The devil you know

It’s hard to reach the bottom of the cesspool of corruption, cronyism, lawlessness, and shameless self-interest that is the Bush administration; every time you think you’re there you take a look down and find that it just keeps going.  Case in point: although commuting Libby’s sentence was bad enough at the surface level of setting free the only person who’s been convicted of crimes related (even if obliquely) to the lies that were used to sell the Iraq war, that’s only the merest fraction of the evil of it.  Here’s Amy Goodman summarizing Marcy Wheeler’s observations about the case:

Blogger Marcy Wheeler, who followed the Libby trial closely, told me: “In some ways, commutation is worse [for the cause of justice] than a pardon. With a commutation, Scooter Libby retains his Fifth Amendment rights.” If Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., for example, were to call a hearing, Libby could still plead the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination, remaining silent. Had he been pardoned and been completely cleared of any wrongdoing, then he would have a harder time refusing to answer questions. Libby’s continued silence protects Bush and Cheney.

The commutation also allows the Bush administration to remain silent. As Bush said, “I have said throughout this process that it would not be appropriate to comment or intervene in this case until Mr. Libby’s appeals have been exhausted.”

So the commutation ensures that Libby will not cooperate with Fitzgerald, and will not cooperate with Congress.

As Wheeler herself points out, it also shut down the possibility that Libby might have decided to tell what he knew rather than spend time in jail.  And in an irony so pointed that it could put both your eyes out, she observes that this is all coming from the same administration that’s currently pushing hard to reinstate mandatory minimum sentencing:

The Bush administration is trying to roll back a Supreme Court decision by pushing legislation that would require prison time for nearly all criminals. […]

In a speech June 1 to announce the bill, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales urged Congress to reimpose mandatory minimum prison sentences against federal convicts — and not let judges consider such penalties "merely a suggestion."

No, we can’t have judges doing that–just presidents.

The one thing I can say for the Bush administration is this: at least in their case the hypocrisy is utterly brazen, shameless, and out there on display for the entire world to see.  The Democrats are just as hypocritical and driven by self-interest, but they have the intelligence and political acumen to disguise their true intentions–or at least well enough to satisfy most well-meaning liberals, who are, sadly, far too easily impressed.