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What happened to the rule of law at the WSJ?

January 15, 2009 11:20 am ET by Eric Boehlert

Commuting Scooter Libby's sentence wasn't enough for Journal columnist Daniel Henninger. He wants a full, last-minute pardon for Libby who was convicted on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice for his role in the outing of CIA operative Valarie Plame. Libby never had serve his jail time (thanks to Bush) and Libby has never expressed remorse for his crimes.

Lots of conservatives were angry when Libby got convicted in court. What's rather odd is that conservatives like Henninger, who howled pretty much nonstop during the Clinton years about the absolute reverence for the rule of law (and don't even get them started on the topic of perjury) suddenly have no use for the jury system in America. Pundits like Henninger just don't like the Libby verdict and think it ought to be nullified by Bush.

Heres' Henninger flaunting his disdain for the rule of law:

Nominally the legal case was about the wheels of a prosecution in motion. Indeed by its end the details of the case against Mr. Libby had burned down to a travesty. But make no mistake. The effort that went into keeping the Plame affair alive was about discrediting the war effort in Iraq and the Bush antiterror program.

i.e. Being found guilty by a jury of your peers now qualifies as a "travesty."

Nope, no double standard here folks. 

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