09 July 2007

Theories about Libby

President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's sentence. Why? I don't know.

There are various theories about it though. If you, dear reader, want to give them detailed consideration, you might start here.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-talk/2007/07/july_8_democrats_advance_new_t.html?hpid=topnews

3 comments:

Henry said...

The article you link to really offered only one theory. Conyer's theory that, if Libby went to prison, he might implicate other people in the White House, and Schumer's theory, that the commutation was to prevent Libby from testifying before Congress, amount to the same thing: Bush sought to enable Libby to be able to plead the Fifth Amendment whether questioned by a prosecutor or by Congress. And the purpose of enabling him to plead the Fifth is obviously to protect Bush, Cheney, Rove, and others. (Libby is still appealing his conviction and thus, without the Fifth, could still incriminate himself if forced to testify under oath. That is why Bush issued a commutation rather than a pardon, as a pardon would have eliminated any possibility of Libby's incriminating himself. The pardon will come after Libby loses his appeals.) The references to "theories" are nonsense; Bush's motivation is clear as day. Critics who point out that Bush's proferred reason for the commutation is inconsistent with his past reluctance to commute sentences, and is inconsistent with the Dep't of Justice's own policy, are taking Bush's proferred reason too seriously; it should go without saying that it was false.

Henry said...
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Henry said...

Why didn't I think of that? Congress can give Libby immunity and force him to testify. See www.samefacts.com and scroll down to July 8 "Libby, Not Taylor."

Knowledge is warranted belief -- it is the body of belief that we build up because, while living in this world, we've developed good reasons for believing it. What we know, then, is what works -- and it is, necessarily, what has worked for us, each of us individually, as a first approximation. For my other blog, on the struggles for control in the corporate suites, see www.proxypartisans.blogspot.com.