Has the U.S. been "Punk'd"?

That’s what I was asking myself after hearing on the news last week that Lewis “Scooter” Libby had his sentence commuted by George W. Bush. I was sitting in my living room, watching the late news, and half expected Ashton Kutcher to jump out onto the screen and say “Just kidding Americans!! That never happened! You’ve all been Punk’d!”

But it was no joke.

For those of you not familiar with the case, here’s a brief overview of the surrounding circumstances, as reported in the media and translated into layman’s terms from my perspective.
The Bush administration based their Iraq attack plan on intelligence that claimed Saddam Hussein had acquired large amounts of uranium from Africa, and planned to use this uranium to make weapons of mass destruction designed to attack the United States. A man named Joseph Wilson was sent in to investigate the alleged sales of uranium, and exposed this “intelligence” as a sham. Dick Cheney, the Vice President, organized a campaign to discredit him, and put in motion a plot to “out” Wilson’s wife, Valerie Plame, an underground CIA operative. When the Plame case was being investigated and tried, Scooter Libby, Cheyney’s right hand man, lied to the jury to protect Cheney. Libby was tried and convicted by a judge and jury, and was sentenced to 30 months in prison for perjury and obstruction of justice.

GWB is quoted as saying, “I respect the jury’s verdict, but I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive...” With one sweep of his pen, GWB has ensured that Libby will spend no time in jail. He gets 2 years probation and a large fine instead. Commuting a sentence is not the same as a full pardon, in that it does not erase the criminal record. However, the President’s decision is final and can not be challenged or overturned by any court or attorney. Scooter Libby will not spend a day in jail for his crimes, and the President has hinted that a full pardon may be in Libby’s future.

So now I ask you….doubleyou-tee-eff is going on here?? Just because this executive privilege exists, should the President use it to disregard the decision of a judge and jury to save one of his own? Would the same leniency be shown to anyone else? I can safely say no, as GWB has only commuted three other sentences in his six-and-a-half year Presidency. He has issued fewer pardons than any President since the Second World War. Despite a phone call from the Pope, Bush allowed the first execution of a woman since the American Civil War. Undermining the judiciary must be reserved for only very special folks, like Libby. After all, Bush ignored the usual process of running requests through the Justice Department lawyers, and instead made his “own evaluation” of Libby’s circumstances and sentence.

Here's what I think.....

Sentences are handed down by courts every day. It’s the system of justice that decides the guilt or innocence of an individual, and then the fate of this person. A SYSTEM…not a President.

Land of the Free? No - not even a little bit. US citizens are at the mercy of an irresponsible, irrational dictator….someone overpraised, oversupported, and underqualified. A President who has taken advantage of the blind loyalty shown to him after 9/11 and lied his country into war. Someone with such a blatant disregard for the people that he serves, that he’s exploited their fear and caused the death of thousands of them in the search for oil, wealth and power. Someone who will not accept responsibility for any of the mess he’s caused. A leader who ignores the resounding American voice saying “we don’t want to be at war anymore”. Someone without an ounce of respect for the American Justice System. A President as corrupt as any other who has “served” the United States.

Home of the Brave? Maybe - we’ll see in November 2008 if Americans have the stones to elect a President who serves Americans, and who is made to be accountable to Americans. Someone who, even though they might be female, or black, or not from Texas, or oppose the war in Iraq, will bring new ideas, new perspective, and a new plan. Someone who is willing and ready to earn the trust their countrymen, instead of demanding and abusing it. A President who will conduct themselves on behalf of the whole Republic, and not on behalf of their party and their personal interests.

And do you know what the worst part is? GWB, Chaney, and the rest of the White House senior staff are probably sitting in the Oval Office, wearing the Montgomery Burns-esque sneer, drumming their fingers together. They’re probably drinking vodka and Red Bull, smoking cigars, watching Girls Gone Wild, and laughing….”we can do whatever we want and get away with it…”
And they’re right.

Time for change, people. This is a huge slap in the face, and hopefully a huge wake-up call, to the American voting public. Regular citizens don’t understand the many facets of government policy, nor do I, but we DO understand a “fixed lottery” when we see it, like the Libby case. When my grandkids open their history books in 20 years, they will read about the most laffable, ridiculous, selfish Presidential administration in U.S. history. Hopefully the next leader of the free world will be someone who the American people can be proud to call their President.