I am quite disgusted at the attempts to protect Libby

Scooter Libby may normally be a really fine person. At least when dealing with others of his own class. But this time he screwed up. He lied to the FBI and he lied to the grand Jury. Those are serious federal felonies. Digby points out just how out of line and low-class the various right-wing protectors and pundits have been as they have tried to get him off from the utterly inadequate sentence that Judge Walton has imposed. Here is, I think, Digby's best paragraph on the subject:

My advice for Scooter is to tell all these crybabies to back off and take a lesson from Martha Stewart, who showed twice the class and three times the grit he has. Shut up, suck it up and do your time. It won't be the end of the world --- he'll have a lifetime of wingnut welfare waiting for him when he gets out and the GOP mafia will take care of his family while he's in the joint. Let's face it, his career in government was over anyway --- anyone closely associated with Dick Cheney now has the mark of the kevorka. No president will ever trust him again. So, show some class and take it like a man. It's not such a bad fate for a man who helped bring misery, heartache and death to hundreds of thousands of people.

What it comes down to is that Scooter is "One of them." and their shit don't stink. If he committed a crime, then it is not a crime because he is "One of them."

Well, the jury did what the evidence told them they had to do, and they convicted him. Scooter's utter lack of remorse for his criminal behavior rather certainly did not help him in sentencing. The Bush-appointed, Republican Senate approved federal Judge, Judge Walton, made especially sure that there were no apparent valid grounds for an appeal, so Libby has no valid reason not to start his sentence in prison immediately.

Will someone tell these criminal-coddlers that the rule of law applies to Republicans as well as to illegal immigrants?

But Scooter has one last chance. Bush might Pardon him. Of course, Libby does not meet the normal requirements for a Pardon, such as having served his sentence, shown remorse, and turned his life around from a life of crime, but just maybe Bush will Pardon Libby.

It should be kept in mind that Bush does not appear to understand empathy. He is also the President in the last century who has given the fewest Pardons, by far. Cheney might convince Bush to present a Pardon, but indications are that Bush and Cheney are not especially close these days. Besides, if all of America is very, very lucky, Cheney will not be able to return to work after he undergoes surgery next July to change out the built in defibrillator that Cheney uses as a substitute for a heart.

There is hope, America. While Scooter is clearly a criminal, convicted and judged, he is a Washington insider and high-ranking Republican. But this one criminal, at least, may actually pay a small price for his crimes. I know, I know, we may all be forced to watch as Republicans and Washington pundits swoon at such an injustice to one of their own. The rest of us should just remain surprised that the Republicans and conservatives have not yet totally destroyed America's justice system. Maybe there are even a few others who will get what they deserve.

There is hope. This is still America, not yet Republicanstan.