Scathing

E. J. Dionne is usually a pretty mellow and rational voice on the Left. Libby’s pardon, however, has truly pissed him off. His column today is a searing indictment of Bush’s actions and a call to arms:

Notice the pattern: When the heat was on in the CIA leak case, Bush issued a strong pledge to fire anybody involved in leaking. He didn't. When Libby was indicted, Bush ducked comment until Libby was at prison's door. Now, by keeping Libby free, Bush can conveniently postpone a full pardon until after the 2008 election. In the meantime, Libby has no incentive to tell prosecutors anything new about what happened in this case. As liberal blogs have noted, since he was not pardoned outright, he can use the pending appeal of his conviction to avoid testifying before Congress

It's an airtight coverup made possible by the administration's willingness to bend the law. We spent months talking about Clinton's pardon of the fugitive financier Marc Rich. This commutation is an even greater outrage because it involves the administration taking steps to slip accountability for its own actions. Are we just going to let this one go by?

Are we just going to let this one go by? It is an excellent question. If I had to answer, I would say yes. Congress essentially has only two options, censure and impeachment, and unfortunately, I doubt there is much appetite for either. That said, in a just world, they impeach Cheney first.