Restore America's Honor and Dignity!- IMPEACH Bush and Cheney

“[O]ur Nation is founded on the principle that the
observance of law is the eternal safeguard of
liberty, and defiance of the law is the surest road
to tyranny. The law which we obey includes the
final rulings of the courts, as well as the
enactments of our legislative bodies. Even among
law-abiding men few laws are universally loved, but
they are universally respected and not resisted.

“Americans are free, in short, to disagree with the
law but not to disobey it. For in a government of
laws and not of men, no man, however prominent
of powerful, and no mob, however unruly or
boisterous, is entitled to defy a court of law. If this
country should ever reach the point where any
man or group of men by force or threat of force
could long defy the commands of our court and
our Constitution, then no law would stand free
from doubt, no judge would be sure of his writ,
and no citizen would be safe from his neighbors.”

--John F. Kennedy, Sept. 30, 1962

These words spoken by President John F. Kennedy more than 45 years ago and they ring very true today. A few days ago, I . Lewis "Scooter" Libby after being convicted on charges of prejury to the Federal Grand Jury for delibrately hiding of who leaked a name of an undercover CIA opertative Valerie Plame Wilson. Libby was sentenced 2 and-a- half years jail time with 2 years probation and $250,000 fine and disbarrment. Libby was recently facing going to jail with his appeals denied when, President Bush with a stroke of a pen, commuted Libby sentence from 30 months in prison to 2 years probation and the $250,000 fine and his conviction intact. Bush, as President has the power to grant clemency or pardon a criminal of his crimes provided if he shows remorse to the crime and other criteria to grant the clemency or the pardon. Bush explains in a statement his reasons in giving the commutation to Libby:

"The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected Lewis Libby's request to remain free on bail while pursuing his appeals for the serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice. As a result, Mr. Libby will be required to turn himself over to the Bureau of Prisons to begin serving his prison sentence.

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. But with the denial of bail being upheld and incarceration imminent, I believe it is now important to react to that decision.

From the very beginning of the investigation into the leaking of Valerie Plame's name, I made it clear to the White House staff and anyone serving in my administration that I expected full cooperation with the Justice Department. Dozens of White House staff and administration officials dutifully cooperated.

After the investigation was under way, the Justice Department appointed United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois Patrick Fitzgerald as a Special Counsel in charge of the case. Mr. Fitzgerald is a highly qualified, professional prosecutor who carried out his responsibilities as charged

This case has generated significant commentary and debate. Critics of the investigation have argued that a special counsel should not have been appointed, nor should the investigation have been pursued after the Justice Department learned who leaked Ms. Plame's name to columnist Robert Novak. Furthermore, the critics point out that neither Mr. Libby nor anyone else has been charged with violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act or the Espionage Act, which were the original subjects of the investigation. Finally, critics say the punishment does not fit the crime: Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service and was handed a harsh sentence based in part on allegations never presented to the jury.

Others point out that a jury of citizens weighed all the evidence and listened to all the testimony and found Mr. Libby guilty of perjury and obstructing justice. They argue, correctly, that our entire system of justice relies on people telling the truth. And if a person does not tell the truth, particularly if he serves in government and holds the public trust, he must be held accountable. They say that had Mr. Libby only told the truth, he would have never been indicted in the first place.

Both critics and defenders of this investigation have made important points. I have made my own evaluation. In preparing for the decision I am announcing today, I have carefully weighed these arguments and the circumstances surrounding this case

Mr. Libby was sentenced to thirty months of prison[time], two years of probation, and a $250,000 fine. In making the sentencing decision, the district court rejected the advice of the probation office, which recommended a lesser sentence and the consideration of factors that could have led to a sentence of home confinement or probation.I respect the jury’s verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.

My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting."

The Constitution gives the President the power of clemency to be used when he deems it to be warranted. It is my judgment that a commutation of the prison term in Mr. Libby's case is an appropriate exercise of this power.

