Well the neo-cons are at it again!!
This time they are comparing the pardon of Mark Rich by Clinton to the commutation of Scooter Libby by Bush. Their argument is that Clinton did it why shouldn't Bush? As usual their comparisons and arguments don't hold up.
Some differences between the two cases are:
1 - Rich didn't jeopardize national security; Libby did
2 - Rich didn't place the lives of operatives that Valerie Plame dealt with in jeopardy (we still don't know if her exposure by Libby caused deaths); Libby did
3 - Rich was never convicted of a crime...he was INDICTED on charges of tax evasion and suspicion of having conducted illegal trades with Iran at the time of the Iran Hostage crisis
One thing I find interesting about this case is that Scooter Libby represented Rich from 1985 until the spring of 2000 and supported the pardon. As a matter of fact in a letter to the NY Times Clinton noted that Libby was one of three "distinguished Republican lawyers" who supported Rich's pardon.
About Me
- Dave
- I retired from the Air Force in 1981 after having served for 20 years. The first four years of active duty I served as a Security Policeman, the next 16 years I was an Air Traffic controller. After retirement I worked for a contractor as an Air Traffic Control Subject Matter Expert. In 1985 I again joined the government, this time as a civilian. I retired on the 31st of Dec 2005 after over twenty years in civil service. I am now fully retired. I will be the first to admit that I supported Reagan. I think it was during that administration that I first questioned my political leanings. I will further admit that I use to watch Fox News, that changed when it became apparent that they were a mouthpiece for the right wing neocons. During the Afghanistan war Fox used to use Ret Col. Hackworth as its military expert. During the build-up for the illegal war against Iraq, Col. Hackworth denounced the unprovoked attack on a soverign nation. That was the last time you saw Col. Hackworth. That made it plain to me that Fox would not put up with guests that had different opinions than what they espoused.
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