BlogHer - Pardon Me, President Bush - Comments

Thanks for the spelling correction

PunditMom — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 14:38:24 -0600

Sorry for my typo! Sorry you don't like my column, but that's your right.

BTW, it's res ipsa

Norma156 — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 08:56:07 -0600

BTW, it's res ipsa loquitur. And your column does indeed speak for itself.

Who said anything about criminality?

PunditMom — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:37:38 -0600

Although when it comes to potential criminality, did you miss the part about Don Siegelman?

And as for Sarah Palin, as they say in the law -- res ipsa loquitor.

PunditMom

How about stopping the slaps

Norma156 — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 14:32:15 -0600

How about stopping the slaps at Sarah Palin? I voted the GOP ticket and I'm trying to get behind Obama et. al. as we navigate this crisis. This kind of stuff makes me feel like it's not worth it. The left will never refrain from gratuitous slams. It's just too much fun. Right?

Second, when comparing pardons. I'm not so sure I wouldn't support a pardon of Milken who has done enormous good since he was convicted. Also, why should Marion Jones stay in jail?

This post also invites comparisons to the pardons a previous Democratic President gave on the night his term expired. Does the name Marc Rich mean anything to you? Or perhaps Eric Holder, who as deputy attorney general, processed the pardon.

If this is all you can come up with on Bush's criminality, pull down the shades and take a nap. Or eat another turkey sandwich.

Pardon Me, President Bush

PunditMom — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 16:46:51 -0600

Pumpkin and Pecan evaded the terrible fate of those poor Sarah Palin Wasilla turkeys thanks to President Bush, whose mind is apparently more focused on pardons than on our tanking economy these days.

Turkeys aren't the only ones getting a bye from the outgoing administration, though I'm not sure if the people on the first list of presidential pardons are going to Disneyland to hang out at Big Thunder Mountain Ranch like Pumpkin and Pecan! (There are some who believe that sounded like a good plan for VP Dick Cheney's right-hand man, David Addington!)

President Bush's first round of pardons weren't very notable. But with 50-plus days to go in Bush's waning administration, there's lots of time to get around to the more high profile names like convicted securities fraudster Michael Milken and former Olympic gold medalist Marion Jones. But the big question in the presidential get-out-of-jail-free lottery is whether Bush will actually go down the road of pardoning the likes of Scooter Libby, and making blanket precautionary pardons for Bush water carriers like Harriet Miers, Alberto Gonzalez, and Karl Rove.

And maybe Martha Stewart? I'm sure she would think that was a "good thing!"

Since Barack Obama has taken the stage as a very high-profile President-elect, Bush seems happy to move into the back seat as a sort of President-emeritus. But that gives him much more time to add to the list of pals he wants spared from any possible prosecution once he leaves office.

If Bush would really like to make amends, there is one pardon he should issue as a mea culpa -- former Alabama Governor Don Siegelmen. Siegelman was convicted on bribery charges in 2006, but was recently released from prison after serving part of his sentence when a judge ruled that there were serious questions about whether his prosecution was politically motivated, some believe in a plan that was masterminded by Karl Rove.

But I guess that would be too much to ask for that pardon when the potential wrongdoing actually came from the administration issuing the pardon. I bet Pumpkin and Pecan are just happy that their lifetime repreives came through on the early side before President Bush gets distracted with the rest of the list.

When she's done lamenting the amount of turkey and stuffing she ate this weekend, you can also find Politics & News Contributing Editor PunditMom, aka Joanne Bamberger, talking about politics at her place, as well as at The Huffington Post and at PunditMom Radio on Blog Talk Radio.

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