Cheney Says Bush Should Have Pardoned Libby
Just a day after the end of their political marriage, Dick Cheney says it was a mistake for George W. Bush not to pardon his former chief of staff Scooter Libby.
Cheney told THE WEEKLY STANDARD that his former chief of staff, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, whom he described as a “victim of a serious miscarriage of justice,” deserved a presidential pardon.
Asked for his reaction to Bush’s decision Cheney said: “Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and honorable men I’ve ever known. He’s been an outstanding public servant throughout his career. He was the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice, and I strongly believe that he deserved a presidential pardon. Obviously, I disagree with President Bush’s decision.”
At the time Libby’s sentence was commuted, Bush said the sentence was excessive, but he never said Libby wasn’t guilty. Bush said then, “I respect the jury’s verdict,” and praised prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald for running the investigation in “a very dignified way.” Someof the few supporters Bush still have are miffed by the lack of a pardon.
One Libby sympathizer, a longtime defender of Bush, told friends she was “disgusted” by the president. Another described Bush as “dishonorable” and a third suggested that refusing to pardon Libby was akin to leaving a soldier on the battlefield.
I can’t wait for the Bush rehabilitation tour.
“Cheney told THE WEEKLY STANDARD …”
Hmm. Are “they” the only people Cheney ever talks to, other than FOX?
The author of The Weekly Standard piece is Stephen F. Hayes.
Hayes also wrote Cheney: The Untold Story of America’s Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President.
He also wrote The Connection: How Al Qaeda’s Collaboration With Saddam Hussein Has Endangered America in 2004.
Hayes has endangered America. Hayes should be jailed, no pardons, along with his co-conspirators at The Weekly Standard.
January 22nd, 2009 at 10:18 pm
No pardon and they abused the system as well.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:05 am
When did turning on your own CIA agent, putting the country at risk, and then lying to a Grand Jury become honorable?
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:24 am
I cant help but think that Bush winked at Cheney and thought that was your boy not mine.
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:37 am
Forget that, what about my Costa Rica post?
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:39 am
Does anyone remember Mr. Hermitage? He told Fitzgerald that he was the one who leaked Plame’s name.
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:52 am
Scooter Libby is a Great American.
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:53 am
I fear that what gives credence to John Dean’s theory that the modern right had become the party for those seeking authoritarian leadership.
From the generals, Odem Zinny, Shensiki, Pike, Jay Garner, Sanchez, the list goes on, to David Kuo, Matthew Dowd, Richard Clarke, ,Lawrence Wilkerson, John DiIulio Paul O’Neill, Jophn O’Neill, Rand Beers,Valerie Plame, Brewster Jennings, Spec, Thomas Wilson, (the 40 year old marine who asked Rumsfeld why they had to go to garbage dumps to armour)……ANYONE who got in the way of this small, like minded group at the very top, had to be smeared.
EVERYONE”S lying but the leaders.
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:56 am
“I fear that what gives credence to John Dean’s theory that the modern right had become the party for those seeking authoritarian leadership.”
The last eight years prove the theory beyond any doubt.
But there’s still people calling in from Dreamland to say they’re not worried, because they’ve got nothing to hide, as if that makes a bit of difference.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:14 am
I can’t help but wonder if Bush simple forgot to pardon Libby.
If he intentionally didn’t pardon Libby, I take back some of the nasty things I may have said about Bush.
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:08 pm
I think the poster who suggested Bush decided to stand up to Cheney might be correct, but who knows…
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:11 pm
“”When did turning on your own CIA agent, putting the country at risk, and then lying to a Grand Jury become honorable?”"
Same time as “great job, Brownie!” I guess.
Hey! I did it…I filled the recent comments post!
Take that, Kregg/CARA…
January 23rd, 2009 at 2:30 pm
That Bush didn’t pardon Rumsfeld, Cheney and himself was a real surprise to me.
Perhaps he got assurances from Obama that he, Obama and his administration, would not persue those crimes.
January 23rd, 2009 at 5:37 pm
Libby did not lead Plame’s name. Don’t you people know that?
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:09 pm
The charge against Libby, was that he OBSTRUCTED justice.
Bush Sr said about whoever leaked her name :
“I have nothing but contempt and anger for those who betray the trust by exposing the name of our sources. They are, in my view, the most insidious of traitors.”
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:45 pm
Actually Valerie Plame was not covert at the time. Everyone knew she was CIA, and she actually was interviewed in some magazine before all this come about. So, when she was “outed” it was a non story to anyone in the world. They all knew her by then. So, this needs to be put on a shelf from now till eternity.
