Bush's Clemency Record, Mockery of Woman on Death Row

Is the clemency Bush showed when commuting of Scooter Libby's sentence typical of Bush's record?  The numbers suggest not, which compelled conservative Andrew Sullivan to comment:

"Part of what makes the commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence for perjury so transparently corrupt is Bush's long and remarkable record as Texas governor of denying clemency to almost anyone, and the contempt he expressed for even the process of reviewing appeals for mercy from death row."

Sullivan's statement compelled me to compare Bush's clemency record (as president) to that of other presidents. Most presidents granted microscopically few commutations, so it's more helpful to compare pardon rates.

Of the 1,295 pardon petitions received from 2001 to 2007 (I don't know which month), Bush granted 113: a pardon rate of 8.7% (Rehabilitation.org). Below are the pardon rates for six other presidents: (U.S. Pardon Attorney ):

Clinton                2001 petitions, 396 granted:   19.7%            

Bush (41)              731 petitions,   74 granted:   10.1% 

Reagan               2099 petitions, 393 granted:   18.7%

Carter                 1581 petitions, 534 granted:   33.7%

Ford                      978 petitions, 382 granted:   39.0%

Nixon                  1699 petitions, 863 granted:  50.8%

Apparently, Reagan and Nixon were more merciful than Bush, but it goes beyond a lack of mercy. In a 1999 Talk Magazine interview with then-reporter Tucker Carlson, Bush publicly mocked a born-again Christian woman on Texas' death row after she was executed. Below is a clip:

In the week before [Karla Faye Tucker's] execution, Bush says, Bianca Jagger and a number of other protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Tucker.

"Did you meet with any of them?" I ask..

"Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them," he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with [Tucker], though. He asked her real difficult questions, like 'What would you say to Governor Bush?'"

"What was her answer?" I wonder.

"Please," Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "don't kill me."

(Quote from National Review, see also Slate and  Salon.)

It speaks for itself.  Apparently, Alberto Gonzales (former general counsel to Governor Bush and former Bush appointee to the Texas Supreme Court) is similarly unfazed by killing people.  More than that, Gonzales seems eager to do it, even in cases that lack evidence (see BNP's How Just is our Justice Department?)