The One With Aldacron

Considering that I’m a die-hard liberal and a rabid anti-Bush blogger, you might expect me to go ballistic about the Decider’s decision to commute Scooter’s jail sentence. Honestly, I’m quite ambivalent about it. But the underlying issues get me a bit worked up. Consider these quotes from the linked article:

“This is not a man who deserves to go to jail in any sense of the
word,” said Kenneth L. Adelman, a former Defense Department official
and longtime friend of Mr. Libby, who stayed at his Colorado vacation
home before his trial.

“Whatever he did wrong, he certainly paid,” Mr. Adelman said, referring to
Mr. Libby’s resignation from his prominent position and his public
humiliation. “This is a good person who served his country very well and
is a decent person,” he said.

And from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid:

“Libby’s conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for
White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of
the Iraq War,” Mr. Reid said. “Now, even that small bit of justice has
been undone.”

While the right has been playing violins and putting on puppy-dog faces in sympathy for poor Scooter and his cruel and unusual punishment, the left has been screaming, “Off with his head,” for the crimes of the Bush administration. Um, a little perspective, perhaps?

To the right, I say, “Quit your whining!” Libby was convicted of perjury. He’s no innocent two-year-old who has no understanding of the world. The guy knew what he was doing. If Average Joe American were convicted of the same crime, would you resin up your bows and cry for his plight as well? The Republican party is corrupt, the Bush government is corrupt, and Scooter Libby is just as corrupt as any of them. There needs to be some form of accountability in our government.

To the left I say, “Get over it!” Libby was not convicted of leaking classified information (i.e. outing Valerie Plame), nor was he convicted of manipulating intelligence. As much as you may want him to pay for the administration’s sins, that’s not what he’s here for. He was convicted of lying under oath. His sentence was commuted, but he certainly wasn’t pardoned. He lost his job, the crime is still on his record, he is being fined $250,000, and he will likely have a difficult time professionally from here on out. After all, he isn’t living in a Republican Utopia where every person he deals with will be willing to forget his conviction of lying.

The right can kiss my ass. You’re all a bunch of loons anyway. But my fellow anti-Bush folk ought to be directing their rage elsewhere. Bush is still in office, still committing crimes. Cheney is still there pulling his strings. And Congress is still letting them get away with it all. Do you want justice? Then demand that Bush and Cheney first be impeached and then brought to trial for every crime they committed while in office. Let’s get these two locked up for a very, very long time. That’s something productive. Wasting energy on Libby is not.

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