July 05, 2007
Now scoot
Joe points out a quote relevant to the Scooter Libby business:
"I don't believe my role is to replace the verdict of a jury with my own," - George W. Bush on why he signed death warrants for 152 inmates as governor of Texas.
Of course, while on the face of it this quote seems to be at odds with Bush's decision that the judge's sentence of 30 months in prison for Scooter Libby was excessive, what you must remember is that Bush is not governor of Texas anymore. Now he's president, where obviously he feels his role is to change verdicts he disagrees with. Also, he's changing the judge's sentence, not the jury's verdict, although he won't go so far as to admit that Libby is actually guilty, as we can see from this exchange from Tuesday's press conference:
Q: Tony, does the President think that Scooter Libby did, in fact, lie; that a member of the White House staff was, in fact, guilty of these crimes?MR. SNOW: What he believes is that he was convicted of a jury of his peers.
I guess Bush actually believing demonstrable facts is a step up from his usual M.O.
Posted by Francis at 01:52 PM