Bush Spares Libby from 2 1/2-year Prison Term

Bush did the right thing in rewarding a good soldier. After all, he was just following orders. But you have maintain the pretense that Libby was somehow acting on his own. So they didn't give him a full pardon, which would've raised some eye brows:

President Bush spared former White House aide I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby from a 2½-year prison term in the CIA leak investigation Monday, delivering a political thunderbolt in the highly charged criminal case. Bush said the sentence was just too harsh.

Bush, nevertheless, found a way to disappoint or upset just about everyone. Poor fella, he can't seem to win no matter what he does:

Bush’s decision enraged Democrats and cheered conservatives — though some of the latter wished Bush had granted a full pardon.

“Libby’s conviction was the one faint glimmer of accountability for White House efforts to manipulate intelligence and silence critics of the Iraq war,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. “Now, even that small bit of justice has been undone.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said Bush’s decision showed the president “condones criminal conduct.”