The Rocket

Issue date: 3/9/07 Section: Opinion

Scooter Libby is guilty. I always figured that he was guilty, but now, in a court of law, Libby has been found guilty for a host of statements, including lying to the FBI. Vice President Dick Cheney's top aid, a man who was in charge of very sensitive information, a man who was close to the Vice President, has lied about leaking the name of a CIA agent.

Libby claimed that he heard about Valerie Plame's identity from a chain of reporters. This strikes me as odd, because Libby was pretty high up in terms of political connections.

But where were Libby's connections when he was indicted? I didn't see Cheney coming to defend him against the mean, nasty criminal justice system. If Libby was so innocent and had heard it from reporters, why wouldn't Cheney defend a former aid against these slanderous charges?

It's because Cheney knew full well that Libby was lying, covering up the fact that the leak came from inside the White House, not from Tim Russert or any other members of the media.

Anytime someone lies under oath, it's a serious matter. When it concerns our national security and the legitimacy of our government, it turns into a scandal.

Libby is the highest-ranking government official to be convicted of a felony since the Iran-Contra scandal. However, we must keep in mind that George W. Bush's father, George H.W. Bush, pardoned former Defense Secretary, Caspar Weinberger, for his role in this arms (to Iran)-for-hostages scandal.

As they say, like father, like son.

Libby faces a maximum of 25 years in prison for being convicted of lying to the FBI. Now, chances are that Libby will face up to three years in a prison, because he is a first time offender, but three years in a federal prison is a long time for anyone.

Libby, if presented the option of reducing his prison sentence by calling out those who leaked the information, is going to start singing like a canary. Bush is now presented with a problem. He can either pardon Libby, thereby risking even more public scorn (but honestly, how much lower can he fall?), or risks proving to the American people that Cheney is not the nice old man down the street that everyone thinks he is.

While I think that pardoning Libby of his felonies would be unacceptable, I think that it might actually help out the Democratic Party.

With Bush's approval rating at an abysmal 30 percent, Democrats know that the American people are unhappy with his leadership. While he cannot run for office again, it effectively smears the Republican image for people that may have forgotten about the Iran-Contra scandal, or even Watergate. If Democrats can milk the Libby scandal for all that it's worth, and maybe even get a solid candidate to run for president this time around, they have a legitimate shot at putting a Democrat in the White House in '08.

Whether it's the "Hildabeast" or "Obambi", the Democrats have to find a way to run an effective campaign this time around, and the Scooter Libby scandal may just be a stepping-stone on the way to the White House.

Lisbeth Wells-Pratt is a freshman undeclared major and a regular contributor to The Rocket.

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