Sorry, Washington Post, but this makes no sense:

The sentence imposed on former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby yesterday put President Bush in the position of making a decision he has tried to avoid for months: Trigger a fresh political storm by pardoning a convicted perjurer or let one of the early architects of his administration head to prison....

"Obviously, there'd be a significant political price to pay," said William P. Barr, ... attorney general to President George H.W. Bush....

Afraid of the political fallout? The guy who gave us the surge? And who won't fire Gonzo?

Come on -- when has George W. Bush ever passed up an opportunity to raise a middle finger to liberates, moderates, and conventional wisdom? He loves this kind of thing. It's unimaginable that he'd pass this opportunity up without a good reason.

So I'm going back to a theory I had months ago, even though I had doubts about it at the time: Maybe Rove thinks any fervor on the right is good for firing up the base -- even if Bush seems to be the bad guy. The longer this gets stretched out, the more money righties will send to Free Scooter organizations -- and that's a lot of mailing addresses and e-mail addresses, just in time for a presidential election. And remember, Bush can still ride to the rescue. (I'm convinced he will.) Crazy? I dunno -- to me it makes a hell of a lot more sense than the notion that he won't pardon Libby because he's afraid of a few outraged editorials in The New York Times.