by Jim Rogers

Created on: July 09, 2007

When President Bush commuted Scooter Libby's prison sentence, he not only effectively circumvented the rule of law, he sent a resounding message to every law-abiding citizen in America: Some people are, in fact, above the law.

A good friend of mine - an individual who formerly worked along side Mr. Libby - likes to remind me that it really wasn't Mr. Libby who committed the crime for which he was convicted. It was Rove and Cheney and Bush and whomever else gave Libby the wink and a nod go-ahead to tell the media about Valerie Plame's CIA connection.

Perhaps that's so. But I'm pretty sure neither Rove, nor Cheney, nor Bush stood trial for lying to a federal grand jury. I'm fairly certain that only Libby was charged in the case; only Libby stood trial; only Libby was found guilty by a jury of his peers; and only Libby was sentenced.

Thus, for his silence and refusal to cooperate with law enforcement officials investigating the case, Libby is "rewarded" with what amounts to a relatively light slap on the wrist. No jail time and, apparently, no supervised probation. Even the $250,000 it took to pay his fine turns out to be money that comes from other people's wallets. And to add insult to injury, President Bush (clearly under pressure from neo-conservatives) is mulling the possibility of granting Libby a full pardon.

Frankly, it's more than a little ironic that this odd political comedy is unfolding in our nation at a time when our leaders are pointing to "radicals" in the Middle East, accusing them of trying to "destabilize democracy." Seems to me that our own home-grown radicals have pretty much turned democracy on its proverbial ear.

And in case you think things are changing, consider President Bush's actions of Monday (July 9, 2007). Once again thumbing his nose at the system, Bush has invoked executive privilege to deny requests by Congress for testimony from two former aides about the firings of federal prosecutors.

The White House, however, did offer again to make former counsel Harriet Miers and one-time political director Sara Taylor available for private, off-the-record interviews. In a letter to the heads of the House and Senate Judiciary panels, White House counsel Fred Fielding insists that Bush is acting in "good faith" and refuses lawmakers' demand that the president explain the basis for invoking the privilege.

Like I said: Some people are, in fact, above the law.

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