is $3/gallon i hate bush!".

besides the fact that surveys are stupid and can't possibly ever get a general feel for how the public thinks on any issue. "but we surveyed 10,000 people!", yeah, a whole one thousandth of a percent of the population.

[JRockTTU]

Meh, I don't see why not. Bush's approval ratings couldn't get any worse, so he might as well go ahead and pardon him.

It could be worse, it could be as low as congress's approval rating. I think he's commuting the sentence to keep him out of jail since they were going to throw him in right away. He'll pardon him his last day in office. I don't see what right the Dems have to be upset, look at Clinton's pardons, and I don't see Clinton serving 30 months in jail for lying under oath.

[GOB]

hilarious

[woody]

eh

perks of the job

[pebkac]

terrorist attacks dont. wars are always generally unpopular and will subtract from their approval ratings.

stuff like gas prices too. believe it or not, the president does not have a dial which turns gas prices up or down, but people are dumb enough to go "omg gas is $3/gallon i hate bush!".

besides the fact that surveys are stupid and can't possibly ever get a general feel for how the public thinks on any issue. "but we surveyed 10,000 people!", yeah, a whole one thousandth of a percent of the population.

1) Wars of any type are always popular with the American people. The longer they drag on though, the more support drops for them. Thus, if you have a clusterfuck like Iraq, it's doomed to be unpopular.

2) Have you ever taken a statistics class? Statisticians adjust for the possibility that it could be a fluke. Usually a study is considered statistically significant if there's less than a 10 percent chance of it being a fluke. When you've got a lot of different polls and studies of the president's approval raiting each with less than a 10% chance of being a fluke, well it would have to be a pretty big fluke.

It could be worse, it could be as low as congress's approval rating. I think he's commuting the sentence to keep him out of jail since they were going to throw him in right away. He'll pardon him his last day in office. I don't see what right the Dems have to be upset, look at Clinton's pardons, and I don't see Clinton serving 30 months in jail for lying under oath.

Meh, it was wrong for Clinton to pardon people that didn't deserve it and it was wrong of Bush to as well. Then again, if we follow your argument, Clinton's pardons were ok because Reagan pardoned almost as many people..

Secondly, the case against Clinton was weak.

1) Lying about a blowjob does not fit the Constitutional requirement of being a "high crime."
2) To be convicted of perjury, the lie has to be pertinent to some kind of law proceeding. And it's highly debateable if the question was pertinent to the Paula Jones case.