Thursday, March 08, 2007

Give Me Libby, or Give Me Death, Part 4 - Vol. 3 Issue 33

The first phase of the Lewis “Scooter” Libby drama has reached its conclusion. I must say that I am surprised. I thought that Libby’s legal team would be able to confuse the issues before the jury just enough to create a feeling of reasonable doubt. I thought the worst case for Libby would be a hung jury. The fact that the jury didn’t bite on the false premise of Libby’s busy schedule ("I didn’t lie, I was so busy with important matters of national security that I FORGOT who I told, what I told them and when I told them, etc."), once again demonstrates the greatness of the jury system. Put in the most simple terms: Even though the jury understood that Libby was taking the fall for Cheney and Rove, it did its duty by applying the law and facts to the case at hand. Americans should be glad to live in a country where 11 citizens chosen at random will ignore extraneous circumstances and focus on the precise questions. Who told the truth and who lied?

But there is so much more to come. While betting pools are forming all over the nation as to the precise date upon which Bush will pardon Cheney’s pit bull, there is no doubt we have not witnessed the end of this sordid tale. The truth is that Libby’s “selfless” act was motivated by the need to protect his superiors from exposure. The trial established that Valerie Plame was indeed a classified agent and the CIA has paid a price in blood because of the Cheney/Rove conspiracy to punish Ambassador Joseph Wilson. Prosecutor Fitgerald’s dilemma was that he was unable to get Libby to incriminate Cheney or Rove. The goal of a prosecutor is always to “move up the ladder” and get the underlings to implicate their superiors. Libby chose to fall on his sword. But there will be no lasting honor in this case.

President Bush is now faced with a conundrum. If he doesn’t pardon Libby, Bush will face the unending wrath of the neocons and the Vulcan alumni association at the right wing think tanks (AEI, Heritage, etc. etc.). If he goes through with the pardon, the 2008 Republican candidate for President will face a firestorm from the Democrats and the media. Either way, the Plame case will be a continual problem for the rest of Bush’s term. With administration failures mounting everywhere, one can only guess what desperate measures Bush will contemplate. The President could help himself and his splintered party by accepting Cheney’s resignation conditioned on a deal with Congress that Cheney be granted immunity along with his pension. One thing is certain, there is more to this story than we know, or we are likely to know. Stay tuned.

Stuck inside of Mobile, I remain

Savant