So Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney’s former Chief-of-Staff, is – barring a Presidential pardon in ‘09 - going to spend a long time in jail. Found guilty on four of the five counts of lying to the FBI and obstructing justice, Libby could be sentenced on June 5th to up to 25-years. Many are calling this the ‘accountability moment’ for President Bush, and liberals across America are demanding that the scrutiny continues.
But Bush has already had accountability moments. There were the victorious ’04 elections, and then, last November, Bush was delivered a stunning bloody nose as the Democrats gained control of the House of Representatives and the Senate. Bush’s popularity ratings could hardly be worse. The turning point, of course, was the response to Katrina in ’05. Such was the level of ineptitude and abdication of responsibly in New Orleans, that there was no way independent voters who had supported Bush, could continue to back this administration. Dubya has been punch-drunk ever since.
Lewis ” Scooter” Libby
I. Lewis Libby is one of the original neocons. Along with Cheney and the former Secretary of Defence, Donald H. Rumsfeld, Libby is a signatory on the holy Neocon text, The Project for the New American Century (PNAC), so it’s unlikely there will be many tears shed over his sentencing. It’s saddening, but rather predictable, that those who lied to take America and the United Kingdom to war will be called to account for obstructing justice, and not lying to their citizens. It’s OK to lie to your voters, just don’t do it to the FBI.
The Bush administration is rocking. Violence in Iraq is escalating and the treatment of injured troops at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where recuperating GI’s shared their rooms with rats, has led to a cull at the Pentagon, as new Secretary of Defence Robert M. Gates, holds those responsible to account.
Another scandal involving the administration’s penchant for dismissing District Attorneys who are investigating senior Republican officials, a story reported by this blog back in January, is also delighting a hungry media and giving voters the heebie-jeebies.
Bush is not a popular President, and this conviction, the highest-level White House official to be jailed since the Iran-Contra Affair, is going to do him no favours at all.
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You know, I heard reaction yesterday, and some think he should not have been found guilty because he was the fall guy. He did something illegal, and he should not be found guilty because there were others that were guilty too? Makes no sense to me!
Hi Leesa - thanks for calling by,
There is a conservative faction, led by Cheney’s former council, to play down the charges. This is probably clearing the way for a presidential pardon. Try and defuse the inevitable controversy.