The Only Thing Clinton Hid was a Blow Job and a Soggy Cigar

by emptywheel

Digby's all over Tim Noah's latest idiocy.

Clinton was impeached and he faced the music.  He was tried and acquitted according to the rules of the constitution. Bush, on the other hand, just used his plenary power to commute a sentence to cover his own bad deeds and keep one of his own aides from having to pay the price for his crimes. He has used his power for this one man when he has been the stingiest president in history for pardons and commutations.

There's just two things I'd add. First, Noah, like everyone else who supports Bush's commutation, is ignorant of basic facts in the case, and basic facts of law. First, as Team USA demonstrated, the Probation Officer ignored mandatory enhancements when it recommended 15 months to Libby. Once Walton put in the mandatory enhancements, 30 months was in fact the minimum in the range. So Libby, in fact, was sentenced to the minimum recommended sentence for his range. Second, it is not "routine" for someone to get bond pending appeal. Again, as Team Libby demonstrated, Congress has made it clear that the "routine" should be that a convicted felon go straight to prison. Ignorance, Tim, is not a sound basis for a winning argument.

More importantly, though, Noah pretends--as all shameless pundits do--that Libby was convicted solely of lying. "Just like Clinton," Noah wants you to believe. And if Clinton gets away with it, so should Libby.

Nuh uh, Tim. Clinton was hiding two things: a blowjob between consenting adults, and a soggy cigar. Embarrassing, surely. But not a full-fledged investigation into the actions that resulted in the exposure of a CIA NOC. The reason Libby got his 30 month sentence was not, as Noah would have you believe, because Libby lied about Dick. Libby got his 30 month sentence because he prevented us from learning about Dick's role in outing Valerie Wilson. You know: the really dangerous Dick, the one who would out a CIA spy as ugly retaliation for exposing his lies.

Comments

[greenhouse]

OMG!!! Marcy's on WBAI's Democracy Now -- RIGHT NOWW!!! WOO HOO!!! Awesome!!!!

[greenhouse]

Marcy, you were great on Dem Now, although it's only a little comfort for the deep injustice and total fucking letdown from that bush that I feel so robbed and violated.

[John Rowland]

Agree all you state about Bush and now his commuting Libby's sentence. Yes Clinton engaged in classical federal perjury and his ass should have swung like Libby's too.But must admit I like blowjobs too from my wife .

[margaret]

This is so vulgar, that I can't abide it. I deliberately avoided reading the Starr reports and the testimony of Clinton, because I did not want to soil my mind with his personal business. He let all of the country down by his behavior, whether you agree with his sexual addiction "rights" or not. He could have been a target of a spy...in fact, Lewinsky may have set him up for his downfall. He exercised bad judgment, and I defended him until the night he admitted that he had lied. Lying is perjury, and he was a guilty as Libby, whether you are a democrat or a republican. This country needs to have leaders who have some character! Dammit!

Clinton didn't have it, Bush doesn't have it, and I see very few candidates who have it, with the exception of John Edwards. I am as angry as everybody else here that Libby is not going to jail. I think Bush should be impeached, along with Cheney, but I am sick of vulgarity, no matter where it comes from!

[Katie Jensen]

I don't know of anything more vulgar than treason. Bush lied, people died.

[Sharon]

I thought perjury is lying in covering up a crime. What Clinton lied about was no crime, unethical maybe, but no crime. And he did not "obstruct justice" as Libby is guilty of.

[Katie Jensen]

I know all the folks on this board have likely already made these calls but just in case there are a few new readers.

White House Phone Numbers
Comments: 202-456-1111
Switchboard: 202-456-1414
FAX: 202-456-2461

U.S. Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Listing of U.S. Senators with phone numbers
Listing of U.S. House members

Call now!! I just did and made sure that each of my calls included the term obstruction of justice and need for investigation of both Bush and Cheney.

[notanumber]

The question for the Fem debates must be, "would you be willing to pardon GWB, Cheney and/or any of their staff?"

