Posted on 11/18/2010 7:39:53 AM PST by Servant of the Cross
"Could [I] have misspoken? Yes, I am male, I'm over 50. By definition, I can misspeak." - Ambassador Joe Wilson, in a July 18, 2004, interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer.
"Given the incredible pace and scope of my work during that [relevant] period and the subsequent passage of time, I simply did not recall the sequence of events. ... I had completely forgotten [who had suggested a key idea]. I had forgotten [who received a call from whom]. ... I had answered all the questions truthfully, and to the best of my ability. Still, a little voice in my head was saying it felt like a setup. In retrospect, it was clear they weren't seeking information, but simply confirming their already closed conclusions." - Former CIA case officer Valerie Plame Wilson, in her memoir "Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House."
Memory can be unreliable, and misstatements can happen despite pure intentions. It's only fair game to point this out.
So say Valerie Plame Wilson, former CIA case manager and Vanity Fair cover girl, and her husband, Joseph C. Wilson IV, former ambassador to Gabon and extravagant self-promoter. Too bad the Wilsons, a power-mad federal prosecutor, an officious federal judge, a confused jury and a badly misled president wouldn't apply those same common-sense considerations to I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, wrongly convicted of perjury in the case stemming from State Department official Richard Armitage's public identification of Mrs. Wilson as a CIA employee.
For the very first time since his conviction, Mr. Libby - former chief of staff to then-Vice President Dick Cheney - went on the record about his case.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
Joe Wilson ... Valerie Plame ... Richard Armitage ... Colin Powell
Each of these unrepentant liars owe Scooter Libby his life back. Each are atrocious cowards for not setting the record straight.
One of the biggest mistakes George W. Bush ever made was NOT PARDONING Scooter Libby when he CLEARLY SHOULD HAVE.
Do you remember how hard conservatives had to work just to get the railroaded/maligned border agents out of prison? Bush wasn’t very reliable when it came to spotting miscarriages of justice (on the right) and righting them.
If you would like to be on my low volume ping list, please FReepmail me.
And what about Bush? No pardon...just commutation. Another coward.
And Rangel & all the other crooks walk free.
Disgusting miscarriage of JUSTICE.
Agreed. Republicans are real morons when it comes playing the scandal game
Libby went to jail for absolutely nothing. Charley Rangle and Maxine Waters commit felonies and get a slap on the wrist.
RE: Do you remember how hard conservatives had to work just to get the railroaded/maligned border agents out of prison?
Ahh yes, I remember that outrage. What ever happened to their case eventually? I am embarrased to admit I don’t know.
As a W fan, I agree. I didn't understand it then and don't now. The only thing that I've given the benefit of the doubt is that he felt if he pardoned him, Scooter would always be presumed to have been guilty and that he hoped the justice system would provide the true and just exoneration. When that didn't happen, he did commute Libby's prison sentence.
I may be recalling this incorrectly, but didn’t Scooter Libby say he didn’t want a pardon because it would terminate his appeal process and he wanted to continue his appeals?
Iirc, Bush commuted it, so they got out of prison but carried the stigma of the conviction and of a felony record. We were all glad and relieved to see them out finally, but what a terrible miscarriage of justice. To think it happened during a Republican administration. It was beyond the point of frustrating.
Ditto that! I was very disappointed in GWB for his failure to do the honorable thing. You could usually count on him to do such things. This was a glaring exception.
I'd like to also add, I loved the Childrens books written by Mrs. Cheney, especially the one on the Constitution.
Oh yeah. Like that's going to happen. Obama will pass out plenty of pardons on his way out of office. To people like Mumia Abu-Jamal, Charlie Rangel or Khalid Sheik Mohammed. Libby will not even get reviewed. Perhaps the Republican who takes the White House back in 2012 will have more cojones on this issue than GWB.
I don’t think so. Commutation would probably have had the same effect. I believe Bush points out in his book that Cheney was unhappy that it was only a commutation. If that had been what Libby wanted I don’t think Cheney would have objected.
Yes. One of the things I liked least about Bush is that he quickly pardoned his enemies. But he just stood there while his friends were being screwed by his enemies, and did nothing to help them.
Not just Scooter Libby, but also the Border Patrol martyrs, the Haditha Marines, and many others.
He refuses to say anything bad about lying Joe Wilson and his lying wife, but he lets Scooter Libby suffer the unjust penalty for his neglect, under a corrupt judge, a lying prosecutor, and a lying press.
The Bible says to love your enemies. It doesn’t say to betray your friends. And a public figure must understand the difference between his wishes as a private person and his duties as a public servant. Which means that sometimes a public servant must call his enemies to account, if they are damaging the country he is sworn to protect. You cannot simply turn the other cheek when you represent your country, or allow an innocent victim of political corruption to suffer unjustly.
The next GOP president may well pardon Scooter, now that his rehabilitation is being so well articulated and the injustice so clear. I suspect that the recent excellent article by another Scooter classmate, Stan Crock (a former BusinessWeek reporter) may have prompted this new editorial by a prominent conservative journalist!
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2624245/posts
Bush needed to affirm that an American jury has a right to be respected and to make sure that the historical record affirmed that he was independent from Cheney and that Cheney and his team were subordinate to him and accountable under the law. Cheney and Scooter screwed up by failing to protect Plame’s CIA status 100% (even though she was complicit in her husband's partisan attempt to undermine Bush) and then allowing themselves to even get into a position where a “memory problem” could result in a conviction that could be and continues to be spun as a smear against the WMD case against Saddam.
Memory problem or not, Scooter gave the appearance (at least in the anti-Bush media and the the prosecutor) of failing to be fully truthful so as to protect Cheney. Bush couldn't bring himself to pardon Scooter, but I suspect that the next GOP president might well.
Key Witness: Prosecutor Manipulated Me Into Falsely Testifying Against Scooter Libby
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3276688/posts
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