Sullivan, an ethical conservative (there used to be a lot more of them, I seem to remember) points out what I only hinted at in my note on the Libby pardon:
Remember that Mr Bush is notoriously pardon-averse. He has only issued 113 pardons in nearly seven years. In Texas, he sent many, many people to the execution room, even those, like Karla Faye Tucker, who had genuinely expressed remorse and been born again. In fact, he famously mocked her petition for clemency. So she was killed. But Bush finds a way to spare his own apparatchik from mere months in jail for a clear case of perjury.(The Daily Dish)
And Sullivan really is angry now. In fact, he is way angrier than this liberal, since Bush only did what I expected him to do (and what his father did before him). Sullivan, though, is shaken. "I'm surprised by Bush's chutzpah. I retained some minimal respect. No longer. We now know full well what his beliefs are: the law is for other people..." (The Daily Dish)
"If this shores up his conservative base, then his conservative base has no principles. They impeached Clinton for the same crime. But they let their own go free," he says. (The Daily Dish) Oh, Andrew Sullivan. What on earth do you think people want power for, you idealist, you?
He points out the "meme" that I find especially annoying: the smug reiteration by Bush's supporter that "the left" will be outraged, as in: Of course the liberals will moan about it because liberals are moaners.
Sullivan thinks that conservatives as well as liberals should be furious that the Bush Administration so blatantly proved what certain liberals have been saying all along. But I think they already knew that beforehand and thought it was okay. "You don't get a cleaner example of different justice for the rich and powerful. It seems to me that real conservatives - not the lawless hoodlums now parading under that banner - should be as outraged as anyone. This man risked national security for political payback, and perjured himself to cover it up." (The Daily Dish) But he did it out of loyalty, right? And Bush is all about the loyalty. That's nothing new.
Sullivan's Diogenes, hoping to find one honest conservative...or rather one conservative who meets his high ethical standards. (You can't call it lack of honesty when someone says straight out that he or she is okay with this decision.) Sullivan thinks we should all have higher standards for those who govern us.
But unlike Sullivan (up to now), I have very low standards for the Bush Administration.. " If you needed a reason to rid Washington of the president's corrupt party, you just got one. Get angrier." (The Daily Dish) I don't think I can do that. I used up all my anger during Bush's first term. I'll let the conservatives who helped elect him---you guys know who you are---call him on it. I know it's cynical, but I am a lady of a certain age and I have my blood pressure to think of.
- Damozel, Pardon This: Bush Rescues Libby from "Excessive" Prison Term (Buck Naked Politics).
- Alex Koppelman, Sullivan's Travels (Salon)
- Bush Pardons Weinberger, Five Others Tied to Iran-Contra
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