Pardon this!

Poor Scooter.

All he did was lie to the FBI and a grand jury, and somehow that makes him a criminal? Those lies were certainly justified to protect his boss and the lies being told by the administration. Those lies were vital to helping to cover up retribution against a critic of the government.

What’s the big deal?

I hope President Bush heeds the call of leading conservatives who want him to use his power to pardon to help cover up those who break the law on his behalf.

If it is wrong to operate as if you’re above the law, I don’t want to know what right is.

But in all seriousness, I am baffled by Sen. Graham (R-SC) when he says that Libby should be pardoned. Sen. Graham lead the Clinton impeachment effort to prove a point that nobody was above the law, and that lying under oath is a serious offense.

If lying about an affair is reason enough to remove a head of state, then lying about borderline illegal leaks should be serious enough to deserve jail time.

I expect hacks to want to blame the “overly political” nature of the investigation, even though the prosecutor was a Republican and no administration officials were charged with the underlying crime being investigated. I expect Fox-News nitwits to want to defend Libby even though it is absolutely clear that he lied under oath repeatedly.

But I expected better out of Mr. Graham.

The fact that Libby looks like he was the scape-goat for the administration doesn’t change the fact that he committed perjury.

The pardon guidelines at the Justice Department are there for a reason. The only time Scooter could deserve a pardon is after his prison time is over. I could see the merit of a President pardoning him then. A pardon after paying the penalty for his crime could be made in recognition of a career in public service.

Presidents should not have the precedent of using pardon powers to cover up their dirty laundry. If it becomes acceptable for Administration officials to commit crimes, then we lose an important part of America. We take a giant step toward becoming a banana republic.