memeorandum: Editorials Hit Libby's Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card (Editor and Publisher)

2:35 PM ET, July 3, 2007

Top Items:

Bush and Libby — The commutation is a profile in non-courage. — President Bush's commutation late yesterday afternoon of the prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby will at least spare his former aide from 2 1/2 years in prison. But by failing to issue a full pardon …

Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:

White House won't rule out Libby pardon — WASHINGTON - The White House on Tuesday declined to rule out the possibility of an eventual pardon for former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. But spokesman Tony Snow said, for now, President Bush is satisfied with his decision to commute Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence.

Discussion: Think Progress, AMERICAblog and CNN

Editor and Publisher:

Editorials Hit Libby's Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card — NEW YORK The bloggers, politicians, and TV pundits weighed in quickly Monday after President Bush took the surprisingly sudden step of commuting Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 30-month prison sentence for perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case.

Discussion: Think Progress, San Francisco Chronicle, Denver Post, News Corpse and The Democratic Daily

Atrios / Eschaton:

Rich — Inevitably, the subject of Marc Rich comes up every time presidential pardons come up. Without going into all of the issues, can we just remind the world that... Marc Rich's lawyer was Scooter Libby.

Discussion: The American Street and The Atlantic Online

David Brooks / New York Times:

[TS] Op-Ed Columnist: Ending the Farce — President Bush's decision in the case of I. Lewis Libby Jr. was exactly right.

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, The Volokh Conspiracy, The Atlantic Online, bustardblog, Taylor Marsh and Prairie Weather

Washington Post:

Too Much Mercy — IN COMMUTING I. Lewis Libby's prison sentence yesterday, President Bush took the advice of, among others, William Otis, a former federal prosecutor who wrote on the opposite page last month that Mr. Libby should neither be pardoned nor sent to prison.

Discussion: Arizona Republic, Sacramento Bee, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Power Line, Financial Times, Rocky Mountain News, New York Times, Is That Legal?, Mercury News, NY Daily News, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Don Surber, Sadly, No!, Daily Kos, The Heretik and Connecting.the.Dots

Robert D. Novak / Chicago Sun Times:
Only Libby smiling today

Discussion: PERRspectives Blog, The Carpetbagger Report and The Strata-Sphere

Amanda / Think Progress:
Snow: Bush's Commutation Of Libby's Sentence Was 'Routine'

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Washington Post, TPMmuckraker and The Carpetbagger Report

Glenn Greenwald / Salon: Lewis Libby owes his freedom to our corrupt political elite

Digby / Hullabaloo:
Bully For Him — Tim Noah says Bush did the right thing.

Discussion: Crooks and Liars, Slate, Firedoglake, Norwegianity, The Next Hurrah and The Anonymous Liberal

Washington Post:
Scooter Libby's Pals, Trusting In Providence

Discussion: TPMmuckraker, The Atlantic Online and JURIST

Associated Press:
Reaction to Bush's Libby Decision

Discussion: Right Wing News, Wizbang and Bluey Blog

Swopa / The Huffington Post: Why the Trail of Plame Leads to (or Through) Scooter Libby

David G. Savage / Los Angeles Times:
Bush spares Libby from jail

Discussion: Booman Tribune, The Democratic Daily, The Galloping Beaver, skippy the bush kangaroo and BuzzFlash.org

CBS News:

Al Qaeda In Iraq Behind U.K. Bomb Plot? — Sources Tell CBS News Suspects Recruited By Leader Of Terror Group's Iraq Branch — (CBS/AP) British intelligence services increasingly believe that the failed car bombings in London and Glasgow bare the fingerprints of al Qaeda in Iraq, CBS News has learned.

Discussion: protein wisdom, Captain's Quarters, Hot Air, Guardian, The Glittering Eye, Gateway Pundit and Yourish.com

Hindrocket / Power Line:
DOCTORS' PLOT LINKED TO AL QAEDA IN IRAQ

Discussion: The Corner

Macer Hall / Daily Express:

BROWN: DON'T SAY TERRORISTS ARE MUSLIMS — Gordon Brown has banned ministers from using the word "Muslim" in connection with the terrorism crisis. — The Prime Minister has also instructed his team - including new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith - that the phrase "war on terror" is to be dropped.

Discussion: Melanie Phillips's Diary, Telegraph, Michael P.F. van der Galiën, Weasel Zippers, Little Green Footballs and Gateway Pundit

Telegraph: 'Don't tell British about the EU treaty'

Bill Roggio / The Fourth Rail:

Clash at Islamabad's Red Mosque — Batan-wielding, burka-clad, sharia-enforcing women of the Lal Masjid. Click to view. — Pro-Taliban students at the Lal Masjid attack Pakistani Rangers, one killed; The Lal Masjid calls for sucide attacks — Pakistani security forces have clashed …

Discussion: Asia Times, DAWN, Reuters, Hot Air and Pakistan News Service

Bloomberg:
Pakistani Policeman Killed in Red Mosque Gun Battle

Discussion: Guardian, Associated Press, Atlas Shrugs, Harry's Place and ThreatsWatch

Wall Street Journal:

How Conservatives Enhanced Online Voice — Talk Radio Blends — With Blog Postings — To Boost Message — Political activism on the Internet — and in the so-called blogosphere, in particular — has long been considered a liberal stronghold. But conservative bloggers show increasing signs of their own coming of age.

Discussion: The Caucus and TIME

Dean Barnett / Townhall.com:
What Mort Doesn't Know — Markos Moulitsas and I disagree on a lot of things.

Discussion: Hot Air and Riehl World View

Rogers / Kung Fu Monkey:

L33T Justice — According to the Dictionary of Video Game Theory, an "exploit" is — … I'd been working on this post vis a vis the Gonzales situation. The DoJ situation, in it's own way, magnificent. They're averaging a DoJ resignation a week over the attorney scandal.

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Firedoglake and Unfogged

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
And Now For Some Action... So, you can sit around grousing …

Discussion: The Nation and First Draft

New York Times:

U.S. Says Iran Helped Iraqis Kill Five G.I.'s — Agents of Iran helped plan a January raid in Shiite holy city of Karbala in Iraq in which five American soldiers were killed by Islamic militants, an American military spokesman said Monday. The charge was the most specific allegation …

Discussion: Confederate Yankee, Jules Crittenden, INTEL DUMP, Gateway Pundit, Power Line and The Strata-Sphere

Roxana Tiron / The Hill:

Webb's deployment amendment will open debate on defense bill — As the Pentagon continues to work on a new rotation strategy that Defense Secretary Robert Gates proposed earlier this year, the Senate will begin debate on the 2008 defense authorization bill with a vote on Sen. Jim Webb's …

Discussion: Weekly Standard and Left in the West

Rasmussen Reports:

Romney Holds Nine-Point Lead in New Hampshire — Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has the lead in the first Rasmussen Reports poll of New Hampshire's Republican Presidential Primary. Romney currently attracts support from 26% of Likely Primary Voters, nine points more than his nearest competitor.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Townhall.com and National Review

White House:

Remarks by the President to the Travel Pool After Visiting with Wounded Military Personnel — AFTER VISITING WITH WOUNDED MILITARY PERSONNEL — Washington, D.C. — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. General, thank you very much for your hospitality.

Amanda / Think Progress:

Rep. Hunter: Ann Coulter Is 'Approaching That Level Of Being A Great American' — Yesterday on MSNBC's Hardball, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) defended Ann Coulter's attacks on John Edwards, including that she wishes he "had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."