Letters to the Editor
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Why are so many letter writers in a state of shock?
I'm afraid I'm with Paul Dirks on this matter. My nonsurprise is fairly complete. Although their display of contempt for the average American was briefly breathtaking, there was nothing anomalous about the Bush administration's decision to commute. They truly do think we are dogs and they've made that quietly clear for years.
Moreover, their spayed Dobbies are always at the ready, straining on their chains, barking in favor of ever more flamboyant displays of contempt.From the NYT article cited above:
...Amid calls from some angry conservatives for Mr. Bush to take the extra step of a full pardon, Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, indicated that he thought it unlikely.
...Reuters said Tuesday that interviews with ordinary Americans across the country found overwhelming cynicism about the president’s action.
The commutation was unusual, because it was granted before Mr. Libby had begun serving his prison sentence and it came without Justice Department review.
Less extraordinarily, the president’s announcement came at a time when Americans’ attention might be focused elsewhere, just ahead of the Independence Day holiday. -
"Freely Break the Law
"The President and his followers know that they can apply completely different rules to themselves, and freely break the law, because our Washington establishment, our 'political press,' will never object too strenuously, or even at all."
This is in part because all members of the DC establishment have gone through campaigns either as a participant or an observer where the ethos is that anything is allowed. Slime your opponent with vile untruths shortly before an election? Great, as long as you win. Make promises you never intend to keep? Congratulations, as long as you are not uncovered.
Since the elite made it to Washington, this worked for them. Why should they suddenly start being honorable and truthful just because some unelected idiot required them to swear to protect the Constitution?
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@ Glenn re: Mark Levin
You must not ever do that again, without warning readers to swallow and put down any beverages before continuing. I mean of course, your quote from Mr. Levin in the update, to wit:
The Commutation
The way I see it, Lewis Libby was about to become a political prisoner and the president prevented that.
How hard and long did you laugh?
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But the spineless congress...
Well, even if the Democrates tried to press the issue the Republican can stonewall or kill any fight outright. The Right-wing sound machine is so effective that they can spin this into some how being in favor of Al-Qudea or puppy murder. I blame all the people still voted for Bush after seeing what he did in his first term.
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@Mona - How the neocons view America
I don't know why Glenn's quote of Levin:
The way I see it, Lewis Libby was about to become a political prisoner and the president prevented that.
reminded me of this quote from Blazing Saddles:
Bart: [the townfolk aren't happy to find out that their new sheriff is black. They begin to load their guns and point them at him. Bart then points his own pistol at his head] Hold it! Next man makes a move, the nigger gets it!
Olson Johnson: Hold it, men. He's not bluffing.
Dr. Sam Johnson: Listen to him, men, he's just crazy enough to do it!
Bart: Drop it! Or I swear I'll blow this nigger's head all over this town!
Bart: Oh, lo'dy, lo'd, he's despit! Do what he sayyyy, do what he sayyyy...
[the townfolk drop their guns. Bart jams the gun into his neck and drags himself through the crowd and towards the station]
Harriett Van Johnson: Isn't anybody going to help that poor man?
Dr. Sam Johnson: Hush, Harriet, that's a sure way to get him killed!
Bart: Oooh! He'p me, he'p me! Somebody he'p me! He'p me! He'p me! He'p me!
Bart: Shut up!
[places his hand over his mouth, drags himself through the door into his office]
Bart: Ooh, baby, you are so talented! And they are so DUMB!
but it did.
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You've got it backwards, Glenn.
Libby does not owe his freedom to the criminals he was protecting with his obstruction of justice. The criminals he was protecting owe Libby his freedom, in exchange for that protection. The job was "don't sell us down the river," the reward was "you don't get hurt, you stay out of jail, all your legal costs will be paid."
The point behind making obstruction and perjury criminal offenses is that it's supposed to be Really Unpleasant when you get caught. If Libby actually had to spend some time in an orange jumpsuit, he might become willing to stop obstructing, make a deal with Fitzgerald. Whoever he was protecting wouldn't want that to happen.
Now.. who was it that just made sure Libby stays out of jail, again? Who paid that $250K fine?
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Arrogance for its own sake
It’s not even enough to say that the neocon movement is merely unprincipled. We already know that they’re willing to break the law and violate the traditions of our democracy for their personal political gain and that of the Republican Party. As the Libby case shows, they have even lower standards than that. They will also break the law merely to satisfy personal grudges, as they did when they illegally disclosed Valerie Plame’s identity as a CIA agent.
And in commuting Libby’s sentence, I think their actions go beyond just rewarding a loyal political operative at the expense of the rule of law. Bush is also rubbing the nation’s face in the idea that he and his cronies are above the law. Bush is sending a message of humiliation to our entire legal system and the prosecutors, judges and juries who make it work. “I’m bigger than you,” he’s saying, “and I’m now going to put you in your place to teach you not to mess with me.”
This is imperial arrogance. Arrogance for it’s own sake. It’s pissing on the entire nation and all of its democratic institutions. Just because they can.
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Re: Why are so many letter writers in a state of shock?
We're not. We're just testing the water to find out if this frog's been boiled.
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We the People are slaves of the illegitimate Elitist Ruling Class
Bush and Cheney have declared war on the concept of representative democracy. In so doing, those of us who support democratic rule in this country have become the enemy. Fortunately for the pro-democracy movement in this country, the neocons are for the most part clerks and sycophants. Like Katrina, the Iraq War and domestic policy they will botch this coup.
Rulers in this government are illegitimate. They were elected by means of fraud and they consolidate their control by manipulating the powers given to their stolen offices by the Constitution. Bush and Cheney are not elected officials. They are not national leaders. Their ruling class is composed of greedy and short-sighted businessmen, each individually weak and cowardly, successful only in having mastered the techniques of Machiavellian politics and exploiting the advantages of their positions.
These undemocratic poseurs deserve no better than other tyrants in history who have enslaved those whom they should have served. Bush and Cheney are like other small-minded tyrants who have overstepped their authority, only to discover too late that they are not up to the task of defending themselves from the fury of their enslaved subjects.