Will Il Dunce pardon Libby?

[Stinky The Clown]

Keith is interviewing Lawrence O'Donnell. O'Donnell is speculating that Dear Leader will pardon Libby rather than have him go to trial. The reasoning follows the general notion that a pardon's political fallout is favored over a trial in which secrets might become common knowledge - not state secrets, but political secrets that bushistas would rather never see the light of day.

The kicker for me was when Keith asked Lawrence about the tendency such an action would have to paralyze the adminstration, O'Donnell's retort was the clincher: "Paralyze? Any more than a 33% rating?"

There was much more to the discussion ..... but what do you think?

[Olney Blue]

1. I said no, because the blivet doesn't really give a crap about anyone else

[BOSSHOG]

2. You mean bush complicit in cutting and running from justice?

[mike_c]

3. I will be utterly shocked if the Bush administration allows this case...

...to go to trial. At the very least, Rove and Cheney will be put on the stand and questioned about their roles, and Cheney is still up for grabs in the investigation IMO. Rove might not be indicted, but that's at least partly because he came clean about his sordid actions and was careful about who he lied to and when, but a trial will let all the skeletons out of the closet. They want this to go away SO badly. I'm convinced that Bush will pardon whomever he has to to keep the trial from happening.

[Igel]

4. I voted 'no',

but want to say that doesn't mean 'no pardon', just 'no pardon that has any effect beyond making it simpler for him to register to vote.'

Most presidential pardons do nothing but erase the person's record after the verdict's been read and the sentence over with.

* may well pardon Libby, but it'll only matter for the official records.

[MaineDem]

5. I disagree

I think a pardon will have major implications, not just for official records.

This crime reaches into the White House inner circle. A pardon, especially if given before the trial, implicates the WH is the whole mess. Of course, we already know they're involved. The Nixon pardon may have cost Ford the next election. I'm only sorry this pardon can't cost Bush a loss at the polls. It may tarnish an already low-valued Presidency, though. And the Bush boys love their legacy.