What the F*&#?

Until Tony Snow wrote his USA Today editorial on the Bush pardon of Scooter Libby, I was willing to let it go. After all, the president's broad Constitutional power to pardon convicted offenders has been around since the dawn of time (or at least American government time). The power is broad, it's unfettered, and it's a bit of anomaly in our government of strict checks and balances. But for all that, (and yes, there's much to talk about in all that) it's a legitimate Constitutional power. Nearly every president has used it; almost all used it to pardon their cronies and friends.

That doesn't make the power right, of course, but it is political reality. I don't suppose that most anyone was surprised by the Libby pardon. I wasn't. No one else should have been.

But then Snow wrote in the USA Today, " [Bush] believes pardons and commutations should reflect a genuine determination to strengthen the rule of law and increase public faith in government."

Whhhhhhhhhhhhat?

That sort of reasoning is just shameful. Bush commuted Libby's sentence and he should own it, not offer up slimy, distasteful justifications for his actions. To me, that sentence shows how very little respect he has for the reasoning skills of the American public. Not to mention the "rule of law" and "public faith in government."