Occasionally in politics there are clarifying moments, moments when it becomes crystal clear that something very serious is wrong and that our political discourse has become completely unmoored from anything that resembles rational debate. Today was one of those moments.
Scooter Libby was sentenced today to a term of 30 months in prison, a sentence well-within the relevant sentencing guidelines for the felonies of which he was convicted. The ...
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Would that all editorial commentaries were done half so well. The author carefully critiques one of the major defenders of Scooter Libby and presents another side. When juxtaposed this way this makes for very fair comment and good balance. As journalism it rates highly, no matter what your views on the left-right continuum.
It's an opinion piece that analyzes editorials from the nation's leading conservative magazines. It's short on sources, but seems far more factual than what it's challenging.
The story provides most excellent point by point attention to the banal arguments for Scooter being pardoned. The only remaining argument seems to be that as gods, a neo-con cannot be held in chains involuntarily.
Excellent closing argument in support of the sentencing of Scooter Libby; and a fair critique questioning the reasoning of those Republicans calling for his immediate pardon.
The author states a premise in the first paragraph about political discourse being unmoored from rational debate and then spends the remainder of the article proving the premis through his own comments. I fail to see how selective quoting combined with immediate dismissiveness of the source with phrases such as "dishonesty", "cluelessness", "Oh, the humanity" qualifies as good journalism. The author makes some interesting observations about sentencing and the legal process that are helpful. Nonetheless, this is an opinion piece and its biases are clear. It doesn't offer any solid discussion on the arguments for or against a pardon which would have made it a good piece of journalism.
Great scrutiny of Republican demands to pardon a man who lied under oath about telling every reporter he could find about an undercover CIA agent working to prevent the spread of WMD. Quibble: A.L. criticizes "conservatives" when the problem is Republicans. Conservatism is not a bad -- calling yourself a "conservative" "Christian" then going trillions into debt to kill, torture, and falsely imprison a bunch of sometimes innocent people is bad.
The "Big Dog" mentality says that the pick of the litter is the bully, the biggest puppy which can control the food dish. That would not be my pick. Without a legal system that ignores the blather of indignant, whining, losers, civilization would crash down around our ears.
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