memeorandum: Generals: Army Focusing Too Much on Fighting Insurgents (Noah Shachtman/Danger Room)

7:55 PM ET, July 2, 2007

Top Items:

From the White House — The United States Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit today rejected Lewis Libby's request to remain free on bail while pursuing his appeals for the serious convictions of perjury and obstruction of justice. As a result, Mr. Libby will be required to turn himself …

Discussion: Firedoglake, DownWithTyranny!, Macsmind, GINA COBB and The Agitator

CNN:

Scooter skates — WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush commuted Monday the prison term of former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, facing 30 months in prison after a federal court convicted him of perjury, obstruction of justice and lying to investigators.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, The Newshoggers, Brilliant at Breakfast, The Anonymous Liberal, Political Insider, Rook's Rant, The Reaction and WorkingForChange

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

BREAKING: Libby Motion For Release On Bond Pending Appeal — DENIED — Breaking news from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals, in an opinion issued just moments ago, Judges Sentelle, Henderson and Tatel say the following: … It it a per curiam opinion issued on July 2, 2007, and initialled by all three of the judges.

Discussion: The Next Hurrah, TalkLeft, The Gun Toting Liberal™, The Anonymous Liberal, Wonkette, The Sideshow, Taylor Marsh, The Mahablog, Right Wing News, The Garlic, Democrats.com and Riehl World View

Paul Kiel / TPMmuckraker:

Bush Commutes Libby Sentence — Breaking, from the AP: "President Bush commutes the prison sentence for former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby." — Update: The president has reduced Libby's original sentence of thirty months of prison, two years of probation …

Discussion: The Poor Man Institute, Campaign for America's Future, Needlenose, Daily Kos and KnoxViews

Nico / Think Progress:

BREAKING: Bush Commutes Libby Sentence — President Bush has spared Scooter Libby from a 2½-year prison term, issuing an order that commutes his sentence, the AP reports. Libby will never have to go to jail, but his felony conviction will stand, and he will still serve two years probation and owe $250,000 in fines.

Discussion: Salon and NO QUARTER

CNN Political Ticker:

Appeals court rejects Libby's bid for bail — WASHINGTON (CNN) — A federal appeals court Monday rejected former White House aide Lewis "Scooter" Libby's request to remain free on bond while appealing his March conviction on perjury and obstruction of justice charges.

Discussion: Captain's Quarters, Outside The Beltway, The Reaction and Shakesville

George W. Bush / White House:

Grant of Executive Clemency — A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America — WHEREAS Lewis Libby was convicted in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in the case United States v. Libby, Crim. No. 05-394 (RBW), for which a sentence …

Discussion: Outside The Beltway, About U.S. Politics and Blogs of War

Edwin Chen / Bloomberg:

Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Term in CIA Leak Case — July 2 (Bloomberg) — President George W. Bush commuted Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby's 2 1/2-year prison sentence in the CIA leak case, sparing him from punishment the president called ``excessive.'' — Bush acted after a U.S. appellate …

Discussion: All Spin Zone and WILLisms.com

Cary O'Reilly / Bloomberg:

Libby, Ex-Cheney Aide, Must Go to Jail During Appeal — Lewis ``Scooter'' Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, must go to prison while appealing his conviction for obstructing a CIA leak probe, a U.S. appeals court said. — Libby may be behind bars within weeks …

Discussion: The Carpetbagger Report

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:

BREAKING: MSNBC Reports Bush Commutes Libby's Sentence — President Bush, once again throwing the rule of law out in the trash to cater to his rabid base, has commuted Scooter Libby's prison sentence. Both MSNBC and CNN are reporting this. — As Jeff Toobin just said on CNN …

Discussion: Power Line, New York Times, Political Radar and MyDD

Sheryl Gay Stolberg / New York Times: Bush Commutes Libby's Prison Sentence

Amy Goldstein / Washington Post:
President Bush Commutes Libby's Sentence

Discussion: Redstate, Obsidian Wings, The Garlic, Abovethelaw.com, From the Desk … and BeldarBlog

