Except this fall guy wasn't convicted of outing a covert agent.
Thanks to Libby's obstruction of justice, we'll never get to the bottom of this case.
And for those of you comparing Clinton's pardons to this commutation, stop it. The two are completely different. A more apt comparision would be with this:
BUSH PARDONS WEINBERGER, FIVE OTHERS TIED TO IRAN-CONTRA
http://www.fas.org/news/iran/1992/921224-260039.htmThe two are comparable b/c in both instances--the pardon & commutation--the presidents (both named Bush) were insulating themselves and their administrations from any wrongdoing by pardoning/commuting the felon(s).
Bush commuted the sentence of a felon who has concrete ties to the whitehouse and whose crime likely insulated his superiors (including Bush) from further investigation or accountability.
If you pro-libby folks thought this out, you'd realize that precedent like this would make organized crime untouchable.
All you gotta do is have a fall-guy lie to the cops and pervert the course of justice. Gotti was rarely the murderer--but he gave the orders for others to do his bidding.
With Libby's help, the burying of the crime of exposing a covert WMD spy in a time of war has been accomplished.
Nobody should be patting themselves on the back over that.