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President Bush commuted the sentences of unjustly-imprisoned Border Agents Ramos and Compean.
THANK YOU, MR. PRESIDENT. You did the right thing.
(I've been on pins & needles for the last few days, and until I saw the news on Drudge this morning, I was pretty dejected about the fate of these two men...)
*happy dance*
I don't think I've ever posted the details of this issue, but it was a political case between the US and Mexico, wherein prosecutorial wrongdoing, high-level official conspiracy, and a drug cartel's lying mule's angry mommy combined to severely punish the two border agents who apprehended that mule, for administrative wrongdoing.
(You want to talk "disproportionate response?" This case is it...)
At any rate, it was a horrible, dirty case against the two, and the citizen movement to pardon them fell on deaf ears. The best we could hope for was a commutation, and here it is!
Happy, happy day!!!
[Update: I just called the White House comment line (202-456-1111) to thank Pres. Bush, and all I got was, "we are unable to take your call at this time; please try again later." Think the "thank-you"s busted the phone bank? I like that possibility better than, "we just shut it down for a while since he's leaving." :-)]
My thoughts on today's issues, a bit more structured.
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Governments make
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5 comments:
If you ever do post the details of the case, I'm interested. I guess I just revealed how ignorant I am.
What do you think about "commuted" vs. "pardoned"? In this case, and in others like Scooter Libby?
I'm curious because from what I am reading now, Bush has been fairly reserved in the use of this power.
Oh I was SO happy to hear this today! I thought he'd never do it.
@Carissa - definitely!!! I was steeling myself for disappointment yesterday morning, and I think I scared Kiddo with my "happy yelp!" :-)
@Jennifer - no worries! I wouldn't have known about it if I weren't such an avid Glenn Beck listener, LOL. Here's "the other side" (a very antagonistic read... I'd dispute about half of what it claims, and it conveniently ignores a lot of external factors); and here's Glenn's interview with the agents' wives. His "Interviews" tab also lists a lot of them... it's just a lot of footwork to dig through them all, LOL. The Breitbart article actually gives a pretty decent factual summary... it was a totally political trial about the border, and the sentence was overly harsh for that reason.
Re: Pardon vs. commutation... these agents, IMO, should've been pardoned in the first place, if for no other reason than prosecutorial misconduct. But whatever they were *actually* guilty of (something like getting caught not rocking the boat after accidentally rocking it), an immediate commutation still would've been in order.
In Scooter Libby's case, he was not the leak, but due to media manipulation, that's what everyone who catches their sound bytes thinks. The investigation was unnecessary in the first place, as the source of the leak was known (and known to be elsewhere), and Libby's inconsistent memory during a specious political witch hunt isn't exactly felony-worthy. IMHO.
I think both of these incidents are pardonable, but one was caught in international intrigue to the extent that a pardon was out of the question, I guess. You're right that Bush *has* been pretty restrained in his use of the pardon/commute powers, and I think that Ramos & Compean's commutations are due mostly to a persistent citizenry... I see a total parallel to the parable of the unjust judge (vv. 1-5) ;-).
w00t! :)
Sometime I call the Switchboard operator when I can't get through on the comment line :) I'm sure she loves me! lol
Thanks!
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