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  • FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14 2008 9:30 AM

Who Will Bush Pardon?

Submitted by Stiles

Edited by crispy

Tags: Bush, pardon, Stevens, Clinton, convicted, Rove, Miers, Libby

The Bush presidency is in its waning days - an administration marked by scandals ranging from the firing of US attorneys for political reasons, the Plame fiasco that resulted in the conviction of Scooter Libby, to the Abramoff lobbying disaster that took down former GSA chief of staff Safavian among others.

Now that senator Ted Stevens (R, Alaska) has been convicted of seven felonies and is embroiled in a close race headed for a recount, the question arises - who will the president pardon?

Bush has been relatively parsimonious in exercising the vaunted presidential prerogative to absolve convicted criminals of their sins under the law, issuing only 157 pardons and six commutations of sentences during nearly eight years in office. And the pardons Bush has made have come only after defendants served their full terms, a move that frequently amounts to granting them the power to vote and bear firearms.


In contrast to Clinton issuing 140 pardons on his last day:

... famously forgiving Mark Rich, the husband of a major contributor to his library, as well as friend and former business associate Susan McDougal, former House Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.), and his own brother Roger, who had served time on drug charges.


If Bush decides to roll out the pardons, possible candidates include Stevens, Scooter Libby (whose sentence he commuted but conviction and hefty fine left intact), Safavian, Claude Allen (of Target shoplifting fame), and others.

He might also preemptively pardon anyone involved in Abu Ghraib, Gitmo, and the DOJ scandal (Miers, Rove) who might be convicted in the future, as Ford did with Nixon.

Bush's actions will put a finishing touch on the legacy of his presidency, so it will be interesting to see if he goes out in an uproar of controversy like Clinton did, or chooses to maintain his relatively moderate line of pardons so far.

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ardour

ardour

Canada
March 2006

NOV 14, 2008 09:43 AM

Bush has never been one for subtlety.

n8tvegrl

n8tvegrl

Bend, OR
February 2004

NOV 14, 2008 01:20 PM

Well we know it won't be Leonard Peltier...

X_Racer_X

X_Racer_X

Philadelphia, PA
July 2008

NOV 14, 2008 01:37 PM

Scooter Libby ?

Jack Abramoff ?

The White House Turkey ?

Dennis Kozlowski? (Tyco)

John and Timothy Rigas ? (Adelphia Cable)

Ramos and Compean ? - (Border patrol agents who shot a drug smuggler illegally crossing the border and got 15 and 20 years a piece surreal )


FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

NOV 14, 2008 02:07 PM

n8tvegrl said:
Well we know it won't be Leonard Peltier...



Was there a particular reason you thought he was going to? Or thought he should?

Heigai

Heigai

Columbus, OH
May 2004

NOV 14, 2008 02:22 PM

FreakPirate said:

n8tvegrl said:
Well we know it won't be Leonard Peltier...



Was there a particular reason you thought he was going to? Or thought he should?



Is there some reason you didn't let that one go?

If I've learned one useful thing about Leonard Peltier, it's "don't argue with people about Leonard Peltier."

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

NOV 14, 2008 02:27 PM

Toku666 said:

Is there some reason you didn't let that one go?

If I've learned one useful thing about Leonard Peltier, it's "don't argue with people about Leonard Peltier."



Because it didn't seem like there was a particular reason for bringing him up.

n8tvegrl

n8tvegrl

Bend, OR
February 2004

NOV 14, 2008 03:29 PM

FreakPirate said:

n8tvegrl said:
Well we know it won't be Leonard Peltier...



Was there a particular reason you thought he was going to? Or thought he should?



Well for one reason, he deserves it. For another, it comes up at the end of every President's reign but perhaps it's not high on your list of general
American injustices and you don't know that.

I know what really happened that day and those who were there. I'm not one of those radicals who thinks there was no blame on our side (the Oglalas) but I know what the Aimsters did and didn't do. The fact that the person who actually did it is free and I have seen him personally over the years many times just brings home how fucked up our legal system is.

