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Matt Apuzzo / Associated Press:
White House won't rule out Libby pardon — WASHINGTON - 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.
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Amanda / Think Progress:
Snow: Bush's Commutation Of Libby's Sentence Was 'Routine' — During the White House press briefing this morning, spokesman Tony Snow characterized President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's prison term as "routine." — "The president spent weeks and weeks consulting with senior members …
Guardian:
Just another obstruction of justice — There are lots of unanswered questions surrounding the Valerie Plame saga, but Scooter Libby's commutation ensures they won't be answered. — On June 9, 2003, just one day after his national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, got beaten …
Discussion:
Firedoglake, Hullabaloo, Angry Bear, DownWithTyranny!, Left in the West, The Next Hurrah and TPMmuckraker
Atrios / Eschaton:
Rich — Inevitably, the subject of Marc Rich comes up every time presidential pardons come up. Without going into all of the issues, can we just remind the world that... Marc Rich's lawyer was Scooter Libby.
Editor and Publisher:
Editorials Hit Libby's Get-Out-of-Jail-Free Card — NEW YORK The bloggers, politicians, and TV pundits weighed in quickly Monday after President Bush took the surprisingly sudden step of commuting Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 30-month prison sentence for perjury and obstruction of justice in the CIA leak case.
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San Francisco Chronicle, Think Progress, Denver Post, News Corpse and The Democratic Daily
Opinion Journal:
Bush and Libby — The commutation is a profile in non-courage. — President Bush's commutation late yesterday afternoon of the prison sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby will at least spare his former aide from 2 1/2 years in prison. But by failing to issue a full pardon …
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Robert D. Novak / Chicago Sun Times:
Only Libby smiling today — WASHINGTON — President Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence pleased but did not fully satisfy restive conservatives, while enraging his liberal critics. Libby himself can breathe a sigh of relief that he does not have to serve prison time, but hardly anybody else is all that happy.
Digby / Hullabaloo:
Bully For Him — Tim Noah says Bush did the right thing.
Bully For Him — Tim Noah says Bush did the right thing.
Discussion:
Slate, Crooks and Liars, Firedoglake, A Chequer-Board of Nights …, The Anonymous Liberal, Norwegianity and The Next Hurrah
Washington Post:
Too Much Mercy — IN COMMUTING I. Lewis Libby's prison sentence …
Too Much Mercy — IN COMMUTING I. Lewis Libby's prison sentence …
Discussion:
JustOneMinute, Arizona Republic, Is That Legal?, The Atlantic Online, Sacramento Bee, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Chicago Tribune, Rocky Mountain News, Financial Times, Mercury News, NY Daily News, Los Angeles Times, Power Line, Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiler, Don Surber, Sadly, No!, The Politico, Daily Kos, The Heretik and Connecting.the.Dots
Rasmussen Reports:
Romney Holds Nine-Point Lead in New Hampshire — Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney has the lead in the first Rasmussen Reports poll of New Hampshire's Republican Presidential Primary. Romney currently attracts support from 26% of Likely Primary Voters, nine points more than his nearest competitor.
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Macer Hall / Daily Express:
BROWN: DON'T SAY TERRORISTS ARE MUSLIMS — Gordon Brown has banned ministers from using the word "Muslim" in connection with the terrorism crisis. — The Prime Minister has also instructed his team - including new Home Secretary Jacqui Smith - that the phrase "war on terror" is to be dropped.
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White House:
Remarks by the President to the Travel Pool After Visiting with Wounded Military Personnel — AFTER VISITING WITH WOUNDED MILITARY PERSONNEL — Washington, D.C. — THE PRESIDENT: Thank you very much. General, thank you very much for your hospitality.
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CBS News:
Al Qaeda In Iraq Behind U.K. Bomb Plot? — Sources Tell CBS News Suspects Recruited By Leader Of Terror Group's Iraq Branch — (CBS/AP) British intelligence services increasingly believe that the failed car bombings in London and Glasgow bare the fingerprints of al Qaeda in Iraq, CBS News has learned.
New York Times:
Short on Money, McCain Campaign Dismisses Dozens — The presidential campaign of Senator John McCain, the Arizona Republican who once seemed poised to be his party's nominee in 2008, acknowledged yesterday that it was in a political and financial crisis as a drop in fund-raising forced …
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Washington Post, Arizona Republic, The Politico, MSNBC, Associated Press, CNN Political Ticker and Air America Radio
New York Times:
U.S. Says Iran Helped Iraqis Kill Five G.I.'s — Agents of Iran helped plan a January raid in Shiite holy city of Karbala in Iraq in which five American soldiers were killed by Islamic militants, an American military spokesman said Monday. The charge was the most specific allegation …
Amanda / Think Progress:
Rep. Hunter: Ann Coulter Is 'Approaching That Level Of Being A Great American' — Yesterday on MSNBC's Hardball, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA) defended Ann Coulter's attacks on John Edwards, including that she wishes he "had been killed in a terrorist assassination plot."
Discussion:
DownWithTyranny!
Bob Owens / Pajamas Media:
DECAPITATING THE TRUTH — When the major wire services ran stories claiming that 20 headless bodies had been found in a village southeast of Baghdad, with sources that looked dubious, Confederate Yankee blogger Bob Owens didn't just sit back and complain. He got on the case and started asking questions.
E. J. Dionne Jr / Washington Post:
Mistrust Puts Up A Wall — The United States is a cranky nation in a crabby mood. To relieve our distemper, we need the leadership we're now lacking and a citizenry with greater hope in its democratic capacities. — The defeat last week of the immigration bill is the most obvious manifestation …