Scott Free

The Common Man makes his triumphant return to blogging today. No posts at all in June is inexcusable. During the month he was away, The Common Man let things that were not important at all keep him from devoting his full attention to the things that matter most, his family and his writing, and he apologizes to both. He also apologizes to readers (something he has gotten very good at since starting this blog). But it's time to get back to work, and without further ado...

Yesterday, in a stunning (to The Common Man, at least) decision, President Bush decided to commute the sentence of convicted perjurer and all-around d-bag Scooter Libby, meaning that the Scootster will spend absolutely no time in jail because the President felt the punishment meted out by an impartial judge was "excessive" (despite the fact that Libby would have been eligible for release after two years and the average sentence for perjury (as of 2000) in U.S. District Court was 2 1/2 years (or, wait for it, 30 months. Instead, Libby will be forced to pay a $250,000 fine and may be subject to two years of probation (though the judge and prosecuting attorneys are still sorting that out).

In all fairness, The Uncommon Wife saw this coming ages ago when she turned to The Common Man and said, "Darling Dearest, it is assured that that man will spend absolutely no time in jail." "Pshaw," said The Common Man, "not even this President has the temerity nor the utter disdain for the American public to do that. Surely he knows that the people would see through such a transparently cynical and self-serving decision. He must let the sentence stand, at least until after the next election." She rolled her eyes, "My truest love, you underestimate the pressures upon the President, the influence of Darth Cheney, and the sheer arrogance of this administration. Verily, I say unto you again, the man will not see the inside of a jail cell."

Well, The Common Man was, for once, wrong. It pains him to say it, but not as much as it pains him to see how little respect this administration has for the justice system and the will of its electorate (a CNN poll found that 69% of respondents believed the President should not pardon Libby). Its consistent ability to ignore a sensible course of action and to undermine its own credibility is as baffling as it is admirable, for at least it is predictable.

That said, the Bush administration is not the first to thumb its nose at the justice system. The Presidential pardon, once a last resort to preserve national order or to prevent a miscarriage of justice, has become a political tool to reward administration supporters and ideological sympathizers. George Bush I pardoned four members of the Reagan Administration for their role in Iran-Contra. Bill Clinton (who makes up the difference between himself and Bush II in quality pardons with quantity) pardoned his brother for cocaine possession, Patty Hearst for the crimes she committed while with the SLA, billionaire fugitive and donor Marc Rich, family friend and business partner Susan McDougal, and Democratic congressman Mel Reynolds.

According to The Jurist, recent Presidents have been using the privilege to provide executive clemency less often than many of their predecessors, but to the casual The Common Man observing the process, it seems that grants of clemency have become markedly more controversial and less defensible in the past 20 years. It shakes The Common Man's faith in his elected officials and makes him wonder whether allowing the President to retain this power will serve the intended purpose or only encourage greater and greater levels of corruption at the highest levels of government.