So, where’s the surprise?

The only real question is whether there was improper contact with the Republican judges on the panel, to let them know they could rule in a way that made them continue to appear to be independent.

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.

Paris Hilton got a tougher sentence than Scooter Libby.

So much for the law and order party.

(link here. The post prior, by MissLaura, was the breaking news but mcjoan has the responses from Reid, Slaughter, Pelosi et outraged cetera.

I’m waiting for the first winger to try to spin this as Bush’s show of concern for the problem of prison overcrowding.

The damn Gall. I mean he didn’t even get the cuffs put on him before Bush yanked him out of the fire. No wet towel, no kiss, no astro glide … not even a thank you.

Scooter skates. No expression of remorse, either.

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.

Nope no remorse.

But Scooter always had that little smirk. He knew the fix was in from the beginning.

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.

Because we don’t have a government any more; we just have a criminal gang using raw power to stay in office. Anyhow, FWIW, the text of the proclamation, which, of course, also makes me want to hurl.

So I guess now we have to impeach the motherfucker (Scooter, for now). Here’s the wording of Article II:

The President shall be Commander in Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, and of the Militia of the several States, when called into the actual Service of the United States; he may require the Opinion, in writing, of the principal Officer in each of the executive Departments, upon any Subject relating to the Duties of their respective Offices, and he shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offences against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment.

(I’ll leave it to the lawyers to figure out whether “Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons” (the Constitutions) is the same as “commute the prison terms” (the Proclamation). Probably not, since nothing else they do is Constitutional, but at this point, who gives a flying Fuck?

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.

Why wouldn’t they pardon Scooter? What’s to stop them? Nancy P told them up front that Impeachment is off the table. There are no consequences.

Bushco could nuke Iran and get caught having sex with animals in the Oval Office and they would still get a pass from the Dems. All in the spirit of bipartisan collegiality and an anticipation of sympathy from the public for being so civil.

The judgement of history? Bushco will be living in luxury for the rest of their lives. After that, they will be laughing at history from the depths of hell.

As far as the Congressional GOP, they will just continue to distance themselves from Bushco and make the case that The Chimp wasn’t even a real Republican, let alone a conservative. They don’t give a shit either.

and adding: we told you so. the choices are, have been, and will be: suck it, america, because you have no will to stop being (forgive me, LB) sheeple so long as you can buy plastic shit from china or grab that pitchfork and get busy with the tar’n and featherin.

we all can see which choice all but we few are making.

But if this gets swept under the rug in the news cycle and blog whore merry go round. Then damnit sheeple it is.

Now this Scooter thing is interesting. Suppose y’all get your wish. Say, for instance, Cheney gets impeached and all his crimes are exposed. Bush pardons Cheney and he walks. Cheney feels no shame because he just doesn’t. Or, on the other hand, impeach Bush and expose all his crimes for which he is then pardoned by Cheney. Bush walks and feels no shame, because he just doesn’t.

So even if impeachment were to be successful, Bush and/or Cheney walk. Might it be better to just keep ratcheting down on them, as much as can be done, investigate away and focus on electing a democrat to the Presidency in ’08? With a reconstituted Justice Department and under the weight of Congressional findings of criminality, might it not be more satisfying to bring all of BushCo to the dock when the chance of a pardon is gone? Think RICO, and seizure of all ill-gotten gains.

Just asking.

Here. Because you’re all going to be calling the WH to make your feelings known, right? Not just the switchboard, that’s for wusses. Everybody. Heck, set up a phone tree. Flood the zone.

No authoritarians were tortured in the writing of this post.

of course, ideally there would be a dual impeachment and indictment in the senate of both the shrub and shooter, but i know that the democrats aren’t interested in that and the republicans they’d need for the majority won’t either. as always, it strikes me as “odd” that when republicans need to impeach a president, pass the BK bill, or start an illegal war, install a theocrat on the SCOTUS, etc., they can find just enough democrats to make that happen. but i digress. sure, let’s wait for a bigger dem majority and a dem president and a new justice department.

but i’m not going to hold my breath that such a group would actually go after bushco. it’s very clear that the ’gentlemen’s agreement’ is what is important to both parties. being prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned is for the little people. sure, one party will hold hearing and draft statments of “outrage” when the other does something they can score points off of, but the bottom line is that it’s really all just a game for show. so long as the rubes sit on their couches and turn the channel, why not?

Well on that dour note, count yourself as fully back in the saddle.

I won’t be dissuaded from my optimism that over time wrongs will be righted. Not uniformly, not always, but more often than not. While there is a definite corporatist cabal, always has been, we’re at a new place in American governance where for the first time average people can not only make their own voice heard but clearly hear the voices of others, in real time. Scary for the politicians because even though most people either follow the authoritarian tone or can be easily bamboozled, it doesn’t take many voters changing their will to tip the elections.

More and more, those in office will have to respond to the people. 2006 was an eye opener in that regard, George Allen in particular, which is why we see so much scrambling now with so little effect. Poor buggers don’t know which way to jump. But there is one human thing we can count on and that is the desire to hold onto power once it’s been seized. By going after BushCo in the courts, the Dems can beat down the Repubs for a generation. I believe that’s exactly what they’ll do.

this whole thing has got me goin’ all native again. I don’t think this can be managed from the federal level. We have to dig in and fire up states rights. I think the only way to check what is going on is to control, if not congress, your rep and senators from the state, to redraw the boundary and begin the argument for a weaker federal regime. It’s already happening in Texas, Vermont, New Hampshire, why not just push it to its logical conclusion. Start articulating everything but the presidency from the platform of state powers.