The political case for pardoning Libby

The political case for pardoning Libby

Mr. Libby has been prosecuted and found guilty by a jury of crimes for which a judge has sentenced him to 30 months in prison and a hefty $250,000 fine. Depending on one’s expertise and political persuasion, the system either works, or has been abused in the worst sort of way in criminalizing politics. This author has followed mostly pundits thoughts on the merits of the case, but this same author also has strong feelings about why Libby should be offered a Presidential pardon based on the politics of the case. And Mr. Libby may not accept a pardon since it means he accepts the conviction and the facts around it. And he may be guilty, certainly a jury thinks so. Maybe some peers think so? And as sharp as he is, he will probably rebound from all this, though few would ever volunteer to go through what he has been through, and faces in the future.

Besides pardons, there are other quasi-legal types of adjudications. There are clemencies, and impeachments, and reprieves. Most of America got a good civics lesson during the Senate impeachment trial of Clinton, when over and over we heard about the unique ability of the Senate to balance politics with legal violations, and make the best decision for the Country.

The political case for pardoning Libby is this. The political atmosphere within the D.C. beltway since the 1990’s has become poisoned in ways most American’s recognize as against our National Interests. The trend against bipartisanship, the trend towards the politics of personal destruction, and the trend towards criminalizing politics is driving away citizen politicians that we need to both administer our government with its vast bureaucracies , and periodically reinvigorate the health of our federal government. Any pond will stagnate if fresh water doesn’t circulate through it. So it seems like the successful political ways to attack one’s political enemies, just for the sake of doing so, has downsides that many think are beginning to manifest themselves these days. Mostly the pool of citizen politicians volunteering to take time and income out of their busy and successful lives appears to be shrinking. One can suggest, I dare not argue, that the poor management of the war in Iraq over the last four years is just such an example. Lest this be a condemnation of President Bush, it is. But it also reflects the quality of the Congressional staffs. They are not immune to all this. And the Country suffers as a result. Our Nation can do better.

Mr. Libby appears to be a loyal and dedicated public servant, certainly with a big ego, and periodically sponsored by many mentors, to include Paul Wolfowitz. And again, he may even be guilty of what the jury convicted him of. But the Nation I think has an interest in reversing the politics of personal destruction, and the criminalizing of politics, as a means to reverse an apparent trend and keep the available pool of aspiring citizen politicians coming to run our Country. In this is the political case for pardoning Libby, hopefully sooner rather than later.


A good primer on pardons can be found at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon