Lewis "Scooter" Libby went back to court yesterday and found out what his sentence was to be. Libby and his attorneys asked for leniency, but U.S. District Court Judge Reggie B. Walton was having none of it. Judge Walton said, "Mr. Libby failed to meet the bar. For whatever reason, he got off course."
Judge Walton then sentenced Libby to 30 months in prison for lying and obstructing justice. If it were you or I, we would be sitting behind bars right now waiting to be transferred to a federal prison. But the rich and powerful operate under different rules than the rest of us do. Libby got to go home.
Libby's lawyers asked that he be allowed to remain free while his case is being appealed. Judge Walton said he saw no reason to put the sentence on hold -- then let Libby go home, while he scheduled a hearing on the matter for a week from next Thursday.
Meanwhile, Dick Cheney (Libby's old boss, and the guy he's protecting) said, "Speaking as friends, we hope that our system will return a final result consistent with what we know of this fine man." I can understand Cheney's attitude. If Libby actually had to go to prison, he might be upset enough to tell the truth about his superiors.
But I doubt that Libby will actually go to prison. If he's not allowed to stay free while his case is on appeal, then there will probably be a pardon from Bush. Republicans are already trying to put pressure on Bush to give a pardon. Several of the presidential candidates said or inferred that they would pardon Libby.
I have no doubt that Bush wants to pardon Libby. Right now, he's just hoping that Libby can stay free while appeals are heard. That way, Bush can delay the pardon until his term is nearly over.
But whether the judge allows him to stay free or not, the pardon is coming. It is just Bush's nature to reward criminal loyalty.
No comments:
Post a Comment
ANONYMOUS COMMENTS WILL NOT BE PUBLISHED. And neither will racist,homophobic, or misogynistic comments. I do not mind if you disagree, but make your case in a decent manner.