No Free Pass

You might think, on first examination, that President Bush has done something rather clever by commuting the sentence of Scooter Libby, rather than giving him an outright pardon. The idea is that you pacify the right wing, but still admit that Something Wasn't Quite Right about what Libby, who has a FIFTIES CHILD'S NAME, did.

It also, apparently takes off the table a question for Republican primary candidates, viz. "Would You Pardon Scooter Libby and his stupid name?" This is true, to a point. However, what we really need is a troll-like operative to say, "well, it's all very well for him to have avoided being violated in a prison camp in Connecticut, but he has a living to make, and so forth, and being a convicted felon kind of cramps his style. Do you as a candidate think that his children, some of which are barely adults should starve as a result of this left-wing hatchet job? Won't you give him a full pardon?"

Given the fractious state of the US right these days, we may get some entertaining answers.