Reuters:
Appeals court won't delay Libby prison term

Discussion: Salon and Grasping Reality …

Emptywheel / The Next Hurrah:
George Bush Obstructs Justice

Discussion: Firedoglake, Crooks and Liars, CANNONFIRE, Hullabaloo and Democrats.com

CNN Political Ticker:
Bush commutes Libby sentence

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard

Christy Hardin Smith / Firedoglake:
Trial Balloon For Libby Pardon Falls Flat...Again

Discussion: Think Progress, Crooks and Liars and NPR

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
LIBBY LOSES ANOTHER APPEAL....If Scooter Libby is counting …

Discussion: The Debate Link and The Moderate Voice

CNN: Libby commutation: Washington responds

ABCNEWS:

McCain Shakes Up Campaign — McCain, Trailing in Fundraising and Polls, Shakes Up 2008 Presidential Campaign — John McCain's campaign, trailing top Republican rivals in money and polls, is undergoing a significant reorganization with staff cuts in every department, officials with knowledge of the shake-up said Monday.

Discussion: Associated Press, The Politico, Reason Magazine, Sister Toldjah, The Democratic Daily, The American Mind, PoliPundit.com and Outside The Beltway

Ryan Sager / Latest Politics:
McCain Watch: Watch This Space

Discussion: Reason Magazine and Townhall.com

Hassan Butt / Daily Mail:

I was a fanatic...I know their thinking, says former radical Islamist — When I was still a member of what is probably best termed the British Jihadi Network - a series of British Muslim terrorist groups linked by a single ideology - I remember how we used to laugh in celebration whenever people …

Discussion: The Jawa Report, QandO, WorldNetDaily, Clayton Cramer's BLOG and Right Wing News

Opinion Journal:
Jihad in Britain — The terrorists don't seem to care that Tony Blair is gone.

Discussion: Blue Crab Boulevard, The Radio Equalizer and GINA COBB

Christopher Hitchens / Slate:
THE LONDON CAR-BOMB PLOT WAS DESIGNED TO KILL WOMEN.

Discussion: Hot Air, Shakesville, Commentary and Power Line

Bernhard / Moon of Alabama:

Gordon's Source on Iran — (updated below) — Michael Gordon (NYT co-writer of Judith Miller) has another hate-Iran piece in today's NYT: U.S. Ties Iranians to Iraq Attack That Killed G.I.'s … Glenn Greenwald points out that Gordon's only source for this piece is a "military spokesman" Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner.

Discussion: Firedoglake and Hullabaloo

Glenn Greenwald / Salon:
Michael Gordon trains his stenographer weapons on Iran

Discussion: The Newshoggers, Multi-National Force, Crooks and Liars, Unqualified Offerings, The Democratic Daily and TalkLeft

Michael R. Gordon / New York Times:
U.S. Ties Iranians to Iraq Attack That Killed G.I.'s

Discussion: QandO, CNN, The Strata-Sphere, Commentary, Donklephant, Gateway Pundit, Daily Kos, Hot Air, Prairie Weather and The American Street

Andrew Sullivan / The Atlantic Online:

Staying Calm and Carrying On — The worrying aspect of the British terror-rash is that it's obviously an amateur effort, inspired rather than organized by al Qaeda. This means we are likely to face more of these things, but that most of them are not going to be massively successful.

Discussion: The Reaction

Steve Benen / Washington Monthly:
ALMOST LAUGHABLE....There's been ample discussion about the …

Discussion: The Newshoggers and The Carpetbagger Report

Speaker Pelosi / The Gavel:

A Betrayal of Trust of the American People — The President's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison sentence does not serve justice, condones criminal conduct, and is a betrayal of trust of the American people. — The President said he would hold accountable anyone involved in the Valerie Plame leak case.

Discussion: Roger Ailes and Sisyphus Shrugged