The Bushies: Loyality vs. Legacy

Creature — my assistant editor at The Reaction and the head honcho at State of the Day — had this to say in response to the Libby conviction:

I say the pardon will come sooner rather than later. Libby will never spend a day in jail. The only thing that could stop a pardon is if Congress chooses to investigate what Patrick Fitzgerald called “a cloud” around the Vice President and the White House. If that happens then I would not be surprised if the president throws Cheney under a bus — and a Libby pardon under it with him. The president may have a reputation for loyalty, but I’m betting his legacy and his need to scapegoat someone will prove to be more important than loyalty. He’s spoiled like that.

I agree that Libby won’t go to jail — if Nixon didn’t, how can Libby? It’s only a matter of when Bush will issue a pardon, not if. But what I find interesting here is that Creature has highlighted the tension at the core of George W. Bush (and indeed of the Bush Family generally):

Loyalty vs. Legacy

The Bushies obviously prize loyalty — those who are loyal are rewarded handsomely — but above all they seem to prize self-preservation, or selfish reputation. Given Libby’s ties to Cheney, it seems quite unlikely that Bush would throw him under a bus, and he likely would rather have Cheney resign (citing health reasons as the excuse) than expose a rift at the top (the Bushies also prize secrecy and control), but a congressional investigation could force Bush’s hand and postpone a seemingly inevitable pardon — in which case the scapegoating of Libby would continue in earnest.

I can say this about President Bush. If President Bush pardons Libby and Bush has every right to pardon anyone after his term is up, he will ruin the GOP party for any political jobs forever. Bush should go back and remember what happened to the late and former President Gerald Ford's legacy when he pardoned Richard Nixon.