PARDON
Here’s the thing: if you’re gonna be the fall guy, you gotta actually
take the fall. I’m sure Scooter Libby is
a nice man who worked hard for his client and – many suspect – has loyally
protected higher ups in the White House.
You can see why they wouldn’t want him to serve time for serving them.
But if the game is that, as President, you can do something really bad,
get someone to take the fall, and then commute that someone’s sentence, you can
basically just do anything with impunity.
David: “I am a
lifelong Democrat and I am very disappointed by President Bush's commutation of
Scooter Libby’s prison sentence. However,
I am angry by the hypocrisy shown by leading Democrats in complaining about
it. Where were they when former
President Clinton pardoned Marc Rich during the last hours of his presidency?”
F I hear you (and
the many others who wrote with a similar sentiment), but I think there are two
things wrong with this line of argument.
The first is – assuming that the Marc Rich and Scooter Libby cases were
equivalent – it suggests that when Republicans do something wrong, they cannot
be criticized for it.
I suppose in a “tit for tat” situation that line of reasoning could be
fair – I stole your cookie so how can I credibly criticize you for stealing it
back? But the Rich and Libby pardons are
two entirely different, unrelated episodes.
It’s possible to be justly critical of both.
But that brings us to the second point.
The two cases are not equivalent. The Marc Rich case had little national
significance, and one of the arguments that can be made – President Clinton
made it – is that by allowing him to return to the U.S., the I.R.S. would then be able
to go after the hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes they claimed he
owed. If the I.R.S. prevailed, the taxes
would be collected and our Treasury enhanced.
And there were apparently other legal arguments on Rich’s side. Ironically, it was Scooter Libby who made
them! According to this in the Wall Street Journal, Libby spent a year
of his life trying to get Marc Rich pardoned. “Leonard Garment, who brought Mr. Libby onto the case in 1985, says
that he believes Mr. Libby’s legal work helped set the stage for Mr. Rich’s
eventual pardon.”
But even if you agree the Marc Rich pardon was a mistake – and it
probably was – are the two cases even remotely equivalent? The Rich case had little national
significance. The Libby case, by
contrast, goes to the heart of the White House.
His work for Marc Rich was a lawyer using his talents to protect a
client. He was working for Marc Rich. But in his White House role, he was on our payroll. He should have been working for us.
SURGE
PROTECTORS
Gary Thompson: “If you’re interested in a product that works better than
all other surge protectors, I'd recommend visiting zerosurge.com.
Even though they’re not cheap (I bought three of them for my home), losing a
computer, plasma TV or other sensitive electronic device can be far more
expensive. Their products have a 0% failure rate. Spend a few minutes and read their testimonials
and customer lists. It’s impressive.”
ADOPT-A-CLASSROOM
James: “I’m
writing to ask a favor …to see if you could promote Adopt-A-Classroom on your site during
the American Express Members Project
voting. We’ve been picked to be in the
Top 50 (out of 7,000) with an American Idol style voting to determine the
winner on August 7. The winning idea receives a minimum of $1 million and
up to $5 million. Here is why I believe
our programming is particularly timely and critical: Now more than ever,
in light of the most recent Supreme Court ruling that restricts the use of race
to integrate public schools, it is critical for concerned citizens to focus on,
and support our inner city schools, in order to level the playing field and provide
much needed financial resources and moral support for inner city teachers and
students. If each one of us were to
adopt one classroom, the collective impact would be monumental. Teachers
are in dire need of outside support to help their student realize their full
potential and meet life’s challenges.
To learn how to support
Adopt-A-Classroom in the American Express Members Project voting, visit www.adoptaclassroom.org/americanexpress.”
F Sure: but what about cleaning up Lake Winnipesaukee? (If you miss that reference, you either don’t
watch Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert – you are missing so much! – or you are
even more ruthless in your TiVo commercial-skipping
than I am.) Anyway, Adopt-A-Classroom is
great, so if you vote for Lake Winnipesaukee,
that’s okay – but then go and actually Adopt-A-Classroom
yourself.
LIVE!
Don’t forget to watch Live Earth tomorrow, 7-7-07 (at 7, Central
time, 8pm Eastern time on NBC).