[darclay]

I was reading over at TPM a piece on the recent SCOTUS ruling where a man who actually served in the service was asking for a reduction in his sentence for purjury. DENIED! So why is it that SCOTUS thinks this mans sentence was sound but Scooter walks. Marcy is there anything that SCOTUS can do without waiting for appeals ?

[p.lukasiak]

a question: Did Fitz ever officially end his investigation? (i.e. is the grand jury that heard evidence from Woodward et al still empanelled, and competent to hear additonal testimony?)

[*xyz]

p.lukasiak - I think after the Libby verdict, Fitzgerald stated that the investigation remained open. Fitzgerald said specifically that the investigation was "inactive" but if new information came in, that status could change.

[Frank Probst]

Am I living in some parallel universe? Clinton didn't get away with anything. He confessed, for God's sake. He cut a deal with Robert Ray (Ken Starr's replacement) in which he admitted he lied under oath, paid a $25,000 fine, and had his law license suspended for 5 years. The reason he was never indicted is because, unlike Libby, he finally came clean with the prosecutor.

[*xyz]

Here's the quote from Fitz's statement after the Libby verdict:

QUESTION: Sir, is your investigation over now, now that this trial's over? Now that you have this verdict, is this investigation -- is your special counsel investigation over?

FITZGERALD: I would say this: I do not expect to file any further charges. Basically, the investigation was inactive prior to the trial. I would not expect to see any further charges filed. We're all going back to our day jobs.

If information comes to light or new information comes to us that would warrant us taking some action, we'll, of course, do that.

But I would not create the expectation that any of us will be doing further investigation at this point. We see the investigation as inactive.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0703/06/cnr.04.html

[Jane S.]

I am really incensed by this WaPo piece "A Decision Made Largely Alone". How strange that SAOs leaked that the decision was made alone rather than them leaking that Cheney told 'W' he had better commute this sentence and fast or Libby would start talking and he has the goods on all of them. And of course they would never leak that Karl whispered in Bush's ear, "You can't let down the base. Heaven forbid, we let down the base."

Why doesn't the Post use a little judgement instead of printing everything they want them to print.

[bill in turkey]

'I think Bush should be impeached, along with Cheney, but I am sick of vulgarity, no matter where it comes from!'

Not to flame, Margaret, but do you really feel that emptywheel's use of the word 'blowjob' - or was it 'cigar' that you were concerned about - is so offensive that it merits chastisement in the same breath as Bush's contempt for the rule of law?

For my part, I'm sick of civility displayed to those who display contempt for the life and limb of others. No, seriously I am. Look at the way everyone gets the vapours when someone accuses a prominent (Republican) politician of lying. That's what I call a real obscentity. And it has consequences just as serious as anything Clinton did.

[della Rovere]

"Noah, like everyone else who supports Bush's commutation, is ignorant of basic facts in the case, and basic facts of law"

Can not we just say Noah is ignorant and cover all bases at once?

[J. Thomason]

My sense of blogging decorum is an evolving thing. My first exposure to political blogging, tracking information Plame, came at Fire Dog Lake where my sense of blogging etiquette was tested after some incidents of off color comments full of earnest patriotic sentiment I made, the wretched Foghat flame dialogue and where finally much fighting over the chocolate pear cake I was making for Christmas subjected me too heavy scorn-deserved or undeserved I am not sure. But I have learned from these excesses.

In any event Marcy's posts and the comments over here for some time have been my favorite source of information regarding things political. And I suppose the saucy, seasoned and profoundly informed tenor of these threads is what I appreciate. So hopefully I have passed through the purgatorial fires of the blogsphere and landed on a more laid back, fitting tone and rhythm in sharing ideas with the folks here who regularly amaze me with their knowledge, insight, commitment and humor. So I will take a moment here in the soggy cigar thread just to express some gratitude. Thank you Marcy for being out front in these things and thank all of you for your sharing in these things. My sense is that we have reached a tipping point. Please forgive me my excesses and my sporadic attention to detail. HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!! Remember the French were our allies in the first principles of things democratic. We share a hatred of despotism crossing linquistic frontiers.

