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The sentence was commuted and not pardoned. Does this mean that George Bush believes that Scooter Libby is, in fact, guilty of a crime? In his statement he said that he wanted to respect the jury's verdict but thought the fact that Judge Walton (whom he appointed to burnish his tough on crime credentials) was too harsh in going beyond the parole board's recommendation. If this is the case, why not commute 12 months of the sentence and reduce it to 18 months which is squarely in the range suggested by the board.

Does he believe that lying to a grand jury and obstruction are crimes that should not require jail time? Will he be commuting the sentence of others who did the same thing or is it only OK if it was done in the course of working for his administration? To me, this is the death knell for the law and order conservative.

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YES! Great post. Bush's position is NOT that Libby did not commit a crime (notwithstanding all of the brilliant legal minds here who are arguing otherwise), it is that, in his opinion, the sentence was too harsh.

There certainly are cases where a sentence meted out is not proportional to the crime, either as a result of a bonkers judge, a crazy law, and/or an overzealous prosecutor. The kid in Georgia seems to be that case. But this? Participating in a cover-up about blowing the cover of a covert agent who is working on behalf of the USA? In retribution for *her husband's* political views? Disgusting. He didn't get enough time.