The Libby sentencing

Well, Jeralyn Merritt was wrong--Libby got two and a half years. As Judge Walton reminded us,

"People who occupy these types of positions, where they have the welfare and security of nation in their hands, have a special obligation to not do anything that might create a problem,"

OK, but the problem is many of us are still trying to determine "the problem".

Of course this is thrilling news for the Plame-Wilsons since the value of their movie and book properties will now rise, even if Bush issues a pardon. It should also say something about America's obsession with money and fame over matters of substance, in my not so humble opinion.

Speaking of which, the letters from the supporters were the most interesting story of the day. The list contained the expected neocon luminaries like Doug Feith, Don Rumsfeld and Paul Wolfowitz but there were also as many non-neocons, among them James Woolsey and James Carville from the Clinton administration, Leon Wieseltier from the New Republic, former Senator Alan Simpson and former dissident Natan Sharansky.

Conspicuously absent was pseudo-candidate Fred Thompson, which had to be a surprise and disappointment to more than a few. I'll raise my hand for surprise if the Fire Dog girls will raise theirs for disappointment but just remember, I did predict that he was a rather crafty old dog, now borne out by his ability to keep the cap on the pen.

But back to the letters. All expressed a near walking-on-water quality to Libby and how out-of-character this act was in comparison to his public career--not uncommon when trying to keep someone out of the pokey. The fact that Thompson was not one of the writers is highly evident that the administration and Libby knew these letters would be released publicly, and they'll no doubt serve as defense exhibits in the court of public opinion when it's time for Bush to consider a pardon.

But there was another undercurrent running through most of the letters--his work in protecting the nation from biological attacks, both before and after 9/11 and the subsequent anthrax attacks. Were they sending a message?

Clarice Feldman from the American Thinker touched on this aspect in a support piece she wrote for him on Monday. In fact, Libby collaborated with Judith Miller on her book "Germs" before 9/11. Further support for this oddity was bolstered by the fact one of the letter-writers was Doctor Anthony Fauci from the NIAID division of Health and Human Services, who worked with Libby on counter-measures to thwart bio-terror attacks in Project Bioshield.

And speaking of letters and Judy Miller, the infamous "Aspen letter" has never been fully explained to the satisfaction of most.

To be fair and balanced it's quite possible that conspiratorially-minded lefties might see any such message as a smoking gun tying the evil Scooter to the bio-defense industry, a few perhaps going as far as to suggest he had a role in the anthrax attacks to scare the public and garner government largess for his corporate buddies. Or maybe they can concoct some kind of Mossad/Zionist angle. Hey, if Bush blew the towers everything else is a criminal sham, too!

But most rational people don't believe in such pap so where does that leave us, especially in light of the fact the anthrax killer(s) are still on the loose? Shall we make anything of the fact that Scooter is heading to prison while they roam free or that bin Laden's taxi driver just received a get-out-of-GTMO free card? The term "justice system" is sometimes an oxymoron.

I'll withhold a prediction on whether Bush will issue a pardon until we see whether the judge allows Libby to remain free on bail pending appeal but there's good stuff here about it. I will go so far as to say that we might finally see the wisdom of the Sandy Berger sentence at some point very soon, assuming Bush pushes the pardon button. It will be highly surprising--highly--for this man to spend one day behind bars based on what Bush must know about all of this.

UPDATE 6/5/07

As to the get-out-of GTMO free card, not quite. Thanks for the course correction, Debbie. I'm thrilled to have been wrong.

MORE 6/6/7

I must be a sucker for punishment. Last night I read through all 360 pages of the PDF containing the letters sent to Judge Walton pertaining to the Libby sentencing. OK, skimming might be a more apt description since the pro-Libby letters got a little repetitive. It was the handwritten ones and several others that mentioned fireloglake.com that provided entertainment.

Not surprisingly the pro-Scooter letters were from people who knew him personally and could vouch for his character. The anti-Scooter (give him the max) were mainly from moonbats. There were perhaps two letters from lawyers who knew their stuff and recommended "upward departures". One even suggested that if Fitzgerald had been able to get him on the real crime we'd all be arguing over the execution date.

For what it's worth my take is that Libby purposely misremembered events in an attempt to end the investigation, one which he thought was a bogus political witch hunt perpetrated by the CIA regarding blame over the missing WMDs. He admitted as much to Miller, who also stood to lose her career and reputation over the missing weapons (which is probably why she didn't write a story about them). That doesn't justify outing a covert CIA officer but it might justify outing a Langley desk jockey engaged in nepotism while her husband cavorted with high-level Democrats.

We still don't know even a fraction of the truth here. Was Joe Wilson's trip to Niger an insurance policy in case WMDs didn't turn up? Libby's conviction doesn't answer this question. It doesn't tell us who forged the fake Niger docs. It doesn't explain why the CIA let Wilson go to the NY Times, just as they would later let Scheuer write a book before the 2004 election. It doesn't explain whether Plame was definitively covered under the act. Fitzgerald has indicated she was by arguing for prison time based on the fact Libby obstructed his prosecution on the matter while all the while knowing the primary leaker from minute one.

Until we get conclusive answers on the above it's impossible to really understand what actually went on here.