Looking Out For Number Two

By not pardoning I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the president has pardoned Vice President Dick Cheney from having to answer whether he had a hand in possibly deceiving Congress and the public in the runup to the war. Libby's partial reprieve lets him retain his right to plead the Fifth -- and that means the vice president can rest easy. Since an 1896 Supreme Court ruling, once a convict is pardoned or otherwise given immunity, the constitutional privilege of refusing to give self-incriminating testimony no longer applies. For the White House, a pardoned Libby who is compelled to tell what he knows could be a dangerous thing indeed. Congress has the power to give Libby immunity and force him to testify without Fifth Amendment protection, but Democratic leaders so far show no signs of entertaining that option. Keeping Cheney legally in the clear is why George W. Bush will never pardon Libby. -- More on crawfordslist.com