The pardon of Scooter Libby represents much more than a breach of our legal system. It represents the degradation of our eroded state of democracy, the numerous holes in our legal system, and the special privileges the elite receive which allow them to do as they please. More troubling, it represent how powerless the citizens of the most powerful nation in the world are in seeing justice served over their land. It represents the complete breakdown in our system of checks and balances, with the Press and our culture equally to blame. Who are we kidding? There is no law when the Commander in Chief holds such a blatant disregard for the system, doing no wrong as he wishes and pleases with nothing to hold him in check.
We have come a long way from our once functioning system of checks and balances, though the true reason for this is often unrecognized and attributed elsewhere. There is such a large amount of money in the hands of so few people in this country, that the elite can simply afford to buy their way, using special interests and gifts to sidestep the law. The fact that there is a growing gap between the rich and the poor, coupled with the ever shrinking middle class, assures that the power of the wealthy is greater now than ever. At no other point in United States history have such a few people possessed as much power, and it all has to do with our unregulated economic system.
Consider the Press. Originally intended to keep the elite in our country in check, it has been overrun with special interests in our profit driven culture, and now is essentially run by the elite. Glenn Greenwald's article, linked at the end of this paragraph, provides an accurate snapshot of the role that the Press has played during Bush's Presidency. What is ignored, however, is the role that economics have played in the process. If the Press were strictly functioning out of design, the public opinion never would have bought into the President's initial claims of a link between Sadaam and Bin Laden had the proper research been done and reported. There would have been no great patriotic movement after 9/11. The public would have been informed of our role in the Taliban's history and aware of our true motives for going to war, aware of the reasons that we were attacked in the first place. The public would have known that we have been the terrorists to that region for quite some time. But that is no longer the goal of our Press. It strictly has shifted to profit, where money determines what news will be told.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2007/07/03/libby/index.html
Back to Bush's pardon of Libby. He knows that the mainstream press is powerless, unwilling to publish such radical critiques out of fear of offending it's readers. This is economically sanctioned. He knows too that he has the money and connections to rise above the law, and that pardoning Libby was a good way to ensure this continues. The reason Bush was able to rise to the Presidency was through large donations from numerous wealthy individuals, all of whom are Republican, who are adamant in defending Libby. Knowing he has the power to pardon, Bush no doubt urged Libby to lie, guaranteeing his freedom regardless of the law. Bush knows he's above the law and has the fortune to stay there.
So where to place blame? You cannot blame the individuals running the system when the system is what's running them. The problem is too widespread to point to a single source for this injustice we as Americans face, aside from our economic philosophy. Unregulated Capitalism, the free market glorified in the American Dream, does not work in a Democracy. It is not a system that serves the people, but a system that serves those who have what is sought: Money. It is a fact that special interests from the elite have shifted the tax laws into their favor, allowing the fortunes of the elite to balloon since the Reagan administration. It is a fact that with money comes power, and with power: corruption. Perhaps if we all were a bit more equal, we wouldn’t be bullied with ease. Until then, Bush and Libby are above the law.
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