BS: Scooter...FREE!

Subject: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: saulgoldie
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 07:09 PM

Ohboyohboyohboy. NOW there is FINALLY justice! NOT!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Riginslinger
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 07:15 PM

This is what we'll have until we get all the Bible Thumpers out of government.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: artbrooks
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 07:21 PM

...grrrrrrrrrrrrr - bletch

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 07:23 PM

I'm shocked!

Aren't you?

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: bobad
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 07:25 PM

Ah crap, I thought someone was giving away a free scooter.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Charley Noble
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 07:30 PM

Well, he's not actually pardoned. The conviction stands as does the fine of $250,000 and he'll be on parole. Still it's sad that GWB saw fit to commute his sentence.

Cheerily,
Charey Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: GUEST,Ed
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 08:06 PM

Was there ever a doubt this would happen?
He took the fall, in return no time.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 08:20 PM

Someone else will come up with the cash, also. He is still a convicted felon on probation (wink wink). I doubt he'll have any trouble finding someone to hire him, even if he is disbarred.

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: GUEST,Amos
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 08:29 PM

Well of course someone will hire him. Who could ignore those impeccable credentials? He's a credit to the Jungbunde or whatever the branch of government it is he was working for...


A

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: The Walrus
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 08:31 PM

Who or what is 'scooter' (apart from a two wheeled form of transport)?

Walrus

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: wysiwyg
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 08:33 PM

Google up our Scooter Libby.

~S~

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Ref
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 08:38 PM

Worst. President. Ever. Actually, this is rather clever. With nothing to serve, the felonious little prick has no incentive to roll over and, since he can still appeal his conviction, he can take the fifth if he's subpoenaed to testify for any investigations.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: kendall
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 08:41 PM

And they wonder why politicians rank below used car salesmen.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 08:49 PM

Uh-oh! I guess this means the Capital Steps radio satire crew will have to rewrite the Scooter sketch they were going to use in their July 4th show. They were going to do a parody of "Chatanooga Choo-Choo". You know, the one that starts, "Pardon me...." Anyone know any songs about commuting that would make a nice parody?

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: John O'L
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 09:08 PM

Isn't this tantamount to an admission by Bush of his complicity?

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Peace
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 09:25 PM

Tell me the truth. Is anyone here surprised? Really?

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Jim Lad
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 09:44 PM

"Worst. President" Nope. Worst electorate ever. Sorry guys but I just don't believe you any more. Haven't really since you voted him back in.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Sorcha
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 09:56 PM

No, Peace, of course nobody is surprised.

Jim Lad....please remember that we didn't actually VOTE him in again.

Let's just hope a new day is dawning.....if not, I won't place bets on what might happen.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Jim Lad
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 09:57 PM

Did too!

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 09:57 PM

Who the fuck is this "you" person, Jim Lad?

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 09:57 PM

An MSNBC report on the commutation is at Bush spares Libby

While the article doesn't say anything much that we haven't all expected, the choice of pictures for the article is "quaint," as it's not clear to me whether the writer/editor may have had the intent to suggest something.

I'm trying to convince myself that there is/isn't a similarity to These two guys

Nah, couldn't be.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Peace
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 10:03 PM

Where's Moe?

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 10:07 PM

Jim Lad, you have to do the math. An awful lot of people elected Gore the first time (he won the popular vote). The Supreme Court elected Dubya the first time. Dubya scared some of the lower-IQ range populace into voting for him again in case someone else might not be able to handle this "war on terror" as well as he. . . . Yeah, well, anyway, considering this immoral war never should have been started and the people who voted him in were either republican zealots who didn't care or so stupid they didn't know any better, there were a lot of people who you couldn't pay enough to cast a vote for this ass. Those of us who voted against him are working hard to educate our diminished-capacity neighbors to not elect whoever he or his party appoints his successor.

Get the picture?

SRS

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Peace
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 10:09 PM

July 2, 2007


A PROCLAMATION


       WHEREAS Lewis Libby was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case United States v. Libby, Crim. No. 05-394 (RBW), for which a sentence of 30 months' imprisonment, 2 years' supervised release, a fine of $250,000, and a special assessment of $400 was imposed on June 22, 2007;

       NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, pursuant to my powers under Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, do hereby commute the prison terms imposed by the sentence upon the said Lewis Libby to expire immediately, leaving intact and in effect the two-year term of supervised release, with all its conditions, and all other components of the sentence.

       IN WITNESS THEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this second day of July, in the year of our Lord two thousand and seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-first.

