Libby gets convicted, and the next day there’s already insider talk of him being pardoned:

A White House official said last night that there was a “strong expectation” that President George W Bush would pardon Lewis “Scooter” Libby, the disgraced aide.

The former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney was found guilty of perjury and obstruction of justice on Tuesday in a case linked to the unmasking of a covert CIA operative. If the conviction is upheld, he is expected to be jailed for two years.

But an administration official said that it was highly unlikely that Libby would go to prison. “There’s a lot of anger about the way Libby has been treated,” he said. […]

The official said that advisers to Mr Bush believed that Patrick Fitzgerald, the special prosecutor who charged Libby, had pursued a “political vendetta” against the White House and that no one had committed any crime. (emphasis mine)

Question: say that this charge were correct.  Wouldn’t it be a colossal waste to fulfill such a “vendetta” by just getting Cheney’s buddy?  Why not Rove?  Hell, why not Cheney?  Even Bush himself could’ve been a target, the precedent has been set for going after the president for far less than this.  And why perjury rather than the leak itself (Armitage outed himself on it, but from the sounds of the case the real question was who didn’t out Plame)?

If he does get pardoned, I’ll qualify for a senior discount at restaurants before another republican gets to be president.