Glenn Greenwald on "Our broken political discourse":
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/07/10/libby/index.htmlWashington Post National Political Reporter Shailagh Murray opined on Monday:
Washington: What can possibly be gained by congressional hearings into the Libby commutation? Clearly Bush had the authority to do this, and he did it. Q.E.D. I'm old enough to remember when President Ford appeared before a congressional committee to explain his pardon of Richard Nixon. But Bush is no Ford, and unlike the Ford pardon, I don't think this action is going to look better over time.
Shailagh Murray: YAAWWN. That's my view of the Libby flap. What on earth did people expect Bush to do?YAAWWN. What could possibly be more boring or irrelevant than the President of the United States protecting one of his most powerful aides, now a convicted felon, from going to prison, thereby ensuring that that aide has no incentive to disclose what he knows? Can we get back to what really matters to Americans, like John Edwards' haircut and probing investigations of his stylist?
From the latest USA Today/Gallup Poll:
5. From what you have heard or read, do you think President Bush was right to commute Libby's sentence, do you think he should have gone further and granted him a full pardon, or do you think he should not have intervened at all on Libby's behalf?
Right to commute sentence - 13%
Should have granted full pardon - 6%
Should not have intervened at all - 66%
No opinion - 15%
As usual, the true "fringe" in our country are Bush followers and their establishment media allies.