The Phil Nugent Experience: Gabba Gabba:
But whatever happens, how will Libby be disgraced? Is Oliver North disgraced? Elliot Abrams? Richard Perle? I’d kill to be disgraced at their income level. The whole idea that they could be disgraced is based on an earlier time, in a world where morality trumped partisan politics. As long as he lives, Libby will never have to face another human being who disapproves of what he’s done; he lives at a level where people can cherry-pick their friends and connections, and the terrible future he faces will consist of a forced march through think tanks, well-paid speaking engagements, and maybe his own TV or radio show, all of them carefully arranged so that he’ll be playing to audiences who’ll think he’s the Beatles at the Hollywood Bowl. Now that his time performing for juries is behind him, he’s probably laid eyes on the last person he’ll ever meet who even has the equipment to understand by what standard he could have done something wrong, himself included. His natural habitat is the company of people who will tell you that while they respect the justice system and the jury’s decision and rakka-rakka-rakka, he committed “no underlying crime,” by which they mean that because he’s a Republican, in their eyes he cannot be a criminal.
Yes, for the hand-wringing about how tragic it is for such a dedicated public servant to have his reputation tarnished, it won’t make a whole lot of difference. His $250K fine will be paid from his $5MM defense trust, and he’ll start working for AEI or some other wingnut welfare establishment as soon as he feels like it. I suspect he won’t be able to write a book, at least not one that has a shred of real information in it, but he’ll be secure all the same. As Phil says, if that’s disgrace, I’ll take some.