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Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Gators and Scooter
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tempting though it be to weigh in on two of the day’s most-discussed topics — the Peachtree Road Race and the audacity of University of Florida fans to insist on driving through Georgia with a prestige license plate — the more important matter is the fall-out from the President’s decision to commute the sentence of Scooter Libby.
But before departing the Gators license-plate brouhaha, a word of warning, one conservative to another, should be directed to the President Pro Tem of the Georgia State Senate, Eric Johnson, a Savannah Republican. Johnson has declared it “absolutely unacceptable” that Florida Gators should adorn Georgia license plates.
“A Gator tag will cause accidents. Gator fans cannot drive or read traffic signs. A car up on blocks cannot move.” Such was Johnson’s jestful commentary on the proposal that the Georgia Department of Revenue issue prestige tags to University of Florida supporters when a sufficient number pay the additional $25 required.
Two warnings here. One is to Florida fans, the other to Johnson. Florida fans should understand that the $25 fee is “per year,” meaning it’ll have to be paid again next year. That means going at least half the year without buying a lottery ticket. And for Johnson, a politician subject to the whims of voters, a sterner warning: If Florida fans ever start start voting — that is, if Georgia ever takes the step that Florida just did and restores voting rights to felons — he could be in serious trouble in close elections. His district is dangerously close to Florida.
On the serious matter of Scooter Libby’s “excessive” sentence, commuted by the President to eliminate jail time, the fall-out from Democrats and others was predictable. Tony Snow, the President’s press secretary, noted on Tuesday that “this is hardly a slap on the wrist.” Even with the commutation, Libby retains a felony conviction and the probable loss of his legal career, along with two years’ probation and a $250,000 fine.
My preference would have been for a pardon now. But that still could come. “As to the future, I rule nothing in and nothing out,” said Bush Tuesday. The commutation keeps Libby from an undeserved punishment — time in jail — while allowing the appeals process to work. If necessary, Bush can grant the pardon later.
