"Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others"

To borrow a line from George Orwell’s ‘1984’, “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others”.

This was proved yesterday by United States President George W. Bush who ‘commuted’ the prison time for White House staffer Lewis ‘Scooter’ Libby. Libby is now a criminal convicted, a felon who, were he anyone else, would receive the full penalty for lying to Federal investigators and obstruction of justice.

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 . . .

Nonetheless, Bush overruled the judge and the jury in the case, saying Libby’s sentence was ‘excessive’ and commuted any active prison time.

George W. Bush is the same president who:

• Sneered when Pope John Paul pleaded with him to spare the life of the Karla Faye Tucker and mocked the poor woman by pursing his lips and whimpering ‘please don’t kill me’;

• Oversaw the execution of 152 prisoners while governor of Texas - far more than any other governor in history. In 1/3 of those death penalty cases, the defendant’s attorney was later disbarred or otherwise sanctioned. Bush earned the title of ‘Most killing governor in US history’;

• Put to death the mentally ill and an extremely high proportion of black and Mexican-American prisoners;

• While Texas governor, vetoed a bill passed by the legislature that would have allowed Texas counties to set up limited public defender programs for the poor;

• As governor Bush was proud of eliminating parole for criminals, saying “My appointees to the board of pardons and paroles reflect my no-nonsense approach to crime and punishment. They believe people who commit crimes against innocent Texans should pay the consequences; they believe sentences imposed by juries should be carried out. The Texas prison system had become a revolving door earlier in the 1990s, when the prison population had far exceeded the capacity of the system. I am proud that Texas today has virtually eliminated parole for violent criminals.”

• Proudly and sanctimoniously calls himself a ‘compassionate conservative’.

Bush’s action in Libby’s case is a clear demonstration of conflict of interest. Widely suspected is that Bush is covering up for Richard Cheney and himself in their own criminal complicity in the Valarie Plame case. Given this administration's record for lying, deceit and dissemination, that concept is very plausible.

Yes, with Bush, some animals are definitely more equal than others. This man belongs in jail and not running the United States of America. While we’re at it, let’s jail some of his co-conspirators too: