Little did I dream you could be so reckless and so cruel . . . . If it were in my power to forgive you for your reckless cruelty, I would do so . . . but your forgiveness will have to come from someone other than me. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?*
-Joseph Welch 9 June 1954
Army-McCarthy Hearings
Washington D.C.

There is something to be said for consistency, especially when it comes to the law. You’ll remember that Lady Justice is blindfolded: symbolising everyone’s equality under the law. Yes, she has those scales to complete the image of equality; but in her other hand she has that awesome sword. Lest we forget that not only is justice is blind, she’s also swift with that sword for miscreants who tread on her hem.

So, Americans live under the ‘rule of law.’ This was considered superior to the ‘rule of man’ by the framers of the Constitution. They were looking not so much at the chaos of a Hobbesian universe, as they were looking at the monarchical option. They wanted a way away from a mercurial monarch and toward the regularity and constancy of the Law.

All right, enough ancient history, let’s examine the recent past. When Bill Clinton was impeached (read: indicted). The conservatives said that it was for his perjury in front of a grand jury. They assured anyone who inquired that it was not, repeat not, for that salacious affair he had with the young woman with the thong. Of course, they did dwell on all of the gory details from the dress to the taped phone calls. Ah, those were the days.

Lap/dissolve to a few days ago: Lewis “Scooter” Libby, aide de camp to Vice President Dick Cheney, was convicted of perjury to a grand jury. True, he was found ‘not guilty’ of one charge of lying to the FBI, but he was convicted on 3 counts of perjury and 1 count of obstruction of justice.

Now if I were a lawyer, at this point I would point out that Mr. Libby was indicted and convicted. Mr. Clinton was indicted and not convicted. But, I’m not a lawyer; so let’s move on.

Simultaneously with the announcement of the Libby conviction, the legions of right-wing flacks came out of the woodwork to demand that George Bush pardon Scooter Libby. A pardon, of course, requires the offender to admit guilt before he/she can be pardoned. Innocent people are not pardoned, they don’t need to be. It really is that simple. Gerald Ford, God bless him, knew that. He was a Yale Law School grad after all. Until the day he died he insisted that his pardon of Richard Nixon was premised on Nixon accepting his guilt. Those of us with long memories will also remember that when Nixon’s V.P., Spiro Agnew, pled ‘nolo contendre,’ he insisted that he hadn’t pled ‘guilty,’ he had only pled ‘nolo.’ Pleading ‘nolo’ means “I’m not contesting the charges against me (i.e. yes, I’m guilty).

From watching these right-wingers and reading their bleatings, I get the feeling that they don’t understand this point of the law. Mr. Libby would have to admit his guilt in order to be pardoned. I suspect that Mr. Libby will not want to do this. It will be interesting to see how it all unfolds. But, the protestations from the Right did bring to mind the retort of Joseph Welch to Senator Joe McCarthy during the Army-McCarthy Hearings, “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?” The right-wing has abandoned any consistency, and belief in the rule of law, any decency in order to support a man who has been convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice (Dems, you’ll remember said of Bill that what he did was reprehensible; but it didn’t rise to level of a ‘high crime.’ Most Dems didn’t try to whitewash what Bubba did. And, when you look at what this Administration has done to the Constitution and Bill of Rights; they make even Nixon look like a piker).

But, put on your safety belts, it looks as if 2007 is going to be a bumpy ride. In addition to finding out how the Veep manipulated the smear machine against Joe Wilson (his wife was just collateral damage), we’ll have more on the mismanagement of both the war and the re-building of Iraq, and then we’ll have the treatment of veterans by the DOD and the VA. Then, there’s the politicising of the Justice department. We mustn’t forget the corruption and kick-backs. It goes on and on. Yes, it’s going to be a very busy year; and to top it all off there’s our quadrennial follies: the Presidential election.

Does it get any better than this? We can only hope so.

Please give what you can to Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders).

And, of course

*Here is more of the quote with a video:
Little did I dream you could be so reckless and so cruel as to do an injury to that lad. It is, I regret to say, equally true that I fear he shall always bear a scar needlessly inflicted by you. If it were in my power to forgive you for your reckless cruelty, I would do so. I like to think I’m a gentle man, but your forgiveness will have to come from someone other than me.

You’ve done enough. Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?