GOP - Party of Death and Torture, but Perry approves clemency once

Texas has executed 400 people since the death penalty was reinstated. As of today, Gov. Rick Perry (Republican) has approved this one act of clemency which will keep a man for going to the needle for a murder he didn't know was happening.

Perry's clemency approval is one more than his predecessor, George Bush, approved.

What I can't understand is what happened to Rick? Is the stalwart representative of God and the GOP who is Governor of Texas going soft? I doubt it. There must really be some political backlash that Governor "Goodhair" is facing. I wonder what it is?

Maybe the Texas GOP is finding that promoting executions and torture is becoming less popular with the voters? I sure hope so.

Libby's sentence for obstruction of justice historically on the very low side.

As justification for canceling "Scooter" Libby's sentence of 30 months in prison Bush described it as "excessive." Really? Excessive compared to what?

Richard B. Schmitt and David G. Savage went back to the records and looked at recent sentences for obstruction of Justice, and here's what they found:

records show that the Justice Department under the Bush administration frequently has sought sentences that are as long, or longer, in cases similar to Libby's. Three-fourths of the 198 defendants sentenced in federal court last year for obstruction of justice — one of four crimes Libby was found guilty of in March — got some prison time. According to federal data, the average sentence defendants received for that charge alone was 70 months.

Just last week, the Supreme Court upheld a 33-month prison sentence for a decorated Army veteran who was convicted of lying to a federal agent about buying a machine gun. The veteran had a record of public service — fighting in Vietnam and the Gulf War — and no criminal record. But Justice Department lawyers argued his prison term should stand because it fit within the federal sentencing guidelines.

As long as George Bush is President we will have one system of "Justice" for Bush's friends and another for the rest of us.

Bush clemency really out of character

As we listen to all the blather justifying Bush's act to keep Libby out of prison, just ask yourself if this is in character with what we know about Bush. Digby describes his background in Pardons and clemency.

When someone does something this far out of character he really has the wind up about the case. Bush doesn't think about the far future, and he doesn't empathize with people he doesn't know personally - if then. This is about right now, and it is very personal. this is about Bush using his Pardon power to stay out of prison or at least avoid trial himself.