Olbermann's Cranky Again, Must Need a Nap

Oh, so poor Keith Olbermann is upset over the commutation of Scooter Libby's sentence. How precious.

KO and his MSNBC playmates David Schuster and Chris Matthews failed in their obsessive mission to get someone...anyone...associated with the Bush administration to go to jail over the "Valerie Plame Affair". It wasn't for a lack of hustle, though. Throughout this sham of an investigation, KO and the boys consistently misstated facts, interviewed partisan hacks like John Dean to promote the left-wing's spin and even accused Patrick Fitzgerald of going soft on Libby and the Bush Administration.

Let's review a few facts:
- Joe Wilson's infamous report on Iraq's pursuit of yellow cake uranium in Africa was categorically debunked by the Senate Intelligence Committee
- Joe Wilson lied repeatedly before Congress
- Joe Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, was NOT covert...therefore the leak of her name was not a crime
- Richard Armitage was responsible for leaking Plame's name
- Fitzgerald knew from Day One that Armitage was the leaker
- Knowing that Armitage was the leaker from Day One, Fitzgerald ordered Armitage and Colin Powell to stay silent on that fact
- Fitzgerald knew that Armitage had not committed a crime by leaking Valerie Plame's name, so he could not prosecute Armitage
- Fitzgerald also knew that Armitage was an outspoken critic of the war in Iraq, so a prosecution of Armitage would be of no political value
- He therefore silenced Powell and Armitage so that he could proceed on a fishing expedition in an attempt to nail someone in the Bush Administration for this leak
- Lacking sufficient evidence to prosecute a Bush Administration official for the leak, he tried to set a trap via Grand Jury hearings for Administration officials to inadvertantly commit process crimes
- Failing to trap his two biggest targets, Vice President Cheney and Karl Rove, he focused his attention on the Vice President's Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby
- Fitzgerald charged Libby with perjury when his evidence fell way short of proving perjury...he could only prove that Libby and a couple of journalists had differing accounts of the same conversations...certainly no crime
- Libby's defense was denied the opportunity to call Andrea Mitchell as a defense witness in testimony that would surely have bolstered reasonable doubt
- Libby's defense was also denied the opportunity to enter tapes into evidence that would have impeached an important piece of Tim Russert's testimony for the prosecution
- The presiding Judge, Reggie Walton, petulantly denied Libby's defense the opportunity to call Andrea Mitchell and to enter the crucial tapes. This denial was direct payback for the defense not calling Libby as a witness
- Members of the jury admitted convicting Libby because they believed Russert more than they believed Libby..."preponderance of the evidence" is a standard for civil trials, not criminal trials, "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" is the standard in a criminal trial...the jury convicted based on the "preponderance of the evidence" standard

In short, Scooter Libby got railroaded by a corrupt prosecutor, a vengeful judge and an ingorant jury. Libby committed no crime leading up to the investigation, and Fitzgerald could not prove that Libby ever committed a crime. Ultimately, this fraudulent prosecution was cooked up by Senator Chuck Schumer and his cabal of left-wing partisan hacks including, among others, Joe Wilson, Valerie Plame and Patrick Fitzgerald...all in an effort to prevent the President from protecting this country from future terrorist attacks. The MSNBC cheering section of Schuster, Matthews and Olbermann was always on hand to spin the truth and create the myth that this prosecution was anything other than a disgrace.

George W. Bush did the right thing when he commuted the prison sentence yesterday evening. At least now, Libby will have the opportunity to appeal his conviction without having to go to prison. If there's any justice, the conviction will be overturned, Libby will get his good name back, and Fitzgerald will suffer a humiliating rebuke. If the appeals process fails, Bush must pardon Scooter Libby.

As for poor Olby, he's just going to have to save his schadenfreude for another occasion. He already threw his first on-air temper tantrum last night, and has foreshadowed another one for tonight. I understand he's going to demand that President Bush and Vice President Cheney resign. With any luck, Olby and his sandbox pals Schuster and Matthews will hold their breaths waiting for that to happen.