Posted by
Playful Walrus on Wednesday, December 03, 2008 3:07:31 PM
Yes, you read that right. The Los Angeles Times editorial board praises Bush by writing "Unlike [President Bill] Clinton, Bush has been judicious in granting clemency" in an editorial titled "Bush’s Pardons".
And silly me, I thought perhaps the editorial board was being moderate.
Then I read the whole thing. After calling Clinton’s pardon record "atrocious", they go on to write:
Television commentator Lou Dobbs has made household names of Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean, former U.S. Border Patrol agents who were convicted of shooting a fleeing drug smuggler and trying to conceal their actions. There also is speculation that Bush might issue a blanket pardon for CIA agents who could face criminal charges for engaging in or approving the torture of suspected terrorists.
The Constitution gives the president absolute discretion in granting clemency, but misuse of the power can taint his or her legacy.
Later in the piece, they write:
If Bush wants to spare himself the obloquy rightly visited on Clinton, he will say no to any pardon based on... populist propaganda (the two border guards)... The pardon power also shouldn't be used to indemnify lawbreaking in the cause of the president's policies. That rules out a group pardon for CIA interrogators, who already enjoy significant protection from prosecution under an act of Congress.
The implication is that Bush shouldn’t pardon Ramos and Compean, nor others who have worked to save us from terrorists despite ungrateful ninnies whining about it.
But the editorial board's folly is made complete only with what comes later:
We don't suggest that Bush should spurn every high-profile request for clemency. As we have argued before, John Walker Lindh should be given a commutation of his 20-year sentence for aiding the Taliban, a dramatically disproportionate penalty for a young man who never took up arms against the United States and was wrongly described by his government as an Al Qaeda-trained terrorist.
See? Bush should pardon more people - like traitorous American terrorists - but not those who have worked to protect us from terrorists.
Pardon you, editorial board.
At least they don't give Clinton a pass; so many on the Left bash Republicans for doing things or warn them not to do things that some Democrats do - without criticizing those Democrats. Of course, it is easy for the paper to criticize Clinton now that it doesn't matter.