On Bill Richardson

By now, most of you are aware that George Bush commuted the prison sentence of Scooter Libby. I ranted about it a few days ago. Today I received an open letter from Bill Richardson to Bush. I agree with everything that Richardson says in it and thought you readers might be interested. Here is the letter:

Dear President Bush,

Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted on federal charges of perjury, obstruction of justice, and lying to investigators. It was a fair trial and a fair sentence.

You are simply wrong to commute his sentence and I am disturbed about the message you are sending to the American people and to the people of the world -- namely, that the rule of law is not absolute and that loopholes do exist for people with the right friends, or the right secrets to keep. That is not the American way and it once again demonstrates the breathtaking arrogance that unfortunately has come to characterize your Administration.

Will you also commute the sentences of others who obstructed justice and lied to grand juries? Will you commute the sentences of others convicted in cases that compromised our national security? Or will you only protect those who you know and who have acted to hide the actions of your administration from the American people?

I am beyond disappointed. I am incensed. And today I ask that you immediately declare you will not, under any circumstances, make this situation worse by pardoning Scooter Libby.

You may have arranged that he not serve a day (or even an hour) of his sentence, but if you want to preserve any of your credibility, you must not erase his crime completely.

I implore you -- the American people implore you -- do not pardon Scooter Libby.

Sincerely,
Governor Bill Richardson

Meanwhile, the Richardson campaign continues to grow. Richardson started with only 3% support, but by the end of May he had climbed to 10% in polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire. A new CNN-WMUR TV poll conducted June 18-20 shows that his support is still growing. He has now climbed to 13% in Iowa. Here are the poll's results:

Edwards...............34%

Clinton.................24%

Obama..................17%

Richardson..........13%

Biden....................02%

Kucinich...............02%

Dodd.....................00%

But when they narrowed the poll to the most-likely caucus goers, the figures get even better. These are people who attended the caucus in 2004, voted in the 2006 primary and say they will definitely be at the 2008 caucus. Here are the numbers for the "most-likelies":

Edwards...............31%

Clinton.................23%

Richardson..........18%

Obama..................16%

Biden....................03%

Kucinich...............02%

Dodd.....................00%

With over six months left, these are very encouraging numbers for Richardson. Before long, the main-stream media is going to have to start paying attention.