It depends on what the meaning of ‘equal justice’ is

July 5, 2007

Sometimes, these guys take all the fun out of it by making it too easy. From today’s White House press briefing, with fourth-string spokesperson Scott Stenzel:

Q: Scott, is Scooter Libby getting more than equal justice under the law? Is he getting special treatment?

STANZEL: Well, I guess I don’t know what you mean by “equal justice under the law.”

Oddly enough, Stanzel’s probably right; he and his colleagues don’t know what people mean by “equal justice under the law.” He is, however, supposed to pretend.

Some animals are more equal than others…

  • Shades of “separate but equal”, eh?

    They still can’t even get their story straight about whether they think Scooter even did anything wrong, so how could they possibly know if his case was equal to someone else’s?

    Dick “fourth branch” Cheney has another system of law stashed away in an undisclosed location, and we don’t get to know about it because if we did that would cause the terrorists to come here and kill our kids. He officially informed the congress about it by telling Patrick Leahy to go fuck himself.

  • All joking aside, Stanzel made two arguments to prove that Bush was not acting politically:

    (1) Bush went against the will of the majority by commuting Scooter’s sentence.

    (2) Bush went against conservatives by not granting Scooter a pardon.

    What is left? After thinking about Scooter for weeks and failing to consult with DoJ about what would be legal, Bush chose to do the minimum that keeps Scooter quiet about the roles of the WH and OVP in revealing the identity of Valerie Plame. How is that, you ask? By giving Scooter half his loaf, (a) Scooter remains dependent on ‘his friends’ for funds to cover his legal expenses and fine (and future livelihood), (b) Scooter must continue to run the appeals clock, (c) Scooter has to stay in line if he wants that Jan. 19th pardon, and (c) the WH still cannot comment on ‘ongoing litigation’.

    Very impressive.

    Let’s hope that reporters connect the dots before the end of this Administration and ask the obvious question, “Did the President realize that his action to commute Scooter’s sentence in effect serves to obstruct justice?”

  • Look, it’s probably fair to say that whether or not anyone gets “equal justice” is dependent upon one’s position in life – the rich get more justice than the poor, because they can afford better legal representation, and because they can work the system; we’ve seen it over and over again, maybe not in such high profile cases, but we know this kind of thing is going on in cities and towns all over America.

    It’s not right, and there are people working hard to level that particular playing field, but it’s a fact of life.

    But for the fact that the people Libby was working for are the president and the vice president, he is just like any other well-connected white guy who will pay a token price for his crimes, while others who have committed similar crimes will do their prison time as originally sentenced, with no commutation, no break for service to country.

    But the fact that Libby was working for the #1 and #2 people in the administration does call into question the propriety of commuting a sentence for a crime committed on their watch, apparently at their behest, and for reasons designed to cover up the fact that lies were told and intelligence was manipulated so that a war could be undertaken.

    It stinks, in all the ways that something like this can smell. And all the president’s spokespeople cannot cover up that smell no matter how many times they try to make the case that it was at once, no big deal, and something the president struggled mightily over for weeks. This is the same man who made fun of a woman on death row in Texas, who sent more people to death than any other governor in the nation, but he “struggled” over what to do about Libby? The law-and-order president, with the DOJ that wants to make it next to impossible for judges to deviate from sentencing guidelines, can’t figure out what to do about a man whom a jury convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice? He should have treated him like all the others convicted of those crimes – oh, but those other people don’t have the goods on him and Dick, so I guess I see where the “struggling” part comes in.

    I think the question that all the media representatives need to be asking in these briefings is: “Are You Fucking Kidding Us?”

  • But the “Dick” & Bush Administration are the people most responsible for American National Security, the same people who do not understand “equal justice under the law.”

    Do they understand “protect America from terrorism attacks?” Or is that sort of protection only reserved for their cronies like Convicted Felon and Pedophile Irving Lewis F*$&%! Liddy Libby as well?

  • “Equal justice under the law” means everyone is entitled to justice a la carte. If they can afford it (via money or accumulated dirt)

  • Libby’s defense team indicated they were going to call Dicktator Cheney, which is why the judge allowed certain documents into evidence. Then, Cheney’s defense team took a dive and let the prosecution have their way, probably because Cheney wouldn’t testify and Libby knew he was going to walk anyway. What f__king justice? Paris Hilton and Martha Stewart should be picketing the White House as we speak. I don’t much care for either one, but at least they served out their punishment. Of course, they don’t have a lobbying position waiting for them like ‘Little Scooter’, probably for Halliburton. I hope a truck runs over that scooter.

  • I hope a truck runs over that scooter. — tko, @9

    Or a zamboni over that skater 🙂

  • STANZEL: Well, I guess I don’t know what you mean by “equal justice under the law.”

    Are we to infer that equal justice under the law is a mere phrase needing quotations as in the above idiocy?

    More to the point is, what is Bush’s understanding of this concept? Is there, in fact, a Republican version of this concept as opposed to the philosophic definition?

    The Republitard Party – the party that turned equal justice under the law into a polemic.

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