Bush Spares Libby 30-Month Jail Term

President Bush spared I. Lewis Libby Jr. from prison Monday, commuting his two-and-a-half-year sentence while leaving intact his conviction for perjury and obstruction of justice in the C.I.A. leak case.

There is not much to say about this. This is just one more example of this administration having no respect for anything other than its own power. They have no principles, and they have failed again and again and again to run a responsible government. I don't feel any real need to provide examples. If you need examples, you haven't been paying attention.

So, I will go from there to point out something curious about this news article.

The president’s decision means that Mr. Libby, 56, no longer faces the prospect of leaving his wife and two children, in what probably would have been a matter of weeks, to report to prison.

[...]

But [Bush] said: “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.”

Two references to this criminal's family, one by the reporters, and one quote from the president. Raises the obvious question: How many other news articles make a point of mentioning a criminal's family? If I read an article about the latest bank robbery, will there be a mention of the robber's family? And if not, why does the criminal Libby deserve such attention in the eyes of these reporters? Seems to me that the reporters have been sipping at the right wing Kool Aid a bit.

Well, it is summer after all, and Kool Aid can be so refereshing!