Mainly, Because Cheney Will Tell Him To

I predict here and now that Dubya will pardon I. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, who was convicted today to 30 months in prison (here is a related article).

It may be before Libby is scheduled to begin serving his time, it may be sometime after his appeals are exhausted, or it may be when Dubya is mercifully out of the White House.

But it will happen.

And what will be the consequence? Will Dubya’s approval rating sink to as-yet-untold levels of dissatisfaction? Will that further hinder the prospects of his party to retake Congress and hold the presidency after 2008?

Will he actually care?

Of course not. And it will be, without a doubt, the wrong course of action. But it will give him even more of an opportunity to thumb his nose at everyone who doesn’t support him as the “unitary executive” during wartime.

That’s why you can “take it to the bank.”

(And oh yes; call it fool’s optimism, but I’ll hold out for the miniscule possibility that Big Time harbors some regret over this, as noted here. That may end up as another reason.)

Update 6/6/07: What Marty Kaplan sez...