Word: scootering
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...differed over whether to pardon Cheney's former chief of staff Scooter Libby. But the divide reveals different conceptions of what is the highest value in a democracy. As I read about the Vice President's strongly held views, I couldn't help thinking of Barry Goldwater's famous line that "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice." President Bush, in contrast, comes across as more rule-based, more literal, more risk-averse. You can decide for yourself, but there's no disagreement that this story offers a first draft of history about the final days...
...Libby lengthened the odds on a pardon. "You might disagree with the fact that the case had been brought and that prosecutorial discretion had been used in this way," says a source familiar with the review. "But the question of whether there had been materially misleading statements made by Scooter - on the facts, on the evidence, it was pretty clear." As far as Fielding was concerned, Libby had lied under oath...
...President and his top aides. He made his points in a calm, lawyerly style, saying Libby was a fall guy for critics of the Iraq war, a loyal team player caught up in a political dispute that never should have turned into a legal matter. They went after Scooter, Cheney would say, because they couldn't get his boss. But Bush pushed past the political dimension. "Did the jury get it right or wrong?" he asked...
...Russert. But notes obtained by prosecutors indicated that Cheney had been the first to identify her to Libby. And Russert denied at Libby's trial that he had mentioned Plame to the defendant. The jury sided with Russert. Cheney, however, considered it an open question. "Who do you believe, Scooter or Russert?" he asked Bush...
...Libby pardon. Other Libby backers were quoted in the article, calling Bush "dishonorable" and saying he had left a soldier on the battlefield, language Cheney had used throughout the debate over the pardon. Bush believes that his Vice President was "probably blinded by his personal loyalty to Scooter," a White House aide says. Cheney had pressed the issue as far as he could but finally conceded. "The Vice President knew there was a line out there that he was getting very close to but couldn't cross," says a former senior official. "The President knew that he needed to help...