It's not just the Democrats. Republicans are equally incensed over Bush’s commutation of Scooter Libby’s sentence following his conviction on obstruction and perjury charges.
On the eve of Independece Day, the Family Values Party wasted no time in condemning Bush's decision to save his long-time friend.
"How can parents instill values and morality in their children?" asked a befuddled Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-NE). "How can educators teach our children? How can the rule of law for every American be applied equally if we have two standards of justice in America – one for the powerful and the other for the rest of us?"
Former Senator Bill Frist joined Hagel in slamming Bush's actions, saying the commutation amounted to unfair treatment. "He is not above the law," said the clearly enraged Republican from Tennessee. "If an ordinary citizen committed these crimes, he would go to jail."
You would think, of all places, President Bush would find some love in his home state of Texas -- but no so. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison said the Libby communion jeopardizes the nation’s entire legal system.
"I very much worry that with the evidence that we have seen that grand juries across America are going to start asking questions about what is obstruction of justice, what is perjury," the senator said. "And I don't want there to be any lessening of the standard. Because our system of criminal justice depends on people telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. That is the lynch pin of our criminal justice system and I don't want it to be faded in any way."
Fellow Republican Texan Tom Delay, himself indicted, nonetheless issued a scathing attack on the commutation.
"No man is above the law, and no man is below the law," Delay said, choking back tears. "That's the principle that we all hold very dear in this country."
Of course, these people weren't talking about Libby at all. They are real quotes, all made during the Clinton impeachment.
UPDATE:
Thanks for the recommends. I must give a hat tip to The Bulldog Manifesto, whose well received 2005 diary comes up on top when Googling "Clinton Impeachment Quotes."
UPDATE 2:
More goodies. Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) is also mad as hell! He had this to say: "It would be wrong for you to send a message to every American that it's acceptable to lie under oath and obstruct a federal investigation. It would be wrong for you to tell America's children that some lies are all right. It would be wrong to show the rest of the world that some of our laws don't really matter."
Chabot, if you remember, was one of 13 House managers that led the impeachment case against President Clinton. I wonder if his opinion has changed since muttering those words way back in 1999?
And for your reading pleasure (or disgust) here's a few more juicy nuggets of conservative hypocrisy, via Andrew Sullivan by way of Acephalous:
"Lying under oath strikes at the heart of our system of justice and the rule of law. It does not matter in the least what the perjury is about," - Robert Bork and James Rosen, National Review.
"And we know that when a person testifies under oath that he doesn't remember something when in fact he does, he has committed perjury," - Bill Bennett, Wall Street Journal.
UPDATE 3:
Looking through the comments, I see some readers didn't immediately understand this diary as snark. If anyone feels cheated, I apologize.
Here are the sources for the Clinton-era quotes above:
Chuck Hagel
http://www.cnn.com/...
Tom Delay
http://www.washingtonpost.com/...
Kay Bailey Hutchison
http://thinkprogress.org/...
Bill Frist
http://www.cnn.com/...
Steve Chabot
http://www.cincypost.com/...