Death Penalty

President Bush's move to commute Scooter Libby's sentence comes as no surprise -- using presidential clemency when the crimes were committed within your own administration is unseemly, but it's hardly unprecedented.

And frankly, I won't lose any sleep over Libby's lack of jail time. A 30-month sentence struck me as excessive, too, and I wouldn't call a $250K fine "getting off easy."

What is troubling, however, is that Bush's sense of mercy doesn't seem to extend much beyond, well, Scooter Libby.