LITTLE ROCK--The Bush-Cheney presidency is drawing to the close of its actual tenure (not to be confused with its long-term consequences).The news media and public are, understandably, focused on the transition process associated with the coming Obama administration, the dire state of the economy and continued threats to national security.
As we do this, we should not forget I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby.
If we are not careful, Mr. Libby’s eventual pardon by President George W. Bush may become the last defining act of the Bush presidency.
Such a pardon would become the consummate victory for Vice President Richard B. Cheney, and may cast a long shadow on the character of American public policy.
“Scooter” Libby, a former high-powered Washington attorney and political figure with the neo-conservative wing of the Republican Party, is the former chief of staff for Vice President Cheney.
Mr. Libby leaked the covert Central Intelligence Agency identity of Valerie Plame after her husband (former Ambassador Joseph Wilson) wrote a truthful opinion column in the New York Times.
That piece exposed the Bush administration lie that alleged Saddam Hussein had purchased uranium from Niger.
The Bush White House used that lie to persuade Congress and the American people to support the war against Iraq.
After Mr. Wilson’s op-ed column exposed the lie, Mr. Libby led the attack against Mr. Wilson, claiming that Miss Plame (a covert CIA agent) had sponsored a trip to Niger by Mr. Wilson.
The claim was that that trip led to Mr. Wilson’s discovery that the Bush White House had lied.
After U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald was appointed to investigate, Mr. Libby lied to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and later to a grand jury, claiming he learned about Miss Plame’s CIA identity from a member of the news media.
In truth, Vice President Cheney revealed Miss Plame’s covert identity to Mr. Libby, and Mr. Libby then leaked her identity to the media.
A federal jury convicted Mr. Libby on perjury and obstruction of justice charges, sentenced him to 30 months in prison and fined him $250,000.
Mr. Libby immediately paid the fine, and President Bush promptly spared him the ignobility of serving a prison sentence by commuting that part of his punishment.
Subsequently, Mr. Libby surrendered his license to practice law, and he remains a convicted felon.
Today, many believe his deceit was undertaken to shield his boss, Vice President Cheney.
President Bush campaigned in 2000 promising to restore integrity to the presidency.
Far from doing that, his presidency may be remembered as the most corrupt and incompetent in American history.
The Bush administration ignored intelligence warnings about al-Qaeda’s plans to attack the United States weeks before the 9/11 attacks.
It then used the attacks (along with the Patriot Act) to justify suppressing civil liberties.
More than 4,000 American military men and women have been killed in the Iraq war, and tens of thousands more have been physically and psychologically scarred.
We may never know how many Iraqi civilians have been killed and maimed in this war, but some estimate the number to be above 600,000.
The Iraq war has cost nearly $750 billion, and continues to cost us at $10 billion monthly.
Our pursuance of this war has been marked by colossal fraud and other alleged misconduct by government contractors with political ties to the Bush-Cheney political operation.
In addition, this war has brought the image of the United States (a nation long committed to respect for law and morality) to the lowest point in recent memory.
If (or should we say, when) President Bush pardons “Scooter” Libby in the closing hours of his administration, Vice President Cheney, Mr. Libby and their neo-con colleagues who have profited from the Iraq war will celebrate.
Such a pardon will be the final defiant act of colossal arrogance of the Bush presidency.
It will also be further evidence why so many Americans no longer trust Republicans to govern.
Americans now realize that, for this group, public office is not a way to advance the national interest, but is merely a vehicle for making private gains and settling personal vendettas.
Richard M. Nixon’s presidency ended in disgrace after the Watergate scandal and his resignation.
The Bush presidency will end on a much more disgraceful note if “Scooter” Libby is pardoned.
Arkansas Appeals Court Judge Wendell Griffen is a law school professor and a Baptist minister.
His term as an appeals court judge ends this year.
