Quotes of the Morning: Screws Fall Out

“I respect the jury’s verdict. But I have concluded that the prison sentence given to Mr. Libby is excessive. Therefore, I am commuting the portion of Mr. Libby’s sentence that required him to spend thirty months in prison.
My decision to commute his prison sentence leaves in place a harsh punishment for Mr. Libby. The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely. He will remain on probation. The significant fines imposed by the judge will remain in effect. The consequences of his felony conviction on his former life as a lawyer, public servant, and private citizen will be long-lasting.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, July 2, 2007

“He respects the verdict. That means that he thinks that Scooter is guilty, but that he didn’t deserve jail time for withholding evidence and lying to Congress in obstructing a federal investigation of the outing of an undercover CIA operative.
Sure, he has no problem with Scooter not doing any time for that, but we should give him credit… At least he agrees that Scooter is guilty.”
-Skippy

“The White House on Tuesday declined to rule out the possibility of an eventual pardon for former vice presidential aide I. Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby. But spokesman Tony Snow said, for now, President Bush is satisfied with his decision to commute Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence.”
-Associated Press, July 3, 2007

“Hey.. Here’s a little-known factoid for you. If Scooter had been pardoned he would not be able to incriminate himself further in the Plame investigation, since the pardon would mean that he could not be found guilty of a crime in that regard. In other words, if he had received a pardon he could not take the Fifth in any further investigations.
Anyone want to bet when he receives that pardon? I’m betting about an hour before Fearless Leader leaves office.
Somehow it seems that someone in the White House should be apologizing for some of this stuff..”
-Skippy

“Q Tony, I want to go back to the issue of an apology, and I want to stay issue-focused and not blaming. Are there -- is the American people owed some kind of apology from someone in this administration for the leaking of a CIA person's name, personnel's name?
MR. SNOW: Yes, it's improper to be leaking those names.
Q You say it's improper, so you're saying someone in this administration owes the American public an apology?
MR. SNOW: I'll apologize. All done.
Q No, it's not. That's flippant, that's a very flippant way of doing something very serious -- it was a very serious matter. That was very flippant.
MR. SNOW: Well, no, I think in some ways the characterization -- because there are so many complex issues involved in this, including the provenance of it, and furthermore, the fact that in the Washington culture things get leaked all the time. And I'm not aware --
Q Does that make it right?
MR. SNOW: How many of you have apologized for a controversial name appearing under tough circumstances in a news story? I daresay the answer is zero.
-Press Gaggle with White House Spokesman Tony Snow, July 3, 2007

“Well… At least we received the apology. See? Tony apologized, but really, isn’t the breaking of federal law and outing an undercover CIA operative investigating nuclear proliferation just like mentioning a controversial name in the news? I mean except for the part about it being a matter of violating national security and breaking a law under the federal statutes. Other than that.”
-Skippy

“Screws fall out all the time. The world is an imperfect place.”
-John Bender, The Breakfast Club

“And finally.. A question regarding Vice-Leader Dick.”
-Skippy

“Q Is Cheney a member of the executive branch?
PRESIDENT BUSH: I didn't hear you.”
-Questions and Answers with George ‘Dubya’ Bush, July 2, 2007

“Seriously.. That is where the question and answer session ended. He apparently suddenly went deaf and that was the end of the meeting.”
-Skippy