I thought I would throw around the recent Presidential commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence as a blog topic. How do you guys feel about this one?

I have my own ideas, as usual. Of course it was politically motivated. The issue is that he was convicted and sentenced in a court of law. He received a sentence within reason considering he was found guilty. Harsh sentencing has been a cornerstone of the Bush administrations. The only difference is that he worked for the Executive branch of the government. So, Scooter rides free. The fine for a person of Scooter's importance is spare change. He is the fair haired boy of a lot of influential and wealthy people. He can accept a dinner invitation and pick up that kind of cash.

Of course, there is also the possibility that President Bush will pardon him. In fact, feel certain that he will. Presidential pardons and or commuted sentences are usually given on the last day of a President's term. President Clinton granted pardons in mass his last day in office. I doubt President Bush will wait that long. If you examine the Presidential pardons/commutations below, all were granted by the next administration.

Listed below are some notable pardons/commutations:

Daniel "Dan" Rostenkowski    pardoned by Clinton     served 15 of 17 month sentence

Marc Rich                             pardoned by Clinton     required to pay $100M before pardon

Richard Nixon                       pardoned by Ford         resigned - Watergate

Jimmy Hoffa                         commuted by Nixon     no one knows what happened to him

G. Gordon Libby                    commuted by Carter     Watergate break-in

Caspar Weinberger                pardon by Bush Sr.       Iran contra affair

Scooter Libby c                     commuted by "W" Bush   obstruction of justice, Plame affair

I was somewhat surprised at this fact that no President had pardoned or commuted a sentence for anyone working in their administration, with the exception of President Bush. If you can find an instance of this occurring, please correct me.