For Libby, Bush Seemed to Alter His Texas Policy

[kskiska]

Source: NYT

Until he commuted the 30-month prison sentence of I. Lewis Libby Jr. on Monday, President Bush had said almost nothing about his philosophy in granting clemency while at the White House.

As governor of Texas, though, Mr. Bush discussed and applied a consistent and narrow standard when deciding whether to issue pardons and commutations. And that standard appears to be at odds with his decision in the Libby case.

(snip)

In the six years that George W. Bush was governor of Texas, a state that executes more people than any other, he commuted a single death sentence and allowed 152 executions to go forward. He also pardoned 20 people charged with lesser crimes, said Maria Ramirez, the state’s clemency administrator. That was fewer than any Texas governor since the 1940s.

As president, Mr. Bush has commuted three sentences in addition to Mr. Libby’s and denied more than 4,000 requests, said Margaret Colgate Love, the pardon lawyer at the Justice Department for most of the 1990s. He has also issued 113 pardons and denied more than 1,000 requests. “His grant rate is very low compared to other presidents’,” she said.

(snip)

In his memoir, Mr. Bush wrote about agonizing over the case of Karla Faye Tucker, who in 1998 became the first woman executed in Texas since the Civil War. Ms. Tucker, who was convicted in the ax murders of two people during a robbery in 1983, had become a born-again Christian while in prison, and her case drew support from across the political spectrum. Mr. Bush described feeling “like a huge piece of concrete was crushing me” as he waited with aides for Ms. Tucker’s execution. It was, he said, “the longest 20 minutes of my tenure as governor.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/washington/08commute.html?ref=washington

[Zorra]

1. Bottom line: If Bu*h didn't commute Libby's sentence, Libby would have

gone public with what he knows about Bu*h's deceit and corruption, and Bu*h would have gone to prison for his crimes.

End of loony toon. That's all, folks.

[Elidor]

2. Let's play Spot the Whopper! There is some serious bullshit in this article

It's tangential to the point of this thread, but it's worth pointing out, nonetheless.

Bush's (ghostwritten) account of the case of Karla Faye Tucker:

In his memoir, Mr. Bush wrote about agonizing over the case of Karla Faye Tucker, who in 1998 became the first woman executed in Texas since the Civil War. Ms. Tucker, who was convicted in the ax murders of two people during a robbery in 1983, had become a born-again Christian while in prison, and her case drew support from across the political spectrum. Mr. Bush described feeling “like a huge piece of concrete was crushing me” as he waited with aides for Ms. Tucker’s execution. It was, he said, “the longest 20 minutes of my tenure as governor.”

Let's contrast that with Tucker Carlson's Bush interview on the matter:

In the weeks before the execution, Bush says, a number of protesters came to Austin to demand clemency for Karla Faye Tucker. "Did you meet with any of them?" I ask. Bush whips around and stares at me. "No, I didn't meet with any of them", he snaps, as though I've just asked the dumbest, most offensive question ever posed. "I didn't meet with Larry King either when he came down for it. I watched his interview with Tucker, though. He asked her real difficult questions like, 'What would you say to Governor Bush?'" "What was her answer?" I wonder. "'Please,'" Bush whimpers, his lips pursed in mock desperation, "'don't kill me.'" I must look shocked — ridiculing the pleas of a condemned prisoner who has since been executed seems odd and cruel — because he immediately stops smirking.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karla_Faye_Tucker#Karla_Tucker_and_George_W._Bush

Hmmm...I'm sensing some cognitive dissonance here.

How pathetic that the Times has passed along Bush's account uncritically, when Carlson's interview has been widely known for years. What a sorry excuse for a newspaper.

[orleans]

3. SEEMED to have altered his yee-ha policy? ya think? n/t

[Ian David]

4. The one death sentence Bush commuted was a Satanic serial killer

Bush Granted Serial Killer Satanist Clemency

Governor George W. Bush provided clemency for one of the 152 cases to
come across his desk when he was the governor of Texas. He
demonstrated “compassionate conservatism” by commuting the most
heinous killer to be convicted in Texas - and the 152 he didn’t
commute were enough to break the record of executions for any one
governor in the history of the United States. Clemency was granted to
confessed Serial Killer Satanist Henry Lee Lucas.

Less than two weeks before Lucas was to be executed, Bush intervened,
and asked his appointed parole board to review Henry’s case. Eight
days later the Board uncharacteristically recommended that Henry’s
execution not take place.

The funny-strange thing is, many of the 152 who were not fortunate
enough to receive the Governor’s favor also had evidence supporting
(including ignoring misconduct by prosecutors and DNA evidence) their
claims of innocence. But Lucas did not just receive a temporary stay
while his case was reviewed, but a full clemency.

More:
http://creepysleepy.com/crane/?p=233









See also:

Henry Lee Lucas
Reign of terror: 1959 - 1983

Motive: Lucas professes that it was to get revenge on society.

Crimes: Henry Lee Lucas has admitted to over 1000 murders. However, it is unknown how many of these are true and how many are products of his imagination. Listed below are some of the murders he has been convicted of.

<snip>

After killing his mother, who had tried to beat him like she had when he was a boy, he was sentenced to 20 - 40 years imprisonment. After 10 years he was released, due to over-crowding.

<snip>

Lucas has a condition called hypermnesia, and remembers events in great detail. For this reason, it is uncertain which crimes he has admitted to are real, as he has used details not known to the public in his confessions. However, many could have come from good guesswork, and piecing together clues from leading questions.

Lucas has admitted to being several things - among others, a cannibal, satanist, contract killer and born-again Christian. No-one will ever know the truth.

Lucas died of heart failure on 12th March 2001. Toole died of hepatitis and cirrhosis of the liver on 21st September 1996.



See also:

[kurth]

5. "Bush wrote about AGONIZING over the case of Karla Faye Tucker"?

Bullshit