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Fitzgerald's Response
Quote:
We fully recognize that the Constitution provides that commutation decisions are a matter of presidential prerogative and we do not comment on the exercise of that prerogative.
We comment only on the statement in which the President termed the sentence imposed by the judge as 'excessive.' The sentence in this case was imposed pursuant to the laws governing sentencings which occur every day throughout this country. In this case, an experienced federal judge considered extensive argument from the parties and then imposed a sentence consistent with the applicable laws. It is fundamental to the rule of law that all citizens stand before the bar of justice as equals. That principle guided the judge during both the trial and the sentencing.
Although the President's decision eliminates Mr. Libby's sentence of imprisonment, Mr. Libby remains convicted by a jury of serious felonies, and we will continue to seek to preserve those convictions through the appeals process.
As Joan Walsh of Salon.com notes, it is next to impossible not to recognize that while Paris Hilton was forced to go to jail--not prison , mind you--for those who remain unclear on the distinction, either visit each in person, or if you are lazy, watch episodes of Mayberry RFD interspersed with OZ--Scooter Libby walks about a free man.
In other words, in this country, you can apparently subvert democracy, use the instrument of state power to tarnish the reputation of public servants who have labored to protect this country from harm, mislead the justice system, the public, the representatives of our government and the credulous members of the administration and our career civil service--felonies --and receive less jail (much less, prison) time than a socialite caught drunk driving .
Really.
Do we indeed "hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [and women, with the Nineteenth Amendment ] are created equal "?