He can't even get the clemency right. Evidently, according to Tom Grieve at Salon Magazine, there is a pretty straightforward procedure for commuting a sentence. It involves submitting the request for commutation to the DOJ where the sentencing judge and the prosecuting attorney are given the opportunity to give opinions and recommendations. The timing is curious and incorrect as well because requests for commutation are not supposed to be accepted unless and until a person has begun serving that sentence. No commutation requests are usually accepted while the appeal process is underway.
Or perhaps he just thinks he got it right. Bush often remarks about the high ethics he follows as he makes decisions. He has said,
"we must always maintain the highest ethical standards. We must always ask ourselves not only what is legal, but what is right."
He also famously said that being president would be "a lot easier if he were a dictator."
Tom Grieve again
,
"In a statement this afternoon, House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers said Bush's decision is "inconsistent with the rule of law." He's dead on there, but what does that get us? In the president's world, legal vs. right is just another choice to be made. Once again, Bush has made his.
For a great exposition of the entire issue read this from Sidney Blumenthal in Salon.
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