January 23rd, 2009 at 6:54 pm
Willy:
I guess anything a republican does should be put on a shelf and forgetten. Nothing should be investigated.
Of course we all know what’s considered a heinous crime by the republicans and, all I can say is it’s a good thing she didn’t have consentual sex in the white house.
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Actually, I understand that she and Brewster Jennings was a non-official cover (NOC) firm.
The Boston Globe, observed that “Plame’s exposure as an intelligence operative has become a major controversy in Washington,” stating: “Former intelligence officials confirmed Plame’s cover was an invention and that she used other false identities and affiliations when working overseas. ‘All it was a telephone and a post office box,’ said one former intelligence official who asked not to be identified. ‘When she was abroad she had a more viable cover.’”
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:17 pm
I’d say Cheney’s authorization of waterboarding was a bigger crime than what this guy did.
Cheney should be prosecuted and jailed. He admitted to doing it, it shouldn’t be a very long or complicated trial.
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:18 pm
TDRO,
Sounds like you belong to the Get Even With’em Club. I’m just saying that she had already been public way before the so called leak to out her, and it is a non story. If it were the opposite then I would say investigate to the fullest extent.
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:22 pm
Furthermore, reporting for the news service Knight Ridder:
Compounding the damage, the front company, Brewster Jennings & Associates, the name of which has been reported previously, apparently also was used by other CIA officers whose work now could be at risk, according to V. Cannistraro, former CIA chief of counterterrorism operations and analysis. Now, Plame’s career as a covert operations officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations is over. Those she dealt with — on business or not — may be in danger. The directorate is conducting an extensive damage assessment. And Plame’s exposure may make it harder for American spies to persuade foreigners to share important secrets with them, U.S. intelligence officials said.
I don’t even know if the after action report was ever declassified.
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:23 pm
” So, this needs to be put on a shelf from now till eternity.”
I’m sure you’d think differently if Libby was a democrat. It’s amazing how something becomes so heinous if a democrat does it. Case in point, Clinton’s consentual sexual escapade with Monica. Now if this had been George Bush, Willy would be saying, “nothing to see here. This is a non-story.”
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
The only problem I had with the Clinton/Lewinsky thing was that it happened in the Oval Office, and while he was on the phone with a foreign dignatary. I wonder where his mind was while that was happening. I would have felt the same way if it were Reagan, Bush, or any other Republican.
So, I would say you are wrong about me here TDRO.
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:39 pm
” So, this needs to be put on a shelf from now till eternity.”
…………………………………….
Is that so Scooter can get back to writing his child porn books?
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:40 pm
Is that so Scooter can get back to writing his child porn books?
Huh?!?!
What are you talking about, OldLefty?
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:42 pm
Check out his book, “The Apprentice”,
From the New Yorker; (google it, it’s everywhere)
Scooter’s Sex Shocker
by Lauren Collins
November 7, 2005
Other sex scenes are less conventional. Where his Republican predecessors can seem embarrassingly awkward—the written equivalent of trying to cop a feel while pinning on a corsage—Libby is unabashed:
At age ten the madam put the child in a cage with a bear trained to couple with young girls so the girls would be frigid and not fall in love with their patrons. They fed her through the bars and aroused the bear with a stick when it seemed to lose interest.
This is one sick puppy.
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:51 pm
Holy Guacamole!
What a weirdo!
January 23rd, 2009 at 7:58 pm
The New Yorker is hardly an unbiased read. Very liberal.
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:01 pm
Willy,
You can find the book anywhere, including Amazon:
The Apprentice: A Novel (Paperback)
by Lewis Libby (Author) “On the edge of a ridge removed from the sea lay a small wooden inn half-buried in snow…”
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:07 pm
Willy, it is a book Libby wrote, not The New Yorker. The passage OldLefty quoted is something he actually came up with and thought worthy of putting to paper for the world to see.
How does The New Yorker’s alleged liberal bias change that fact?
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:08 pm
Um Cara,
It doesn’t – but they always have to scream about THE LIBERAL MEDIA.
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:12 pm
Have to admit I’m a bit shocked Libby wasn’t pardoned. If Bush did actually stand up to Cheney on this, than like TDRO, I will give credit where credit is due.
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:15 pm
“I wonder where his mind was while that was happening. I would have felt the same way if it were Reagan, Bush, or any other Republican.”
And you don’t wonder where Bush’s mind was at when he decided to invade Iraq on the lie he spoon fed us that Iraq was responsible for 9/11? He sacrificed the lives of hundreds of thousands of innocent men, women and children, not to mention 4000+ American lives on a lie. And you see nothing wrong with this picture. But Clinton getting blown in the oval office gets your underwear in a bunch? I will never understand the conservative mind.
