Oh, for the Vertical Stroke

[akirlu]

Scooter Libby found guilty on all but one charge. In the old Soviet military, something like that would lead to heads rolling all the way up the chain of command above the screw-up. They called it the Vertical Stroke. This is one of those times when I feel like emulating Soviet practice wouldn't be a bad thing...

Comments

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

They got "Scooter".
Maybe "Kermit" is next.

[sartorias.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately this is here, and so this criminal will not do any jail time--not even in a country club jail. Instead the government will piss around with appeals until Bush is on his way out--at which time he'll pardon the rat-bastard, and he'll go free to cause more trouble.

[apostle-of-eris.livejournal.com]

Why was Libby the only one to lie to the Grand Jury?!?

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

I don't for a minute imagine he was, do you? But I infer that Libby was the only one Mr. Fitzgerald could assemble a winnable case against, which is a pretty exacting standard -- and one he seems to have met with Libby, so his ability to assess his evidence seems sound. I think what we have to hope for is that the sentence is long enough and looms up fast enough that Scooter becomes willing to rat on his superiors. Given previous maneuverings of the administration, that may not be much to hope for, but if anybody could force it to happen, I believe Patrick Fitzgerald's prosecutorial team are the guys.

[albionwood.livejournal.com]

Libby already pointed the finger at his boss Cheney. Don't see anybody going after him yet. (Who wants to be next to get shot in the face?) Sartorias is probably right, unfortunately. It will however be a rich irony when Bush goes out exactly the same way Clinton did - pardoning criminals on his last day.

[akirlu.livejournal.com]

Not that ironic -- W. would only be following the family tradition. The thing nobody seems to remember with pardons is that Clinton didn't come close to the gall of George Herbert Walker Bush, who pardoned people who might otherwise have been able to implicate him in criminal activity.

[albionwood.livejournal.com]

People tried to point that out, but it was difficult to be heard above the din of right-wingers yammering about Clinton.

Same like Iraq: hardly anyone remembers the UN inspectors (we had to throw them out before they completed their work, in order to launch the invasion) or the demonstrations (them hippies was right!) or any of the other warning signals in 2002 - all drowned in the noise emanating from the Republican machine.