Libby's sentance commuted

[Lemur]

Oh please, Lemur. The dems were going crazy about 'Fitzmas' before Libby got tried. We all know being appointed by Bush does not make one a Republican.

But as it happens, that judge's connections and patrons are Republicans. Hard to believe they'd take a screaming Democratic activist under their wing. And it's a bit rich to complain about a vast, liberal conspiracy when every actor in the drama was appointed by the Great Leader.

A national security issue? Are you aware of what he was found guilty for?

Perjury and obstruction of justice in a case that dealt with the outing of a covert asset. Spin that as you please.

Kukri, I caught some news tonight, and there was talk of "widespread outrage," so don't feel completely lonely. But I think Xiahou is right in that positions have hardened to such an extent that this latest bit of cronyism won't make a big difference.

Where it will change things, however, is in the courts. Apparently Bush's dismissal of a Federal perjury sentence as "excessive" has lit up the boards across the nation, where lawyers and convicts are screaming "Me, too!"

By yesterday morning, in fact, Mr. Bush’s arguments for keeping Mr. Libby out of prison had become an unexpected gift to defense lawyers around the country, who scrambled to make use of them in their own cases.

“The president of the United States has come in on his own and said, ‘30 months is not reasonable in this case,’ ” said Susan James, an Alabama lawyer representing Don E. Siegelman, the state’s former governor, who is appealing a sentence he received last week of 88 months for obstruction of justice and other charges.

“It’s far more important than if he’d just pardoned Libby,” Ms. James said, as forgiving a given offense as an act of executive grace would have had only political repercussions. “What you’re going to see is people like me quoting President Bush in every pleading that comes across every federal judge’s desk.”

Indeed, Mr. Bush’s decision may have given birth to a new sort of legal document.

“I anticipate that we’re going to get a new motion called ‘the Libby motion,’ ” Professor Podgor said. “It will basically say, ‘My client should have got what Libby got, and here’s why.’ ”