Thirty months in jail excessive?, Have respect for the jury's verdict but 30 months in jail is excessive? I guess if you are rich, a white man ,Republican to the very core, and you are a Bush Pioneer or Ranger or hard core supporter that any jail time for you for a crime you commit is deemed excessive by Bush's standards. Bush's act by commuting Libby's sentence within itself is a travesty of justice. You wanna know excessive prison sentences looks like? Look at Chimpy's track record as Governor of Texas. They are very abysmal. George W. Bush has sent more than 155 people to their deaths many with very flawed prosecution, conviction and very poor representation of their attornies in their cases and very small chance to appeal or get a reprive of their convictions.(Source) In some anti-death pealty circles, Bush is known as the "Texecutioner" because he has sent so many to the death chamber under his tenure as Governor. While world opinion stated that Bush's granting death penalty sentences to felons without the due process of appealing them and flawed convictions and prosecution of the cases was very excessive, Bush defiently stood by his rulings. So for what he says about Libby spending 30 months in jail is BS for a thourougly investigated charge of prejury. Let's also remember this is the same man who sent Karla Faye Tucker to her death, after pleads from the likes of Rev. Pat Robertson and Former Speaker Newt Gingrich of all people to grant her clemency which was denied by Bush. For those who don't know who Karla Faye Tucker(Wikipedia) is, she is a woman in the 1980's murdered two people while in a robbery. She was subsequently was charged for Murder and sentenced the Death Penalty. While in prison awaiting her execution date she became a Born-Again Christian and express serious remorse for her crimes even one member of the victim's family has accepted Tucker's remorse. In the end, even when Conservative figures like Pat Robertson and New Gingrich plead to then Governor Bush to grant her clemency it fell on deaf ears. And what's astounding about this that before the execution Bush had the nerve to mock Karla Faye Tucker in an interview with now MSNBC commentator Tucker Carlson here is an excerpt:

" In the weeks before the execution, Bush says, a number of protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Karla Faye Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask. Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them", he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with Tucker, though. He asked her real difficult questions like, 'What would you say to Governor Bush?'" "What was her answer?" I wonder. "'Please,'" Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "'don't kill me.'" I must look shocked — ridiculing the pleas of a condemned prisoner who has since been executed seems odd and cruel — because he immediately stops smirking"

Of course when this came out Bush denies of ever mocking Karla Faye Tucker's pleas for clemency. You may want to read this article from Salon in 2000 about George W. Bush's obsession on keeping the Texas Death Express right on schedule.

So in face of world opinion when they say that your sentences for criminals are harsh with seriously flawed justice system in your former state the you were governor of you tell them F-U but for a man who has committed prejury in getting to the bottom of who leaked a name of an CIA operative because of her husband was critical of the Bush Adminstration's assertions that there was WMD in Iraq. Who has also tried by a jury of his peers and convicted by a jury of his peers in front of a fair and impartial judge and upheld that same convicton and jail sentence then to override that not letting him serve prison by say it's excessive, Mr. Bush you are definetly full of BS. You aren' t a President for millions of Americans that follow the law. You are a corrupt leader for a group of so-called group of "Republicans" that will commit the most heinous of crimes with complete reckless disregard for the law and anything that you see that is an obstacle. You are will to protect your own when they get caught for their crimes. Let's call a spade a spade for what you have done was protecting your own or rather the saving one's ass from accountablity of their actions and at the same time snubbing the law that you swore and oath as President to uphold.

If Americans understand one thing, they understand the difference between right and wrong and also understands that "if you do the crime, you do the time". If Bush really respected the jury's verdict, then he should Libby's prison sentence stand. He should not upsurp the law just to save a your staffers broke the law. For that, he should resign from his office for violating the rule of law. The Vice President who also runs roughshod over Bush and the White House should also resign because he too has grossly violated every law in the books for going for an unwarranted war and his despicaple misdeed. If they refuse step out of the way for the good of the nation after realizing for the wrongs they have committed like Richard Nixon have done in the era of Watergate 35 years ago, then Congress must place articles of Impeachment on Bush and Cheney.

With the six years the Bush Adminstration has been in office there are countless examples of Bushies undermining, lying and betraying the trust of the American people and at the same time being very belligerent to those who dare to dissent on the sorely misguided attempts of the Bush Adminstration to turn America into a dictatorship. I call for impeachment of Bush and Cheney so we as a democracy that we boast to world as the best to survive and restore our repect to the world and nation.

I had to admit that I like some others were slow to go on the impeachment bandwagon. I was concerned that the Right Wing Scream Machine was make this as the silly Liberals trying to attempt Impeachment on "King" George W. and most likely to hurt our chances of a Democratic White House in 2008 but, after Bush had the audacity to override the judge's rulings and the countless times he has betrayed the public trust of the Americans citizens , I feel he has to GO and go right now with Cheney in tow. Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged that the impeachment issuse after the Democrats won the Midterm Election "wouldn't be on the table" I strongly demanding that the Democrats in charge in Congress now put impeachment on the table. I know it is touchy subject but I have to ask: If not now, when? When you use your power to rein in the uncontrolable sociopathic nature of the Bush Adminstration when they betray us again and again for their selfish reasons. When you will stand up and do what is right instead of what is convient for the survival of the nation. When will you Democrats in Congress will use your power to stand up for US! When will that happen? The American public waits for your proper response.