The New York Times' straight-news reporting described it as "the act of a liberated man," just one more sign that he's nothing left to lose.
The Washington Post focused on how the liberated man "limited his deliberations over commuting the prison term ... to a few close aides, opting not to consult with the Justice Department," although it also highlighted the "unanswered question" as to the always-liberated vice president's "role in advocating leniency."
The Washington Times, true to ideological form and journalistic degeneracy, downplayed the story's significance by assigning it secondary headline status, and wrapped up its coverage by quoting a noble Libby Legal Defense Trust member: "That's fantastic.... I'm glad the president had the courage to do this."
The Los Angeles Times' impression was that the president "is still willing to rely on his signature leadership style -- one that risks polarizing the country to take stands that satisfy his conservative base." (Risks?)
The Chicago Tribune's only perceptible barb was this: "Bush, who long had said that anyone responsible for leaking the agent's identity would be fired from his administration," nevertheless gave that most cherished of forgiving gifts to Scooter.
And The Politico's reporting saw "the major unanswered question" to be not that of the vice president's role in this squalid affair, but "how or if Republicans ... will defend this action."
And that's the journalistic round-up from across the nation.
To my mind, the right-wing mob at the third-rate Washington Times used splendid journalistic judgment in minimizing the story. I mean, come on. Was Bush's ignominious order of commutation the least bit abnormal -- as in newsworthy -- for this criminal regime, after lo these many years of regimented criminality? To blast away at it as the lead story is like the Chicago Tribune wasting its lead with a Capone-distillery-raid story in the late 1920s. Yeah, guys? Your point being? So what else is new(s)?
No, this was old stuff. With overwhelming public condemnation behind him -- nearly three-fourths of the nation, according to a CNN poll -- Gangbanger Bush once again merely lived up to everyone's expectations by scorning fair play, impartial justice, and common executive decency.
Don't get me wrong. I derive no pleasure from seeing a white-collar fop whisked off to the hoosegow. And I saw no benefit to the Republic in requiring taxpayers to room and board Mr. Libby for 30 care-free months, wherein he could devote all his tireless mental energies to his own peculiar version of Mein Kampf.
No, actually I was nostalgic for those jurisprudentially creative days when the black-robed Man could order the pertinent malefactor into the fighting-man's Army rather than the Big House. Mr. Libby deprived himself of that singular treat as a young man, during the peak of Vietnam's exhilarating entertainment, opting instead for deferments so he could listen to the neocon croonings of Instructor Paul Wolfowitz at Yale.
Mr. Libby's contemporary predicament was the perfect opportunity for a just judge to order up a second chance -- indeed, the chance of a lifetime, the one Scooter wanted so many others to experience.
Judge: "You got a wife? Sorry. You got kids? Sorry. You got a career? Sorry. You got ass-preservationist qualms about placing said ass' preservation in the line of fire? Sorry. So does every other poor schmuck you so dishonorably helped mire over there. So get your shots, stick a funny Dukakis helmet on your scheming head and we'll see you off on the next C-17 military transport.
"Oh, and when you get there, report to Sgt. Bush and Cpl. Cheney. They'll be the ones hiding behind all the privates."
And that's my take on this story. Not exactly straight reporting; but as for justice?
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