Letters to the Editor
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Jeez...
...Letters from Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, John Bolton, Henry Kissinger...
No wonder the judge threw the book at him.
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Must be nice...
How detached are these individuals from reality, to think it justified to reduce a sentence for mitigating factors like his "family" or his general goodness? How many people are incarcerated in this country for deeds far less damaging, who don't have the privilege of influential friends or money to reduce their sentences? These people only believe in justice as it serves them.
Consider yourself lucky, Scooter, for not being poor. You had all the resources in the world at your disposal, yet you have less integrity than those with far less.
And Kissinger offering a testament to someone's character, that's rich!
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They dished themselvest
First of all, what's all this praise for his unique intellect? What on earth does that or most of the other praise have to do with trying to mitigate his sentence?
But secondly, and more importanly, I think they overdid it. Had the judge been wavering, this barrage of fulsome letters would have cinched a harsher sentence. It feels like an administration-backed fusillade.
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Letters to the Judge
So Henry Kissinger thinks Scooter's work as a public servant should be a mitigating factor?
Richard Perle thinks Scooter should be handed a get-out-of-jail-free card because he works late at the office?
Mary Matalin and James Carville think he should get off because "Mr. Scooter" is kind to kids on Halloween?
Hey, I'm a public servant. I work late sometimes. I'm nice to trick-or-treaters. Can I obstruct an investigation and get away with it? Like Scooter?
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They didn't work very well, did they?
For all the pretty words in the letters, the judge probably just read them and put them in the folder marked "Poor excuses for criminal behavior".
Let that be a lesson to these people-all your posturing for your friend did not make a bit of difference, and to think it would is beyond ridiculous.
This the way the real world works: you do something wrong, you get caught at it, you get convicted, you go to prison; end of discussion.
All of his high-powered "friends" in the world can't help Libby there. Bet his mail will definitely not have any of these people as correspondents!
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Grades For Letter Writers
Mary Matalin: A. Specific, Personal, Detailed, On Topic
Henry Kissinger: B. Concise, On Topic
Richard Pearle: C. Some Details, but No Development
Donald Rumsfeld: D. General, Possibly Plagiarized
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An impressive body of writing
Has there ever been a larger collection of letters printed in baby's blood on the flayed skin of saints? I imagine some archive would love to house these missive, if the scent of brimstone could be cleansed away first.
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Richard Perle (TM)
Check out the weird logo atop Richard Perle's letter. What kind of pompous ass thinks that passes for letterhead?
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I call forgery!
OK, maybe not but if one of them is a forgery, remember you heard it here first! I see all the telltale signs I've learned by reading my favorite blogs: New Times Roman font, logos I'm unfamiliar with. And the alternative is to imagine that all these important people went groveling to the judge on Libby's behalf. Sorry MSM... I'm not buying it!
To answer the question about Richard Perle's letterhead, I think the answer is pretty obvious: "The letters are Elvish, of an ancient mode, but the language is that of Mordor, which I will not utter here."
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Matalin? Kissinger? Perle? Rumsfeld?
Looking over these letters gives me the same creepy, unwashed feeling that you get when you read a newspaper account about a particularly bizarre case of incest.
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Matalin is prime Daily Show Material
1. If we get nuked, it's comforting to know that Mary Matlin and James Carville and their progeny will survive in an undisclosed location to intermarry with Cheney's progeny and repopulate the USA--not!
2. The name "Mr. Scooter" is frickin creepy . . . in any context!
3. Matalin: "Kids are the most honest and true evaluators of people." Okay, she's right about that. That's why we have absolutely zero cases of pedophile priests or Internet predators.
Mary Matalin--accidentally illustrating why the faith-based approach is not suitable in criminology (or in selecting a baby-sitter).
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Who's Who of American Fascism
Oh, wait, they're called Neocons, aren't they?
"He's one of us, let him go, he was only following orders."
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Lie in court, go to jail
Boo-hoo... his poor family! His life in public service! His dedication and intelligence!
Telling the truth in a court of law is a foundation stone of our democracy.
Lie in court, go to jail.
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Look at all the signatures!
How huge they all are! Now I know I need to start using a large signature if I want to be a big cheese-whiz.
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Timbukton, I cannot agree with you . . .
on the A that you give Matalin. Note the grammar error in the fifth paragraph from the bottome when she says "Scooter and I."
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Note my spelling error of "bottome."
Can I get away with saying Olde English as an excuse?
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The Halloween story alone should add two years to the sentence
Putting the Libby and Carville children and Cheney grandchildren through the process of hiding in the undisclosed location at any time after about September 13, 2001 is absolutely unconscionable. The only reason for doing this was to continue to whip up the mass fear that the neocons needed in order to get the Congress and American people to agree to the atrocities they were about to commit. Think about it for just 30 seconds and you will realize that no sane parent would put their kid through that unless the situation were so dire that Libby's attention to the crisis would require every waking second. The fact that he could take the time to organize Halloween activities illustrates just how contrived the situation was, and that Libby fully understood this fact.
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Honesty?
Libby lied under oath. That is a crime. All those who think he is an honest and open man, think again! Or should you be as dishonest as he was before the court?
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First Impressions
Just scanned the whole pile of letters and a few things stood out:
All employees of Dechert LLP were apparently required to write a letter. Must be 15 or more of these.
Most of the support letters have a common format. Not quite a form letter, but not much variation.
The consistent usage of some form of 'the conviction of Scooter Libby is inconsistent with my knowledge of the man' argument strikes me as orchestrated and an underhanded insult to the judge and the court.
All support letters claimed a personal relationship to Libby.
The only letters from the public at large (10 or so) argue for stiff sentencing.