Democrats under the direction of Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) Speaker of the "Do Nothing but Cut & Run Congress" are grumbling that President Bush utilizing his Executive Authority as guaranteed by the Constitution, Commutes Scooter Libby's Sentence.
Immediately what comes to mind is the disingenuous statements by Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats such as Barack Obama who said, "This decision to commute the sentence of a man who compromised our national security cements the legacy of an administration characterized by a politics of cynicism and division, one that has consistently placed itself and its ideology above the law. This is exactly the kind of politics we must change so we can be restoring the American peoples faith in government that puts the countries progress ahead of the bitter partisanship of recent years."
Is that so?
Hillary Clinton said in her statement, "Today's decision is yet another example that this administration considers itself above the law...this case arose from the administration politicization of national security intelligence and its efforts to punish those who spoke out against its policies. Four years into the Iraq war we are still living with the consequence of the White House's efforts to quell dissent. This commutation sends the clear signal that in this administration, cronyism and ideology, trump competence and justice."
John Edwards the Champion of the "Friends of Hugo Chavez" said, "Only a President clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences (while he campaigns with Danny Glover) could take the action he did today. President Bush has sent exactly the wrong signal to the country today and the world...George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause for equal justice took a serious blow today."
Is that so?
Not so long ago (during the previous administration) under the tenure of President Clinton who was Impeached by the House of Representatives, one needs to step back and remember that Hillary Clinton's husband "Slick Willey" (who didn't get that name because he liked to grease his hair back) Pardoned and Commuted a number of sentences.
On August 11, 1999 President Bill Clinton used his Executive Authority to commute the sentences of 16 members of the "Fuerzas Armades de Liberacion Nacional" (FALN) a violent Puerto Rican national group that detonated 120 bombs mostly in NYC and Chicago, convicted of conspiracies to commit robbery, bomb making and sedition as well as numerous firearms and explosives violations. The FALN Terrorists were sentenced from 35 to 105 years in prison.
In March 2000 President Clinton pardoned Edgar & Vonna Jo Gregory who had served time for Bank Fraud. Hillary Clinton's younger brother Tony Rodham was a friend of the couple who it was alleged by Investigators, that Tony Rodham received a $107,000.00 payment to become a "Dishonest Broker" and lobby his brother-in-law Bill Clinton to give the couple a Presidential Pardon. (Hillary Clinton must have forgot that her husband Commuted the Sentences of Terrorists and Pardoned a couple that had been convicted of fraud)
Bill Clinton issued an additional 140 Presidential Pardons during the final hours of his administration of these they include:
Carlos A. Vignali, had his sentence for cocaine trafficking commuted;
Almon Glenn Braswell, received a Presidential pardon for mail fraud and perjury;
Both Vignali and Braswell paid $200,000.00 to Hugh Rodman (Bill Clinton's brother-in-law) to lobby the President for their pardons.
Former Congressman Dan Rostenkowski (D-IL) convicted in the Congressional Post Office Scandal, received a Presidential pardon;
Former Congressman Melvin Reynolds (D-IL) convicted of bank fraud, 12 counts of sexual assault, obstruction of justice and the solicitation of child pornography had his sentence commuted;
Roger Clinton, (Bill Clinton's half brother) received his pardon after being sentenced for drug charges.
Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said yesterday, "...the President's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct and is a betrayal of trust of the American people..."
The American people are sure fortunate to have George Bush in the White House who has not commuted sentences and issued Presidential pardons to Terrorists, Drug Dealers, and a Sexual Predator as Bill Clinton had done.
