Bush is a Douche

South Park was wrong - John Edward isn't the biggest douche in the universe. That title belongs to our humble leader, Duhbya, who, after the DC Court of Appeals denied Scooter Libby's motion for bond on appeal, stepped in to save his buddy from serving any jail time for committing multiple federal crimes. It's a commutation, not a pardon, so the convictions still stand, but Scooter escapes any real punishment. I'd say that Duhbya's actions display a stunning amount of hypocrisy and lack of morality, but that would just be par for the course at this point, wouldn't it?

I hope that everybody currently embroiled in the federal criminal justice system floods the White House with pardon/commutation applications tomorrow. I hope every single person serving barbarous sentences under the federal mandatory minimums and 100-to-1 crack/powder Guidelines bombard the White House, begging for some shred of justice

Duhbya's changed the rules - the process no longer means anything. Finality means nothing, juries are not to be respected, and the appellate process is now surplus to requirements. I guess I'm out of work!

UPDATE: Here is the provision of Duhbya's own DOJ regs that he blatantly ignored by issuing the commutation today:

Section 1-2.113 Standards for Considering Commutation Petitions

A commutation of sentence reduces the period of incarceration; it does not imply forgiveness of the underlying offense, but simply remits a portion of the punishment. It has no effect upon the underlying conviction and does not necessarily reflect upon the fairness of the sentence originally imposed. Requests for commutation generally are not accepted unless and until a person has begun serving that sentence. Nor are commutation requests generally accepted from persons who are presently challenging their convictions or sentences through appeal or other court proceeding.

As I said, the rules have changed, the precedent has been set. Here comes the flood.

Great reaction from Democratic Presidential candidate John Edwards (who is not the biggest douche in the universe):

Only a president clinically incapable of understanding that mistakes have consequences could take the action he did today. President Bush has just sent exactly the wrong signal to the country and the world. In George Bush's America, it is apparently okay to misuse intelligence for political gain, mislead prosecutors and lie to the FBI. George Bush and his cronies think they are above the law and the rest of us live with the consequences. The cause of equal justice in America took a serious blow today.

Let's hope the Dems in Congress actually pay attention this time.