The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Idiotic Editorial on Libby

Today's Milwaukee Journal Sentinel editorial on President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence is laughable.

"The real miscarriage"

In the six years that George W. Bush was governor of Texas, 150 men and two women were executed by the state. In each case, Bush got a so-called clemency memo. He allowed all but one of the executions to proceed.

In commuting the 30-month sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby for lying to authorities, President Bush said Monday that the sentence was "excessive."

The irony here would be laughable if the message the president sends with this action was not so damaging. And that would be that there are indeed two standards of justice - one for the powerful and well-connected and another for the rest of the country. And Libby, as former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, couldn't have been sitting closer to the seats of power or have been better connected.

This is truly insane.

The Editorial Board has gone completely off the deep end.

The crimes of people on death row in Texas aren't even remotely in the same league as Libby.

It's a complete joke to try to make a connection between the executions that took place while President Bush was the governor of Texas and Scooter Libby's crime.

Is the Editorial Board really suggesting that Bush should have pardoned killers and rapists of innocents?

There's no comparison between Libby's less than perfect memory and such horrific acts.

Texas, fairly or unfairly, is infamous for its quality of justice. In recent years, eight people have been freed from death row in that state because they were innocent, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

What does that have to do with Scooter Libby?

And what does the Board mean by "recent years"?

Bush has been president for the last six "recent years."

True, the president might have pardoned Libby outright for his obstruction in the investigation of who leaked the name of a covert CIA operative. The $250,000 fine and probation remain in place. The president points to a recommendation by the probation office for a lesser sentence. OK, but harsh sentences are a common occurrence in American jurisprudence. And most ordinary people don't have powerful friends who can step in to help.

But mostly this commutation fails on the most basic premise. There was no miscarriage of justice in Libby's conviction or his sentence. The trial amply demonstrated that he stonewalled.

The investigation and the trial amply demonstrated that Libby did not leak Valerie Plame's name.

It wasn't Libby. It wasn't Libby. It wasn't Libby.

It was Richard Armitage. Armitage. ARMITAGE.

Read more about this "Sham of an Investigation."

Like President Clinton's 11th-hour pardons of an ill-deserving few, this commutation is a travesty.

The overzealous Patrick Fitzgerald wanted so much more. He had nothing, so he went after Libby. That was a travesty of justice.

Furthermore, Bush didn't pardon Libby.

Clinton's litany of pardons can't be compared with what Bush did on Monday. It's not even close.

Bush got it right.

The Journal Sentinel Editorial Board, once again, gets it wrong.