Plame Suit Flames Out

Valerie Plame's lawsuit against members of the Bush Administration was dismissed today by John D. Bates, United States District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

A federal judge dismissed former CIA operative Valerie Plame's lawsuit against members of the Bush administration Thursday, eliminating one of the last courtroom remnants of the leak scandal.

The only thing Plame got right in her lawsuit was the inclusion of Richard Armitage as a defendant. One of the many odd things about this whole affair has been the distinct absence of Armitage in the accusations of culpable names in the supposed leak of Plame's covert status.

Bates dismissed the case against all defendants: Cheney, White House political adviser Karl Rove, former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.

Judge Bates is a Bush 43 appointment to the court. I suspect, if the left holds true to form, charges will fly that the judge is a Bush toady. Judge Bates is also the judge who dismissed Congress's lawsuit by the Comptroller to force Vice President Cheney to reveal information about his energy task force. However, Plame's lawyer had known from the beginning they were facing an uphill battle with the suit.

Plame's attorneys had said the lawsuit would be an uphill battle. Public officials are normally immune from such lawsuits filed in connection with their jobs.

In a way, I'm disappointed this will not go to trial. I was looking forward to Joe Wilson and Valerie Plame being put on the stand in public, under oath, and being cross examined by a good defense attorney. It would have been interesting to see how they resolved their conflicting testimony during Congressional hearings with their public statements and reporting by the driveby media.

Plame-Wilson's fifteen minutes of fame are over. Time to retire to their new digs in New Mexico.

Pardoning an Administration Member Convicted of Perjury

Amid all the kerfuffle about President Bush commuting the sentence of Scooter Libby, one fact has been missed over and over.

It's not the first time a President has pardoned a member of his Administration convicted of perjury.

In 2001, as he was leaving office, President William Jefferson Clinton pardoned Henry Cisneros, who had been his Secretary of Housing and Urban Development. Cisneros had been convicted of giving false information to the FBI (essentially perjury).

So, the next time your lefty friends complain about Bush's pardon, bring up Henry Cisneros and ask what they think about that.

Reaction to Scooter

Ya know, it's been illuminating to watch the reaction to Scooter Libby's sentence being commuted by President Bush. I've been doing some ruminating, and here's what I've come up with:

The main reason the left is soooooo exercised about this is because they can't do a thing about it, and they know it.

President Bush, as President, has the legal authority to issue pardons and commute sentences. That part of the Constitution did not end when Mr. Clinton vacated the Oval Office--though some on the left clearly think it should have. Therefore, they can't possibly impeach him on that.

The lefties are also unable to vote against Mr. Bush, because he's not running again. That also makes his approval rating (which is based on polls, which are notoriously easy to skew--which is why I don't ever post about polls) pretty much a moot point--it's not like he has to woo the voters any more.

So, they have two options. They can take it like adults, accept that something happened that they don't like, and move on (heh... irony of ironies there), or they can throw temper tantrums like 3-year-olds.

I think it's clear which they have chosen.

Libby's Prison Sentence Commuted

President Bush finally did the right thing.

WASHINGTON — President Bush commuted the sentence of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby on Monday, sparing him from a 2 1/2-year prison term that Bush said was excessive.

Bush's move came hours after a federal appeals panel ruled Libby could not delay his prison term in the CIA leak case. That meant Libby was likely to have to report to prison soon and put new pressure on the president, who had been sidestepping calls by Libby's allies to pardon the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney.

"I respect the jury's verdict," Bush said in a statement. "But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby's sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison."

Bush left intact a $250,000 fine and two years probation for Libby, and Bush said his action still "leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby."

Good for him. However, if Dubya thinks this buys him absolution for the immigration fiasco, he'd better think again.

Oh, and those aren't early 4th of July fireworks you're hearing. That's the sound of lefty heads exploding.

Libby Gets 30 Months

Lewis "Scooter" Libby has just been sentenced to 30 months in jail.

Expect an immediate appeal.

Will update with reactions from the blogosphere as other activities permit.

Update the First: Sticky Notes has a pretty good comparison.

Update the Second: Let's take a wander through some online journals of conservative thought and see what they think. IMPORTANT NOTE-- this is by no means an exhaustive list, nor is it intended to be. The statements made are correct as of 14:00 PDT, things may change later.

Human Events: silence.

National Review Online: "We said it in March, when I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby became the only person convicted of any crime in the CIA-leak investigation, and we’ll say it again now that he has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison: President Bush should pardon Libby, and do it now."

OpinionJournal.com (otherwise known as the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal): silence.

The American Spectator: silence.

The Weekly Standard: "So much for loyalty, or decency, or courage. For President Bush, loyalty is apparently a one-way street; decency is something he's for as long as he doesn't have to take any risks in its behalf; and courage--well, that's nowhere to be seen. Many of us used to respect President Bush. Can one respect him still?"