Scooter, We Hardly Knew Ye ...

So, Scooter Libbey has been convicted and sentenced to the graybar hotel for two and a half years. He was the good soldier, he fell on his sword, and what he was nailed for was not the treasonous act of outing a working CIA agent, but lying to the congressional watchdogs about who he told, and when.

Somebody in the Bush administration lied. Huh. Imagine that.

Somebody in the Bush administration leaked the information to the press and got away with it, and did so certainly in retribution for Valerie Plame's husband, Joe Wilson, outing them over the infamous yellow cake canard.

Fuck with the bull, get the horn. These are seriously ugly folks to mess around with. I bet they have an enemies list that would put Nixon's list in the shade.

Now the question is, will George Bush, exercising his Presidential power to pardon criminals, give Scooter a get-out-of-jail-free card? He can do that, legal as the days are long in summertime Alaska.

Politically, it would be bad for his party, though since he's a lame duck, it won't bother him personally. And given all the things that Darth --, uh, I mean, George -- Bush, as done thus far in his occupation of the White House, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see him let Scooter skate, and to hell with the party.

Twenty-seven percent approval rate. They can't all be Democrats ...

Then again, if you are happy that the Democrats are surging as a result of all the Republican machinations over the last few years, you have to thank George and company for that. Wasn't their intent, but there you go.

Hell of a price to pay, though, isn't it? War, alienating the rest of the world, massive debt, insufferable arrogance. I keep expecting Cheney to appear for a speech wearing a hooded robe, with Force-damage to his face from his fight with Jedi Master Mace Wendu ...

(Mace Windu: ""You don't need to see his goddamn identification -- these ain't the motherfuckin' droids you're looking for ...)

Yeah, Bill Clinton was a hound, and a bounder, but he wasn't screwing the country, only a few willing female partners.

The righteous make me very nervous, because they don't believe they can make mistakes, and they are willing to kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out.

Maybe our long national nightmare will eventually be over. One can hope.