CNN is, naturally, interviewing serial liar Joe Wilson regarding President Bush’s commuting of Scooter Libby’s perjury and obstruction of justice sentence. He just accused Libby of being a traitor for betraying his wife. Of course, Libby never did anything of the sort. It was Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage who did that, but Wilson seems to have forgotten that. Special Prosecutor-run-amok Patrick Fitzgerald wasted millions of dollars to find out who leaked Valerie Plame’s name, but he knew from the beginning that it wasn’t Karl Rove or Richard Cheney or Scooter Libby. He ended up getting Libby indicted and convicted for remembering conversations differently than some news reporters, calling that obstruction of justice. Plame and Armitage, who also gave conflicting stories about their roles, were never in danger of indictment.
Meanwhile, Sandy Berger, who stole and destroyed top secret, classified documents from the National Archives to save the Clinton Administration from embarrassment, lost his law license and got a stern talking to. That disparity surely played into the commutation of Libby’s 30-month jail sentence. I say good show, George.
UPDATE: Bill Schneider says this will be unpopular. Big surprise, coming from Bill. I’ve just remembered why I don’t watch CNN unless my daughter is on. Suzanne Malveaux, Schneider, Wilson, what a lineup. Schneider thinks the public will be angry about someone getting out of jail because of friends in high places. But he doesn’t factor in the anger over Fitzgerald’s Nifongian prosecutorial misconduct from the start, when he knew none of his targets had outed Valerie Plame.