GEORGE W. BUSH

*********************************************************


And Article 2, Section 2 states:

Section 2. The President shall be commander in chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several states, when called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opinion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.


He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the Senators present concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, shall appoint ambassadors, other public ministers and consuls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall be established by law: but the Congress may by law vest the appointment of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of departments.


The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions which shall expire at the end of their next session.


**************************************************

These guys are slicker than goose shit in the rain.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Dickey
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 10:12 PM

Armitage is the confessed guilty party. Fitzgerald found out Armitage did it but ignored that while prosecuting Libby.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage acknowledged Thursday that he was the source who first revealed the identity of CIA officer Valerie Plame to syndicated columnist Robert Novak back in 2003, touching off a federal investigation.

Armitage told the CBS Evening News that he did so inadvertently.

"I feel terrible," Armitage said. "Every day, I think, I let down the president. I let down the secretary of state. I let down my department, my family, and I also let down Mr. and Mrs. Wilson."

In a column published on July 14, 2003, Novak, citing two senior administration officials, noted that Plame was a CIA operative. The column was primarily about Plame's husband, Joe Wilson, a former career diplomat and critic of the intelligence underlying the invasion of Iraq.

Novak has never revealed the original source of the information about Plame. However, he has confirmed that President Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, confirmed the information and was the second source cited in the column.

Novak has said he would not reveal the identity of the original source unless the source came forward. However, he said Fitzgerald learned who the source was independently.

Last month, sources told CNN that Armitage had revealed Plame's role at the CIA in a casual conversation with Novak.

Armitage was not indicted by the federal grand jury that investigated the disclosure of Plame's name to Novak and other journalists. He told CBS that the special counsel investigating the leak, Patrick Fitzgerald, "asked me not to discuss this, and I honored his request."


http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/08/leak.armitage/index.html

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: SINSULL
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 10:45 PM

Shades of the Nixon years.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: SINSULL
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 10:54 PM

My favorite of the earliest quotes:
Fellow 2008 hopeful and former North Carolina Sen. John Edwards also blasted the commuted sentence.

"Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today," said Edwards. "President Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world. In George Bush's America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI.

"George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious blow today."

Nicely phrased.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Rapparee
Date: 02 Jul 07 - 11:43 PM

What's Bush got to lose by this? He can't run again, he's a lame duck. The GOP will lose, though....

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: mrdux
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 01:29 AM

None of the Republican candidates wanted to have to answer the embarassing "Will you pardon poor old loyal Scooter?" question in public: they'd either offend their loyalists or they'd offend everyone else. With Libby's sentence commuted, my guess is the question is effectively taken out of play among the Republican candidates. W. takes the hit for it, but he doesn't care, and, so far as it appears at the moment none of the candidates has left any incriminating fingerprints. On balance, I think to the extent that the commutation insulates their candidates from having to even talk about the whole Scooter pardon question, the GOP benefits, although I suspect not by very much.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Jim Lad
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 03:14 AM

"Who the heck is this "you" person, Jim Lad?" ... Amerikay!

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: the lemonade lady
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 03:43 AM

I thougt it was a free scooter too! Actually here in the Welsh Border country the teenagers are given scooters in a scheme called 'Wheels to Work' and i think it's a brilliant idea.

Sal

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Bee-dubya-ell
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 10:27 AM

Jim Lad, when YOU use the word "you" in a message I take it that you are referring to ME and I thorougly despise George W. Bush.

If you wish to express your displeasure with the Americans who elected George W. Bush please phrase it in such a manner that it is clearly aimed at the 51% who voted for him instead of at some non-existent homogenous "Amerikay". Trust me, the 49% of us who voted against George W. Bush do take it personally when you try to lump us together with our idiot brethren.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Jim Lad
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 11:33 AM

Pity you can't aim that anger where it would do some good.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: SINSULL
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 11:44 AM

Time to combine threads?

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: The Walrus
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 12:20 PM

WARNING: Thread Drift

Re: Presidential Election (and who voted him in).

Please forgive me if this is the wrong place to say this, but, as I see it, the problem lies as much with the American electoral system as the electorate.

As I understand it, a simple majority of votes in a state delivers ALL the votes of that State in the Presidential Electoral College, to the winner, effectively dis-enfranchising the opposition voters in that State (with all the disputes that follow), which wouldn't matter if all the States had equal votes in the College, but, of course they don't.
Perhaps the system should be altered to apportion the College votes per state in proportion to the votes cast with, say, an extra vote for the winner in the case of very close results within a state.
Are my suppositions correct or am I missing something?

