In an earlier column (“The devil went down to Provo,” April 4), I implored readers to hold Dick Cheney accountable for “riding a Scooter to freedom.” Don’t worry — the Scooter was saved by a Bush.
As his last appeal was exhausted, I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby was ready to be hauled off to serve his, heaven forbid, 30-month sentence. That is, until he pulled out his bright yellow “get out of jail free” card. He won it in a game of Monopoly with the president.
It turns out our president has a monopoly on justice.
Last Monday, Dubya used his power of clemency to commute the sentence of Scooter and send him home a free man. For his crimes, he will pay a fine of $250,000 and will have to live with lying to the American people forever. It will no doubt lead to many sleepless nights spent in his Virginia mansion, or even more sleepless nights in one of his summer homes.
Although 67 percent of Americans in a Gallup poll were adamantly opposed to a pardon of any kind for the former aide, everyone knows Dubya doesn’t care much for public opinion anymore. Like a man who realizes he only has a few months before his inevitable death, he is living life to the fullest and running up his political debt. Although he is trying his hardest to glue himself to a throne in the Oval Office with talk of “Executive Privilege,” deep down he knows he’s not long for the world. I can only hold my breath wondering what he’ll think of next.
Dick Cheney is no better, and probably much worse. The man will do anything for 30 pieces of silver and a Halliburton contract. If you’re going to turn someone into a fall guy, shouldn’t you at least let him fall? Amid all the corruption surrounding this case, the one sliver of justice was putting Scooter behind bars. Granted, Karl Rove or Cheney himself would have been a much bigger fish, but you take what you can get, right?
Wrong. Even this little fish had the line cut. For young children out there aspiring to become president someday, remember two important things from this trial: Lying is OK, especially if you’re a crony, and the executive branch is above the law.
This is just another example within the last week of our president and vice president disregarding the true tenets of law. In fact, I’m not sure if there are any laws that apply to Dick Cheney anymore. He has claimed that any disclosure of information laws passed after Watergate were unconstitutional, so he’s decided not to follow them. He does not believe in the Geneva Convention, and stated on an Idaho talk radio program that torture “didn’t bother (him) in the slightest.” And in the most absurd argument against common sense, he stated he did not have to follow Executive Order 12958, which protects our national security, because he was not a member of the executive branch.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find him floating above us, cackling, defying the very laws of gravity.
I can’t stand it. I’m tired of the argument that we should just grin and bear it because they only have so much time left in office. These are gross injustices that should not be disregarded. Scooter Libby’s lies are nothing compared with the big untruths that have been told about the war.
If Bush and Cheney must remain in office, so be it, but it’s time to put a leash on them.
Call your Senator. Call your House Representatives. Hell, call the White House (202-456-1414). Let them know you will not sit quietly as the president and vice president find new and innovative ways to abuse their power.
Let them know that no man is above the law.
