Bush commutes Libby's sentence

I don't know whether to say I'm surprised by this story, or not surprised by it--I think it is a combination of both. President Bush commuted the sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the former chief of staff for Vice President Dick Cheney. You can read the story here on MSNBC, The Washington Post, The New York Times, And Time Magazine.

Countdown with Keith Olbermann has a great analysis of President Bush's commuting Libby's sentence, in four parts on YouTube. This is Part One on YouTube:



Here is Part Two:



Here is Part Three:



And here is Part Four:



Olbermann will be making a Special Comment tonight, calling for both Vice President Cheney and President Bush to resign.

A deal was made within the Bush White House between the president, Vice President Cheney, and Scooter Libby. As the ongoing Valerie Plame scandal started to involve the vice president's office and Libby, Scooter Libby became the casualty--the fall guy--in order to protect both the vice president's involvement in using Valerie Plame to discredit former ambassador Joe Wilson's criticisms against the Bush invasion of Iraq, and possibly the president's involvement in covering up the fact that the intelligence leaks came from President Bush's top advisers. A deal was made to where Scooter Libby would take the blame for the intelligence leak, but that he would not have to pay the price of punishment for his guilt. President Bush commuted Libby's sentence just five hours after a Three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit rejected Libby's request to postpone his incarceration while he appeals his conviction. The key here is that the Bush White House did not want Scooter Libby to serve time in jail. At first, the administration was betting that Libby would remain free while going through the appeals process over the next two years--right up until President Bush leaves office. Then Bush could pardon Scooter Libby. This was another run-out-the-clock strategy to avoid any congressional oversight into the numerous crimes and scandals of this administration. But when the U.S. Court of Appeals rejected Libby's request, this brought up another crisis within the Bush White House. The risk here is whether Scooter Libby would crack under the extreme stress of prison life, and would be willing to make his own deal with federal prosecutors to tell his own story on the intelligence scandal and cover-up in exchange for a reduced sentence. That is what this Bush commutation of Libby's sentence is about--it is another layer of covering up the Bush administration's lies and involvement in this intelligence scandal. That is the deal here--keep Scooter Libby out of jail, and quiet, until the Bush administration's term ends. Scooter Libby is not going to pay the $250,000 fine here--the Scooter Libby Defense Fund will pay that off. Scooter Libby's probation period will last only until President Bush leaves office--you can now bet that Bush will pardon Libby on the last day of his office. President Bush literally gave Scooter Libby a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free card here. The Bush administration's cover-up here is complete.