Harold Is $5 Richer Thanks To George W. Bush

Here is an exchange which took place in the comments section of this blog about one month ago with regard to Scooter Libby:

I guess there's a filing to let him stay out during his appeal. If that fails, I will bet Harold $5 that Libby sees the inside of a cell.
Fredrick 06.05.07
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I hope you are right, Man, but I'll take that bet, and I'll gladly pay you the money if I lose. Scooter must see the inside of a jail cell -- on this particular case -- for you to win (if he gets picked up for drunk driving in the interim, that doesn't count).

But it is the easiest $5 I've ever made. Remember, this is the president (1) who launched an illegal war resulting in the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of people, (2) who illegally eavesdropped on everybody, (3) who committed treason by outing a covert CIA operative, etc. etc. etc. If BushCo is willing to do all that, what's to stop it from pardoning Scooter before he see the inside of a jail cell?

Hell, a presidential pardon is a legal act! Sure, it might be politcally perilous for Bush, but his approval rating is already in the low 30s, and I don't think he can go much lower than that -- my guess is that 30% or so of the country would support Bush even if he was filmed sodomizing sheep on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial -- so what political risk would Bush really be taking if he pardoned Scooter?
Harold 06.06.07

Slic[k] suggested today that although Bush's approval rating probably won't drop much as a result of this de facto pardon, this is the kind of thing that will (1) energize the Democratic base and (2) hurt the GOP in the long run.

I think that is probably a fair assessment. Bush's presidency is such a disaster that he doesn't really care about how much damage he is causing the Republican Party, and I think he's probably accepted the fact that his presidency will be considered one of the worst in history. His goal now is simply to avoid being considered the worst.