Obama Not Letting It Go
There are some who look with amusement upon blogs like this, and others that continue to pay attention to Scooter Libby, the topic of presidential pardons and related issues. As one participant wrote over at the Sentencing Law and Policy blog:
Well, it just isn't that complex. The Libby case was certainly one of the major stories of the past year, but it is clearly not over in the sense that Valerie Plame and her husband will continue to yell and all eyes are on the president's use of the pardon power. Witness the headlines that followed the last round of pardons (in December) ... "Pardon, But No Libby." When is the last time a pardon was that much anticipated? It seems reasonable enough to think that, as we head into the last year of the Bush administration, the focus will both remain and increase.
Second, by continuing to focus on Libby, I believe it is possible that Obama is sending the signal that he sees the pardon power (and other issues related to the criminal justice system) differently than his opponents. While they may be content to comment and point fingers when the next "episode" arises, Obama would like to address systematic problems that he sees with formal processes (like sentencing, for example). He appears to lean toward change in advance, as opposed to seasons of distraction followed by the paralytic effects of delayed reactions to seemingly random "controversies."
... the pardon/clemency issue is irrelevant to most voters. It won't be a campaign issue unless an opponent pulls a "Willie Horton" on Huckabee. The Scooter Libby pardon, though most Americans opposed it, had its 15 minutes of fame, and is now history to all but legal scholars and pundits.But, when Barack Obama stepped into a standing room only crowd at the Yanitelli Center at St. Peter's College two days ago, he had Scooter Libby on his mind and mentioned Libby by name - as he has done throughout the entire campaign. What are we to make of this? Doesn't Obama know Libby is old news, yesterday's lettuce, so last year?
Well, it just isn't that complex. The Libby case was certainly one of the major stories of the past year, but it is clearly not over in the sense that Valerie Plame and her husband will continue to yell and all eyes are on the president's use of the pardon power. Witness the headlines that followed the last round of pardons (in December) ... "Pardon, But No Libby." When is the last time a pardon was that much anticipated? It seems reasonable enough to think that, as we head into the last year of the Bush administration, the focus will both remain and increase.
Second, by continuing to focus on Libby, I believe it is possible that Obama is sending the signal that he sees the pardon power (and other issues related to the criminal justice system) differently than his opponents. While they may be content to comment and point fingers when the next "episode" arises, Obama would like to address systematic problems that he sees with formal processes (like sentencing, for example). He appears to lean toward change in advance, as opposed to seasons of distraction followed by the paralytic effects of delayed reactions to seemingly random "controversies."
posted by P.S. Ruckman, Jr. | 11:44 AM
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