So, President Bush has commuted Scooter Libby’s sentence, saving him from prison but leaving his felony conviction intact along with the $250,000 fine and two years of probation. I had believed that Bush would not let Libby go to jail, but I had expected a pardon rather than a commutation. I didn’t think Bush would see any value in splitting the difference. This was from a political way of thinking: by only commuting Libby’s sentence, Bush will not likely gain the fulsome praise of those who thought Libby never should have been tried (let alone convicted). And on the other hand, he will still receive the condemnation of those who would have condemned him for giving a full pardon. So, politically, what does President Bush gain from this move? Zero, it seems; he only loses. That being fairly obviously the case, perhaps it is the best evidence that he genuinely felt that this was the right and just course of action, for the reasons expressed in his statement.

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