Walrus

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Don Firth
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 12:35 PM

Well, I didn't vote for the little Bozo and his troupe of clowns, and not only that, I didn't vote for him twice!

I guess somebody must have voted for him, but I, personally, don't know anyone who did.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Jim Lad
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 12:39 PM

He won the popular vote. Funny how no-one ever owns up to it.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: GUEST,dianavan
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 01:35 PM

Bush thought Scooter's sentence was excessive so he reduced it to no time in jail but left the fine and the probation. That's not a pardon. Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending either of them but technically, Bush will not go down in history as giving Scooter a pardon. It just shows how sleazy these guys can be.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Maryrrf
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 01:55 PM

I was disgusted but not surprised. Regarding Jim Lad's comments - okay valid point Bush did get a lot of votes in both elections, and that is not a good reflection of our society, but I am still convinced that there was foul play involved in both the elections. Now if the margins hadn't been very slim there would have been no possibility of manipulating the voting results so that the bad guys would win, but I don't believe everything was on the up and up. It IS a shame that so many of my compatriots believed the fearmongering and thought we needed a "tough guy" to protect us - bought into the "get them before they get us" mentality. I was so sure that he wouldn't win a second term and when I found out the election results I felt like someone had kicked me in the stomach.

This administration has divided Americans in a way that I haven't seen before - even in the days of the Vietnam protests. God I hope the pendulum swings in the other direction for the next elections.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: GUEST,Bartlett
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 02:03 PM

Bill Clinton and Butch Reno burned babies at Waco and nothing happened to them. Bush even pardoned Bill Clinton of all crimes he might have committed. When Hillary is installed in the White House she'll pardon Bush. It's just hand washing. And in 2-3 years you'll all love GWBush. Secretary of State Oprah Winfrey will host an Extreme Make-Over of Bush, and his crimes will be turned into vitues. He'll be the New Father of our Country and will have more entries in Bartlett's Quotations than Shakespeare.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Don Firth
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 02:08 PM

It may be where I'm located. Seattle. Eastern Washington is pretty conservative and there are a few small pockets of rabid Republicans east of Lake Washington (parts of Woodinville and Redmond), but most of Western Washington where I live is pretty liberal/progressive. After all, we elected Jim McDermott to the House of Representatives by about 85% of the vote (he's a long-time royal pain in the ass to the Bush administration) and went whole-hog for Senator Patty Murray, whose opposition to the Iraq war got her dubbed "Taliban Patty" by the Republicans. Senator Maria Cantwell got a rocky start in her first term, but has recently got her act together. Powerful advocate of energy independence and protecting the environment. And Representative Jay Inslee of the 1st Congressional District (check "Legislative Issues" on left) is no slouch either. All four are Democrats. I don't think anyone who voted for Bush would have voted for any of these folks. In fact, Washington is a "blue" state (predominantly Democratic).

Yeah, about 50%, (plus or minus a razor-thin margin of questionable [suspicious] votes) of the American electorate is to blame for the snake's nest in Washington, D.C., but it's not really fair to blame the entire electorate for that, considering the vociferousness of the opposition.

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Jim Lad
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 02:55 PM

Lest any of you think me guilty of mindless needling, allow me to do some 'splainin'.

You voted for George Bush and he is doing exactly what you asked of him.
You all say that you did not vote for him personally and that his majority was slim if he had one at all.
Not one of you has tried to do one single thing to oust this administration in spite of two unjustified wars, the deaths of three thousand people in a terrorist attack, three thousand dead American soldiers and as yet, untold numbers of dead Iraqis. (All on his watch & all his fault)
"I didn't vote for him" is not any kind of defense in this situation.
You didn't stop him and if all are to believed, you certainly have the numbers to do so.
Sometimes you just have to take ownership of your mistakes.
Sorry guys. I'm sure you're all very nice people but while you go about apologizing for your country's shortcomings and do nothing to stop it, thousands are dying.
As for waiting for the next President: What in the name of all that's good and holy makes you think that the next one will be some kind of a savior?
Newsflash:::::: America is what it is today. Change it today or be happy with what you've got but please stop telling us all that you'll be nice again in a couple of years.
I just don't believe you any more.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Maryrrf
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 03:07 PM

Most of us are not exactly in a position to take up arms against the government. What would you suggest we do?

