How the Internet can take you from a scooter to a war

In the first two hours after Bush gave Scooter a "Get Out Of Jail" card, these official statements were made, in this order (from Talking Points Memo):

John Edwards:

"Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today. President Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world. In George Bush's America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI. George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious blow today."

Barack Obama:

"This 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 its ideology above the law. This is exactly the kind of politics we must change so we can begin restoring the American people’s faith in a government that puts the country’s progress ahead of the bitter partisanship of recent years."

Harry Reid:

"The President's decision to commute Mr. Libby's sentence is disgraceful. Libby's conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq War. Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone. Judge Walton correctly determined that Libby deserved to be imprisoned for lying about a matter of national security. The Constitution gives President Bush the power to commute sentences, but history will judge him harshly for using that power to benefit his own Vice President's Chief of Staff who was convicted of such a serious violation of law."

Nancy Pelosi:

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.

The President said he would hold accountable anyone involved in the Valerie Plame leak case. By his action today, the President shows his word is not to be believed. He has abandoned all sense of fairness when it comes to justice, he has failed to uphold the rule of law, and he has failed to hold his Administration accountable.

Joe Biden:

Last week Vice President Cheney asserted that he was beyond the reach of the law. Today, President Bush demonstrated the lengths he would go to, ensuring that even aides to Dick Cheney are beyond the judgment of the law.

It is time for the American people to be heard.

I call for all Americans to flood the White House with phone calls tomorrow expressing their outrage over this blatant disregard for the rule of law.

Chuck Schumer:

“As Independence Day nears, we are reminded that one of the principles our forefathers fought for was equal justice under the law. This commutation completely tramples on that principle.”

John McCain's spokesman Danny Diaz, asked if he wanted to comment:

"Nope."

comment to the above statement from Schumer:
(http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003582.php)

Posted by: deRougemont
Date: July 2, 2007 6:53 PM
Bush's commutation of Libby's prison time is a prime example of this Admin's complete disregard for the law, but as infuriating as the act was, beware of the next several days.... This morning Bush's spokesmen came out with charges that "Hizboullah" is in Iraq at the behest of Iranian government...all without proof other than "US Intell". And Bush met with Putin at Bush's Daddy's compound. (So all the players will be clear as to future actions.) We'll be at war with Iran within days and everyone will forget about Libby and the politization of law, and the fired attorneys, etc completely. (Anyone remember the Congressman and the intern's body found in the park? Which Congressman? which park?....)

This comment made me scratch my head. Intern? Congressman? sounds familiar, but the faint memories failed to congeal into any substance. Google to the rescue.

from Wikipedia:

"Condit disappeared from the news after 9/11. In spite of the allegations against him, which supposedly amounted to the worst political scandal since President Clinton's impeachment, Condit was allowed to keep his seat on the Intelligence Committee, and he did not lose his security clearance. Condit was in fact one of just a handful of members of Congress who was cleared to see the most sensitive information on the attacks."

For a splash of cold water, read the whole Wikipedia piece. You'll read about Gary, his brothers, his children, his fellow "gang of five" from the California Legislature, each and every one of them in trouble with the law. And all now completely out of the spotlight of the media.

Condit even lost his two Baskin-Robbins franchises -- they claimed he owed them money -- and then used the franchise name after it was revoked. And that was just last year.

That comment is obvious but ominous — media distractions are a given for this administration. I hope that post is not prophetic.