Is it just me or does the President's decision to commute I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's prison sentence seem retarded, even for a guy who thinks that the words "decider" and "strategery" make sense in common speech?
I understand that this is a power specifically granted the president in the Constitution, and I suppose we should be glad it is there, since he usually ignores that silly old piece of paper anyway...at least THIS TIME he didn't just make up a new power for himself, unlike when he ignored that silly ol' fourth amendment about unlawful search and seizure (warrentless wiretapping), or when he began to issue "signing statements" effectively nullifying parts of the law that may prove bothersome later, or when he decided that the only African groups that would get AIDS aid (see how i used the same word twice to mean different things? Clever, eh? And, unlike the President, it actually made sense when I did it.) were those that preached abstinence only, since any form of contraception is against the will of the Lord God (Who needs that dumb First Amendment? We weren't using it anyway.). Apparently God wants African babies to be born with AIDS. That'll teach them to be born to poor people. Maybe next time they'll find a nice family in Newport Beach, or Westlake Village to have them...sorry, that went on a little longer than I intended, but there are just so many great things to say about the way this administration has used the Constitution as fish wrapping...
Back to my main point, I understand that the President has the power to commute or pardon any sentence he feels like, and I even think that it's a good thing the President can do that. But really. Scooter Libby? Scooter Libby, who didn't even serve a single DAY in prison or jail? To quote Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois, "...Even Paris Hilton had to go to jail." Paris Hilton went and served her time, and Libby doesn't have to do anything but pay a fine? Are you really telling me that driving on a suspended license is a worse offense than Perjury, Obstruction of Justice, and what, when you get right down to it, amounts to TREASON (Outting a covert CIA operative.)? If that's the case, why don't you issue post-humous (that means they're already dead Mr. President) pardons or commutations to Benedict Arnold and Julius and Ethel Rosenberg? They all committed treason too.
My point is not that the President shouldn't exercise this power. He should, it's a good thing. But he should start with people who ACTUALLY deserve it. Start with people who have actually served some time, and maybe learned a lesson or two. Instead, he uses it to let his buddy play a get out of jail free card.
In regard to the commutation, Barack Obama said, "The decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and it's ideology above the law." Typically, this is the point of a Presidency when the administration starts to worry about the legacy they leave behind, and how they will be remembered. I believe that's at least part of the reason that President Bush pushed for the Immigration reform bill. He wanted people to have some positive things to look at from his time in office. But apparently, now that the bill has been defeated, he doesn't care about his legacy anymore, and is just doing whatever he pleases with the time left to him.
I suppose the real reason this bothers me, when you get right down to it, is that some sub-concious part of me wanted to believe that, (Even though I disagree with the man's politics, and he's shown me time and again that he doesn't.) he still had some sort of integrity, more out of hope that the office, if not the man, would have less of a stain.
But after freeing Scooter Libby, any last shred or vestage of faith I had in this president has been blown away.
Hopefully he can make it through these final months of his abortion of a presidency without fucking up too badly.
(P.S.: Teenage Commutin Ninja Turtles is a reference to the fact that Dick Cheney kinda looks like a turtle. An evil one. Don't believe me? Go to: http://www.iflipflop.com/cheney_short_of_breath.jpg He really does look like an evil turtle doesn't he?)
(P.P.S.: And just as a fun reminder, George W. Bush looks like a chimp. Don't believe me? Go to: http://z.about.com/d/politicalhumor/1/0/l/7/bush_chimp.jpg Now you can never doubt me again.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment