VIDEO--Even After North Korea Frees Americans, Bolton Says Clinton Trip Was Mistake

By GottaLaff



Black is white, up is down, smart is stupid, Rushpublics are sane:

On CNN this afternoon, nonproliferation expert and Ploughshares Fund president Joe Cirincione explained why Clinton’s trip is not rewarding bad behavior:

CIRINCIONE: The Obama administration seems to have played North Korea just about right — largely ignoring them for the first eight months, not rewarding their bad behavior, not reacting to their provocative statements or actions and now after about two months of relatively quiet, moderate North Korean behavior and the involvement of China…you now send in a real power player to hopefully negotiate the release of the journalists…and help reset U.S.-North Korean relations, refreezing that nuclear program and if things work out we could see the beginning again of the dismantlement of that nuclear program.

VIDEO ADDED-- BREAKING: U.S. Journalists held in N. Korea pardoned

By GottaLaff

Please note: Blog title changed to reflect video added (apologies for MoJo exposure):

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

CNN is reporting that the two journalists have been given a special pardon from L'il Kim himself. I'll find the link.

Seems L'il Kim wanted to save face, and by pardoning them, he wasn't admitting much, meaning, wouldn't say they were innocent of charges. Former Clinton likely worked a deal in advance of the trip, CNN is saying, because this couldn't have happened so quickly otherwise.

We don't know when they will be released, what their condition is, or where they've been.

UPDATE: Here's the link.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korean media say leader Kim Jong Il has pardoned two American journalists and ordered their release during the visit of former U.S. President Bill Clinton.

Cheney Pressed for Libby Pardon

I'm going to bet that Bush doesn't have any post-presidential hunting forays planned with Cheney.

Noting a sharp disagreement with his former boss, former Vice President Dick Cheney told the Weekly Standard that his former chief of staff, Scooter Libby, deserved a presidential pardon.

Said Cheney: "Scooter Libby is one of the most capable and honorable men I've ever known. He's been an outstanding public servant throughout his career. He was the victim of a serious miscarriage of justice, and I strongly believe that he deserved a presidential pardon. Obviously, I disagree with President Bush's decision."

In addition to this issue, Cheney said he disagreed with Bush just four other times: On a gay marriage ban; on firing Donald Rumsfeld; on Washington, D.C.'s gun ban; and on North Korea.

No more pardons

By GottaLaff

MSNBC is reporting no more pardons are expected from soon-to-be-EX-President [sic] Bush.

If this is accurate, then the door has just been opened for (hopefully) future investigations to result in possible prison time. Am I right, legal minds out there?

UPDATE:

Bush commutes Border Patrol agents' sentences

President Bush, in his last full day in the White House, commuted the sentences of Border Patrol agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Compean, who are in prison for shooting an unarmed Mexican drug smuggler.

The case of Ramos and Compean was initially a cause célèbre for conservatives who favor tight border security. However, other lawmakers have picked up their cause and applied pressure on the Bush administration to pardon them or at least commute the 11- and 12-year prison sentences.

VIDEO-- Dana Perino: "Talk to the hand" when it comes to pardons

By GottaLaff


::Will you just leave us alone? Just as what our government e-mails might reveal, who we extraordinary rendition, who we waterboard, whose lives we destroy for any given reason, what our reasons are for bombing sovereign countries who've never attacked us, whether or not we throw the country into economic chaos, which covert agents we decide to out, who we torture, which species we endanger, how many times we illegally eavesdrop, who we meet with to make policy, and who we publicly smear are none of your damn business, neither is who we decide to pardon.::

In that case, Dana, allow me to break from protocol and get all transparent on you: Suck it*, BushCo.

Via Think Progress:

Last month, Perino insisted that the White House would follow the Department of Justice guidelines for issuing pardons. However, the administration broke with protocol in pardoning predatory mortgage lender Issac Toussie — forcing Bush to revoke the pardon just weeks later.

*H/t: Tina Fey

The Bush pardons: On Donor, on Blitzen! edition

By GottaLaff

In another post, I listed the most recent Bush pardonees. Now RealityChex clarifies:

Surprise! Not all of Bush's pardons were acts of altruism. The New York Daily News zeroes in on the pardon of one Isaac Toussie, an infamous real estate developer who scammed hundreds of minority homebuyers. Why pardon Toussie? His father gave $28,500 to the Republican party in April.

He's all heart, that Georgie.

Bush Grants 19 New Pardons

By GottaLaff

I'll give the Idiot in Chief this much: He pardoned a man who helped the Jewish resistance in the 1940s, Charles Winters, who is considered a hero in Israel. Here's the list:

--William Alvis III, of Flushing, Ohio. Possession of an unregistered firearm and cocaine distribution.

--John Allen Aregood of Riviera, Texas. Conspiracy to harbor and transport illegal aliens.

--Eric Charles Blanke of Parker, Colo. Counterfeiting.

--Steve Doyle Cavender of The Villages, Fla. Conspiring to import, possess, distribute and dispense marijuana.

--Marie Elena Eppens of Lynden, Wash. Conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute marijuana.

--Lydia Lee Ferguson of Sun City, Ariz. Conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute marijuana.

--Eduviges Duvi Gonzalez-Matsumura of Clovis, Calif. Aiding and abetting embezzlement of bank funds.

--George Clarence Greene Jr. of Gray, Ga. Mail fraud.

--James Won Hee Kang of South Barrington, Ill. Trafficking in counterfeit goods.

--Alan Stephen Maiss of Reno, Nev.

--Richard Harold Miller of Tallahassee, Fla. Conspiracy to defraud the United States.

--Delano Abraham Nixon of Neosho Rapids, Kan. Forging the endorsement on a U.S. Treasury check.

--John H. Overholt of Black Hawk, S.D. Concealment of information affecting Social Security benefits.

--Morris Keith Parker of Georgetown, S.C.

--Robert Truman Reece of Redondo Beach, Calif.

--Donald Edward Roessler of Harrison, Ohio. Embezzlement of mail matter.

--Issac Robert Toussie of Brooklyn, N.Y. False statements to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and mail fraud.

--David Lane Woolsey of St. George, Utah. Aiding and abetting violation of the Archaeological Resources Protection Act.

Bush also commuted the prison sentence of Reed Raymond Prior of Des Moines, Iowa.

Prior was convicted of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. He was sentenced in 1996 in the Southern District of Iowa to life in prison with 10 years of supervised release. His prison sentence is now set to expire on Feb. 23, 2009, but the terms of the commutation leave intact and in effect the 10 years of supervised release with all its conditions.

In Thanksgiving Tradition, Bush Pardons Scooter Libby In Giant Turkey Costume

In Thanksgiving Tradition, Bush Pardons Scooter Libby In Giant Turkey Costume

Don't think they wouldn't do it.

Just warming up? Bush pardons 14 and commutes 2 prison sentences

By GottaLaff

Mystery solved. I'd seen a chyron with the pardon headline, but it disappeared. I looked around and must have overlooked what JoeInGeneva found for me. I beg your pardon:

President George W. Bush has granted pardons to 14 individuals and commuted the prison sentences of two others, The Associated Press learned Monday. The new round of White House pardons are Bush's first since March and come less than two months before he will end his presidency. The crimes committed by those on the list include drug offenses, income tax evasion, bank embezzlement and violation of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

Bush has been stingy during his time in office about handing out such reprieves.

Including these actions, he has granted a total of 171 and eight commutations. That's less than half as many as Presidents Clinton or Reagan issued during their time in office. Both were two-term presidents.

Go here for the list.

VIDEO: Blanket pardons would be 'final nail in Bush's coffin'

By GottaLaff

In keeping with my earlier post about the corrupt Bush administration, here are Rachel and Jonathan Turley discussing the mistake the Bush administration made in not knowing the deadline to slip through last minute regulations, and whether Bush will try to give blanket pardons at the end of his term: