Bush gets 'excessive'

PRESIDENT BUSH commuted I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby's 30-month prison sentence because it was "excessive." As governor of Texas, Bush signed 152 death warrants. In not a single one of those cases was the punishment "excessive." Not one of those inmates -- not the mentally ill or the mentally retarded, not the battered wife or the born-again woman for whom the pope pleaded -- deserved to have his or her sentence commuted to life without possibility of parole. Libby's sentence was within the federal sentencing guidelines, which have been approved by the Supreme Court. These guidelines were proposed and passed ostensibly to introduce some uniformity into sentencing practices and to prevent "activist" (read: liberal) judges from mollycoddling criminals. May we expect a Justice Department review of the double-digit sentences imposed on nonviolent drug offenders under the same guidelines to determine whether even one of them is "excessive"?

SAM PACKARD
Watertown

IN THE case of Libby, it's interesting how the Republicans bring out their favorite defense of President Bush: Bill Clinton did it too, by pardoning fugitive financier Marc Rich. (Here's a fascinating coincidence: Rich's lawyer was none other than Libby himself.) Still, there are several huge differences between that case and the Libby commutation. One is that Bush issued it without consulting with the Justice Department, which has been standard procedure for previous presidents. Another is that Libby was convicted of a crime that related to his service at the White House. By commuting his sentence, Bush creates the appearance of rewarding someone for not implicating those above him, Dick Cheney and Bush himself.

If Libby is being rewarded for lying under oath to protect the president and vice president, then commuting his prison sentence would appear to be obstruction of justice.

PAUL RICKTER
Brookline

"SOPRANOS" FANS , don't despair. There's still the Bush-Cheney syndicate.

If, like me, you are still staring at the blank screen in "Soprano" withdrawal, just turn to your news station and follow the exploits of an even bigger criminal enterprise.

In last week's episode, the bosses sprang their imprisoned captain before he decided, in his new five-by-eight not-so-luxury residence, to rat them out. Imagine the song that canary would sing. The only downside to this series, now in the sixth year of its run, is that there are no good guys chasing this mob. That's because the FBI and "Justice" Department are part of the syndicate. Indeed, the family's consigliere is none other than our attorney general.

You couldn't make this stuff up.

MARK BRODIN
Newton

PRESIDENT BUSH'S decision to go to war against Iraq on the unsubstantiated grounds that it was developing so-called weapons of mass destruction was completely unreasonable, but perhaps merely an error in judgment on his part rather than part of some evil agenda. His continual obstinacy over maintaining occupancy in Iraq, even as all evidence points to its causing more harm than good, is unjustified, but still, at the very least, understandable -- Bush, like most politicians, is incapable of admitting and working to fix his own mistakes.

But Bush's commutation of Libby's prison sentence, the latest of his attempts to impede any investigation into exactly what information his administration had about Iraq before the war began, may be his most appalling action as president to date.

Whether Bush was deliberately trying to silence Libby by freeing him of his sentence, his obstruction of the justice system in order to avoid accountability for his actions is more than unreasonable and unjustifiable -- it is unforgivable.

DANIEL M. KAHN
Lexington