Is there a reason for your snarkiness about it?

n8tvegrl

n8tvegrl

Bend, OR
February 2004

NOV 14, 2008 03:32 PM

FreakPirate said:

Toku666 said:

Is there some reason you didn't let that one go?

If I've learned one useful thing about Leonard Peltier, it's "don't argue with people about Leonard Peltier."



Because it didn't seem like there was a particular reason for bringing him up.



I'm sorry, I guess I should just go back to the silliness board... I am sorry for trying to incite discussion about how *my* people are continually being fucked over.

If you don't like it you don't have to perpetuate intolerance but I realize that my views have never been particularly popular on this site and it probably won't change now.

blackeyed

LimoWreck

LimoWreck

I'm lost
October 2007

NOV 14, 2008 03:34 PM

My first thought would be Scooter Libby.

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

NOV 14, 2008 03:34 PM

n8tvegrl said:

Is there a reason for your snarkiness about it?



Wasn't trying to be snarky. Just didn't know why you mentioned it. I haven't heard any mention of him in quite a while and couldn't think of any new reason why Bush would pardon him when others haven't.

FreakPirate

FreakPirate

Canada
November 2002

NOV 14, 2008 03:36 PM

n8tvegrl said:

I'm sorry, I guess I should just go back to the silliness board... I am sorry for trying to incite discussion about how *my* people are continually being fucked over.

If you don't like it you don't have to perpetuate intolerance but I realize that my views have never been particularly popular on this site and it probably won't change now.

blackeyed



I don't know what you're going on about but it wasn't a shot at you or your people. I just honestly didn't know why you mentioned it and if you were attempting to incite discussion maybe next time try posting more than a single passive aggressive aside.

SockPuppet

SockPuppet

I'm lost
July 2006

NOV 14, 2008 03:40 PM

IIRC, Mr Bush liked to let people be executed, in Texas. Perhaps he doesn't care so much, when nobody's going to die of it.

n8tvegrl

n8tvegrl

Bend, OR
February 2004

NOV 14, 2008 03:42 PM

FreakPirate said:

n8tvegrl said:

I'm sorry, I guess I should just go back to the silliness board... I am sorry for trying to incite discussion about how *my* people are continually being fucked over.

If you don't like it you don't have to perpetuate intolerance but I realize that my views have never been particularly popular on this site and it probably won't change now.

blackeyed



I don't know what you're going on about but it wasn't a shot at you or your people. I just honestly didn't know why you mentioned it and if you were attempting to incite discussion maybe next time try posting more than a single passive aggressive aside.



I honestly don't know at the moment if I was responding because this issue is close to my heart or if it's the headache I've got right now. I know I am sensitive about this so I'm going to just go eat gummy worms and cool off because I know you don't know about this man/situation/plight and aren't even in the USA anyway.

petepolly

petepolly

Antarctica
August 2008

NOV 14, 2008 07:09 PM

n8tvegrl said:

FreakPirate said:

n8tvegrl said:
Well we know it won't be Leonard Peltier...



Was there a particular reason you thought he was going to? Or thought he should?



Well for one reason, he deserves it. For another, it comes up at the end of every President's reign but perhaps it's not high on your list of general
American injustices and you don't know that.

I know what really happened that day and those who were there. I'm not one of those radicals who thinks there was no blame on our side (the Oglalas) but I know what the Aimsters did and didn't do. The fact that the person who actually did it is free and I have seen him personally over the years many times just brings home how fucked up our legal system is.

Is there a reason for your snarkiness about it?





reference


I am curious, the reference is to the Wikipedia article on the subject of the shootout and aftermath, do you think the article is reasonably fair and balanced?

Tiger_Fodder

Tiger_Fodder

Braintree, MA
June 2007

NOV 14, 2008 07:28 PM

Zarth?

bald_eagle?

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