[QuickSilver]

Given that Slate's chief political reporter, John Dickerson, almost certainly lied about what Ari Fleischer told him in Africa about Wilson's wife, I wouldn't expect editor Jacob Weisberg to support anything but the Bush Administration's position on Libby.

(It's obvious that two Time reporters were tipped off about Plame, and that John Dickerson was one of them. Jacob Weisberg inherited that problem when he hired Dickerson from Time—or hired him in spite of it, knowing his role. With Noah's column, Weisberg continues to try to make lemonade out of the CIA leak scandal, which nevertheless taints every word of Slate's coverage.)

[Neil]

No blow jobs for Mr Margaret I presume... that is unless they have a secret sign like... tongue in cheek or something like that. If I could make the secret sign here in the comment section of TheNextHurrah, I would and thereby spare margaret the social offense of using the word blow job fellatio. There that's better. Please, don't confuse vulgarity with obscenity... now back to the post.

Men and women have been hiding extra-marital affairs in monogomist cultures for years. That they have an affair is neither vulgar or obscene. If you must judge it, then judge it fairly, as an act of disloyalty. That is the underlying crime. Lying about it, although unprincipled, is the process crime. (I knew these repug talking points would come in handy.)

The moment Libby found out he was going to jail is the very same Bush commuted his jail sentence.

It was as if Libby had a deal: Keep your mouth shut about the rest of the co-conspiritors and you will do no jailtime. If there was a deal, it is not only obscene, it is criminal.

[bill in turkey]

actually, I call it an obscenity, not an obscentity. Never mind.

[Elsie in OK]

Margaret, do you realize how much you sound like Barbara Bush, who didn't want to waste her "beautiful mind" on the sight of all the body bags coming home?
True, Clinton's personal sin was reprehensible, and so was his lie about it, but not all lies are equal; his didn't constitute perjury, because it wasn't material to the case at hand, the Paula Jones civil suit. Furthermore, when the Senate tried him on the House's charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, he wasn't convicted. Libby WAS convicted by a jury of lying, committing perjury and obstructing an investigation into a much more serious offense than Clinton's consensual affair.
The real vulgarity was committed by Starr and his GOP cohorts who dredged every salacious detail out of Lewinsky and then made certain that the cable networks ran with them 24/7 for months on end. Strange that the same interest wasn't shown when Poppy Bush refused to andwer questions about his alleged long-term affair with his aide, Jennifer Fitzgerald, and Sonny had to tell reporters on his behalf that the answer to the adultery question was a "big N-O"
I'm sickened by those who strain at gnats over questions of character that have to do with sex, but swallow camels of lies and deceit about much more serious public policy matters that have had deadly consequences.

[Canuck Stuck in Muck]

Impeach Bush? Impeach Cheney? Impeachment's too good for 'em! Indict 'em for treason, yes. Impeach them? No. I'm still holding out hope for the disclosure of Sealed vs. Sealed, and the likelihood that Cheney is the second sealed. Are there no disgruntled ex-WH staffers to blab? Are the agencies so loyal to the President that they hold the Office of the President in such contempt that they would continue to hide, dissemble, criminally omit and otherwise stonewall? Come on, people! Oh, by the way. Happy Independence Day (if that isn't a contradiction in terms in a week like this one)!

[Neil]

All good points elsie in OK. Who complains about the vegetable when the meat is rancid?

[Gunner]

Way to go Marcy I think this one is great it has your readers all fired up keep up the geat work

[Katie Jensen]

People fear this administration. Bush/Cheney has power. Alot of power was shown yesterday. Alot of criminality. This administration does not care about the rule of law. How do you cross an administration that will violate the law to protect themselves??