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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 …
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A Decision Made Largely Alone — President Bush limited his deliberations over commuting the prison term of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby to a few close aides, opting not to consult with the Justice Department and rebuffing efforts by friends to lobby on Libby's behalf, administration officials and people close to Bush said yesterday.


Bush commutes Libby's prison sentence — WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush on Monday spared I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby from prison, commuting the former White House aide's 30-month prison term. — The prison time was imposed after a federal court convicted Libby of perjury …
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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.


Bush Spares Libby From 30-Month Prison Term — President Bush spared I. Lewis Libby Jr. from prison Monday, commuting his two-and-a-half-year sentence while leaving intact his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the C.I.A. leak case. — Mr. Bush's action …

Bully For Him — Tim Noah says Bush did the right thing.
Discussion:
The Next Hurrah

Fitzgerald's Statement
Discussion:
The Atlantic Online, The Next Hurrah, The Huffington Post, Tom Watson, Hullabaloo and The Carpetbagger Report

BUSH SETS LIBBY FREE: Wow, that was fast: President Bush set …
Discussion:
Power Line, CNN, The Corner, Sentencing Law and Policy, PoliBlog (TM), TPMmuckraker and Daily Kos

Terror plot hatched in British hospitals — A suspected secret cell of foreign militants, believed to be linked to al-Qa'ida and using British hospitals as cover, are being questioned over the terrorist attacks in London and Glasgow. — Five of the eight people under arrest last night are said to be doctors.
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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 …


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
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James Capozzola, 1962-2007 — Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, — Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, — Silence the pianos and with muffled drum — Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. — "Funeral Blues," W.H. Auden. — My friend Jim died this evening.

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.


Mugabe's 'inflation police' raid shopkeepers — Plain-clothes police sought to enforce Zimbabwe's new price controls by raiding shops yesterday as President Robert Mugabe's regime waged a desperate struggle against soaring inflation. — They roughed up shop owners and staff and arrested 20 businessmen.
Discussion:
QandO

N.J. Confiscates 4 Tons of Pa. Fireworks — Amid continued fretting about a Pennsylvania law that allows New Jersey residents to buy fireworks that are illegal in the Garden State, New Jersey state police have confiscated nearly 8,000 pounds of fireworks ahead of Independence Day.

Japan's defense minister quits over A-bomb gaffe — TOKYO — Japan's defense minister resigned under an avalanche of criticism today for suggesting that the United States was justified in dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki because the attacks saved Japan from a Soviet invasion.
Discussion:
Jules Crittenden


How doctors from abroad are vetted — Of the eight people arrested over the attempted car bombings in Glasgow and London, seven are doctors or medical students and one a lab technician, all with links to the NHS. — Among them are three doctors who qualified in Jordan, India and Iraq.
Discussion:
The Corner

Mark Warner weighs another bid for office — Former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner has been reticent about his political future since leaving office a year and a half ago, but now sounds poised for a return to public life. — "I think I've got a voice that I would like to get back engaged in public service …