Bet that made his ol' pacemaker skip a beat
"Hi, George, it's Dick. How about that hunting trip I mentioned?"
The New York Daily News reports that George Bush and Dick Cheney fought bitterly in the final days of Bush's presidency over a pardon for Scooter Libby. Staffers said Bush finally got so annoyed that he refused to discuss the matter any further...but Cheney would not take no for an answer and was still trying the day before Obama was sworn in.
From nydailynews.com: "WASHINGTON - In the waning days of the Bush administration, Vice President Dick Cheney launched a last-ditch campaign to persuade his boss to pardon Lewis (Scooter) Libby - and was furious when President George W. Bush wouldn't budge.
...."He tried to make it happen right up until the very end," one Cheney associate said.
In multiple conversations, both in person and over the telephone, Cheney tried to get Bush to change his mind. Libby was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in the federal probe of who leaked covert CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to the press.
Several sources confirmed Cheney refused to take no for an answer. "He went to the mat and came back and back and back at Bush," a Cheney defender said. "He was still trying the day before Obama was sworn in." [..]"
Oh how the mighty have fallen. Once Cheney was all-powerful, tearing the constitution to shreds for the benefit of his corporate pals, once he was head good ol' boy of the military infrastructure investment club. Now he’s just a warped, churlish old man, lying and fuming through his gritted teeth.
Bush's refusal to pardon Libby is a shot across the bow at Cheney. Bush (probably more Sr. than Jr.) realizes the legal jeopardy they are in and it's boiling down to who will spill their guts to future prosecutors first. Bush's failure to pardon Libby might indicate that he's not opposed to giving up the goods on Cheney.
See, Scooter was Cheney’s Cheney...and was promised a full pardon if he took the fall for Deadeye Dick.
Why not pardon the guy? There was nothing left for Bush to lose. Surely he didn't think that pardoning Scooter would hurt his legacy? Surely he didn't think that history will ignore the big stupid things he's done over 8 years and somehow reward him for not being as dishonorable as he could have been in the last 10 minutes...
Maybe he really was out of the loop about outing Plame, and his refusal to pardon Scooter is an expression of anger at Cheney for putting him in that position in the first place.
Can Dick keep the lid on Libby? Might not be long before Scooty Poo figures out just how much of a chump he's been...then he'll repent and call someone to blab. Or write a tell-all book...he has to make a living somehow. He cannot vote or practice law anymore because he is a felon.
I would love for the whole Plame episode to be back on the front page...after all, there's no statute of limitations on treason.
Will Deadeye Dick blow a pacemaker gasket? Will Scooter squawk?
Whatever, I'll be ready with a big bowl of popcorn...heck, I might get to see Karl Rove frog-marched yet...
