Scooter Libby and Diminishing Returns on Justice

Scooter Libby got 30 months in prison today, and a lot of the pundits are saying that it is for his role in the "Plame leak case." Uhhh, no its not. Scooter Libby had no role in the leak case. He perjured himself as part of the cover up.

This is what happens when, as so often is the case, the cover up becomes more a news article than the scandal itself. We punish the cover up and consider the crime itself avenged. But should the people (Rove, Cheney, and by extension, Bush...oh, did I mention Rove?) who actually perpetrated the crime of exposing Valerie Plame be let off the hook because we caught Scooter Libby lying about it? Obviously not. And furthermore, isn't it overwhelmingly likely that the people who committed the initial crime are the same people who 'requested' that Libby perjure himself?

It always seems ridiculous to me that lower level people like Libby are willing to commit crimes to protect those above them, who obviously don't give a shit about them. It doesn't jive with my commonsense understanding of pop psychology, according to which people are willing to blame pretty much anyone. Not only that, most of the people I know seem to have a certain relish for abdicating themselves from blame by shifting responsibility to anyone and everyone else.

I will give that to this current crowd we have sliming their way around the white house. Whether it's because they inspire fear, love, or whatever, or even if it's just because they hire morons in the mold of Lenny from "Of Mice and Men", they (again, Rove, Cheney, whomever) would never have been able to avoid prosecution for a litany of offenses this long without the obsequious loyalty of their underlings.

So what are we left with? A series of sacrifices on the altar of justice that don't even come close to appeasing the conscience of the people. It's been so long since someone in the highest ranks actually got what they deserved that the country has come to accept an adulterated version of justice as a matter of course. And that's really a shame.