By the way, did you know Bush and Cheney were actually discussing invading Iraq prior to their taking office?
January 23rd, 2009 at 8:59 pm
TDRO,
By the way…did you know we are still in Iraq, are gonna stay in Iraq for at least another 16 months and Bush and Cheney aren’t in charege anymore??
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:11 pm
“By the way…did you know we are still in Iraq,..”
So what does that have to do with them planning to invatde Iraq prior to taking office in 2000????
If Obama ends this occupation in 18 months, that is great testimony to his ability to lead. He would have been able to accomplish what Bush hadn’t been able to in 6 years.
January 23rd, 2009 at 9:20 pm
If Obama brings hope troops in 18 months, it shows he is following the timbetable that was already in place before he took office.IF they come home by then.
AND it proves the surge worked.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:17 pm
AND it proves the surge worked.
Surge = we didn’t have enough soldiers in there to start with.
Perhaps because we went it alone, for the most part.
It isn’t some kind of brilliant strategy, to later add the right number of soldiers.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:44 pm
Never said we did have enough soldiers to begin with. that was a mistake.
And it certainly wasn’t any kind of brilliant strategy for some to suggest we pull out BEFORE the surge.
There isn’t a guarantee that we will be out in 16 months either, as my post above with the link indicates. For obvious reasons.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:48 pm
And it certainly wasn’t any kind of brilliant strategy for some to suggest we pull out BEFORE the surge.
Maybe the world is a big place, and we shouldn’t just decide which countries to blow up, all by ourselves?
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:50 pm
We weren’t there alone. There were 27 other countries in Iraq with us.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:55 pm
We weren’t there alone. There were 27 other countries in Iraq with us.
With a total commitment of 27 soldiers.
January 23rd, 2009 at 10:59 pm
There were 27 other countries in Iraq with us.
Posted by Blissful conservative
…………………………………..
And how many risked their lives?
Iran was considered a success for 25 years. It took that long to to see the result of regime change.
Driving the Soviets out of Afganistan was considered a resounding success for 12 years, after a 10 year war.
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:05 pm
Poor Willy I kinda feel bad for him…. had no idea what libby was about and probably still thinks hes a “great american”.
January 24th, 2009 at 1:33 am
Bush already commuted Libby’s sentence. A pardon would have only gone against his legacy campaign that he’d been working on so hard.
Libby was willing to fall on the sword to protect Cheney. So, of course, Cheney wanted him pardoned.
January 24th, 2009 at 1:58 am
Scooter’s Sex Shocker
by Lauren Collins
November 7, 2005
POSTED BY WILLY
Sorry, Willy. You had it coming.
January 24th, 2009 at 6:43 am
TDRO,
Bush and Cheney were planning to attack Iraq prior to taking office. Please fill me in on that one. Like I said before on this site, we all have our opinions and a few facts.
January 24th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Willy:
Haven’t you been reading past posts here? This is no secret. Unfortunately I’m unable to site my sources because I’m unable to post here for some reason. You can look it up. It’s all over the internet.
And it seems you are the one with all the opinions and no facts.
January 24th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
“AND it proves the surge worked.”
Posted by Blissful conservative
So let me see if I understand your logic. If Obama brings the troops home, George Bush will be a hero for ending a war that Clinton started. Got it! Gotta love those delusional repubs.
January 24th, 2009 at 2:09 pm
TDRO,
They already had plans to bring the troops home BEFORE he took office. There is still NOT a definate date for troop withdrawl.
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-01-22-voa64.cfm
They are saying the same things now they said months ago. We will bring our troops home as soon as possible, but we aren’t going to leave the iraqi government in a bind by leaving too soon.
January 24th, 2009 at 2:27 pm
Blissful:
So regardless of what happens, no matter what Obama does to end the occupation, Bush and Cheney come out the heroes in your mind. Well, to each his own. I hear the Aryan nation consider Hitler a hero.
Willy:
Here is the post.
http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=bush+planned+iraq+attack+before+&fr=yfp-t-501&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8
January 24th, 2009 at 3:20 pm
TDRO
You have repeatedly criticized Bush and Cheney for every decision made in this war. Now you want to give all the credit to obama? doesn’t work that way. Sorry.
and FYI, the hitler thing is getting old. really.
January 25th, 2009 at 9:26 am
Blissful:
At least I’ve waited to see how Bush and Cheney would operatate in office. You don’t even want to give Obama a chance.
And FYI the Clinton thing is getting old. Get over it.
January 25th, 2009 at 3:40 pm