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Peace
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 03:16 PM

Jim,

We have had the same problem in Alberta--and I think y'all have too in BC. We have had shit for government for decades. Ask around and NO one admits to voting for the assholes, so I wonder how they got in. Ralph Klein was credited with solving our provincial deficit. Hell, he predicated the resolution of the debt on oil that was selling at about $17.50 a barrel. A few years later it was selling at over $40 a barrel. Yeah, Ralph. A grade 5 student could have solved the debt problem. Now, with oil over $60 a barrel, Alberta has a surplus of about $8,000,000,000. Yeah. However, the big three are still getting hit: Education, Health and Social Services. In as much as this seems to be a democracy of sorts, I can only assume that government is doing what the voters want it to do. I don't intend to get into it with our friends to the south (and northwest). They got what they voted for and now they can't do a damned thing about it. We are in the same boat to a lesser degree. The fact I didn't vote for Ralph--or indeed any damned conservative in the friggin' history of my voting life--doesn't mean I don't share the blame. It is democracy in action. At least I don't get thorwn in jail for expressing my views. That may change in the US, and with only his ears stopping Harper from being up to his shoulders in Bush's ass, it may change in Canada, too. BUT, tell you this: the fuckers better send more than a few guys to take me away to whatever will be the Canuck Gitmo, because one or two ain't gonna be enough.

Keep well. In the words of Will, "All politics is apple sauce."

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Don Firth
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 03:33 PM

Sorry, Jim, but that's just plain unfair. I campaigned like crazy in both presidential elections for my own candidates and against Bush, and I know one helluva lot of people who did the same, and I've backed various petitions to get the little twit impeached--along with everything I can think of to make sure the Republicans don't get in again in 2008.

It's pretty easy for someone to sit back and say, "Well, you Americans asked for it!" Well, not all Americans did ask for it!

Don Firth

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Stringsinger
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 03:43 PM

Scooter may have been freed but the US Constitution is imprisoned.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Peace
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 03:53 PM

Don,

Many years ago I campaigned on behalf of Senator Eugene McCarthy (back in the 1960s). He ran again (half-heartedly) in the 1972 election. (Nixon won.) A good friend of mine from the US called me on election night at about 3:00 AM. He was four sheets to the wind. He said, "Once again the American people get what they deserve. But why do I have to keep getting what they deserve?"

I guess the diference between you and many people is that you can sleep at night because you KNOW you did what you could. Sometimes, that has to be enough.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Wesley S
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 04:03 PM

Everytime I read someone from England like Jim Lad bitching about America it just makes me want to laugh and say "Dude - You have a QUEEN !!!!!" "And PRINCES!!!"

Ever considered cleaning up your own backyard first? Do I need to mention Ireland? India? Countless other countries?

I've never voted for Bush - either locally or at the national level. And the majority of Americans haven't either. Get a grip Jim.

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Charley Noble
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 04:32 PM

Wesley-

I belive Jim Ladd is from British Columbia as Peace in his post implied but I share your general frustration with cross-the-board criticism of our imperfect and dangerous nation.

Bill Clinton is beginning to look like a saint, compared with GWB.

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Scooter...FREE!
From: Don Firth
Date: 03 Jul 07 - 04:33 PM

Thanks, Peace. You have the right of it.

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."      —Margaret Mead

Well, sometimes that small group (or even a very large group) of thoughtful, committed citizens lack, by a very small margin, the simple numbers to bring that change about—at least in the first few attempts.   

What are those who blame all Americans for Bush advocating? That we who did not support Bush just don sack-cloth, heap ashes on our heads, declare ourselves abject failures, and give up? Not my way! And not the way of many people I know!

To condemn all Americans for putting the Bush administration in office is just plain wrong, and it does a gross disservice to those who tried to prevent it, and to those who are working hard to see that a similar thing doesn't happen again. To claim that "you" (all Americans) are to blame for the Bush administration is unfair and disingenuous. It's easy for those in the privilege position of sitting on the sidelines (such as some citizens—but not all, of course—of other countries, who don't have the responsibility of participating in American politics) to sit back a smugly take pot-shots at Americans in general when large numbers of Americans have made heroic efforts to keep the situation from becoming what it became—but who failed most definitely through no fault of their own.

Consider this:    assigning collective guilt to an entire group of people because of the actions of some of them is cut from the same cloth as bigotry and racism. That's the same kind of thinking that allows those of the terrorist mentality to kill innocent civilians. They blame an entire group for the actions of a few.

Don Firth