by Jim Swanson
Blue Herald

After perusing many websites in reaction to the commutation of I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, I thought I’d give our readers a sampling of what I’ve seen.

from No Quarter:

FROM LARRY JOHNSON:

I’m shocked, shocked I tell you. President Bush making excuses for a convicted felon? How could this be? I mean the President promised that anyone who was involved in leaking the name of Valerie Plame Wilson would no longer be with his Administration. And since we now know with complete certainty that Karl Rove and Scooter Libby and Richard Armitage and Ari Fleischer spread her name around we can see that Bush has sort of kept his promise. You see, Libby, Armitage and Fleischer are no longer with the Administration. I’m sure that Karl Rove will be gone in days. Surely Bush would not break a promise?

Actually I think we will still see some more blowback from the rightwing because Bush let the conviction stand. One bright side to this–we will never have to listen seriously to any Republican argue that perjury and obstruction of justice are real crimes. My money is still on Libby getting a pardon after the 2008 elections. But that won’t keep him, Rove, and Armitage from facing the civil suit brought by Joe and Val. If that goes forward these bastards will pay a pretty penny. Small compensation for the damage they’ve done to our nation’s security.

The Next Hurrah has a statement from special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald’s spokesperson:

“It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. … Although the President’s decision eliminates Mr. Libby’s sentence of imprisonment, Mr. Libby remains convicted by a jury of serious felonies, and we will continue to seek to preserve those convictions through the appeals process.”

Reaction by former Ambassador Joseph Wilson is both in transcript and by “video” at MSNBC

And we’ve been asked to flood the White House with phone calls Tuesday.

White House: 202-456-1414