Seeing as the most egregious things that have been done are war crimes, which can be tried outside the US, it may be the case that Bush does NOT want to pardon the people who ordered torture. A pardon would an admission of violating the law.

I will be genuinely surprised to see very many "shocking" pardons - Bush has never shown much loyalty or compassion in the past and is pretty clearly much more worried about his own legacy vs. taking care of his friends (perfect example being Libby - why not a pardon in the first place?). W. likes to punish people . . .

Only 112 hours!

But who's counting?

Good point by Mike: "Bush has never shown much loyalty or compassion in the past and is pretty clearly much more worried about his own legacy vs. taking care of his friends."

Talk to the hand?

Piss on you too, lady.

A pardon doesn't become effective until it is delivered, which is how Bush was able to revoke Toussie's pardon. If Bush pardons someone in his last hours, then presumably Obama will have the power to hold up delivery of that pardon and cancel it. I'd think that Bush would want to issue those pardons in time for FedEx to make a delivery, huh?

Libby will not be pardoned. His sentence was commuted to keep him out of jail (where conditions might have made him talkative enough to cut a deal) and to preserve his ability to invoke the 5th amendment. If Scooter is pardoned (like his client Marc Rich), he might have to answer some tough questions and he wont be able to refuse.

From Wikipedia:

"Talk to the hand" (or "tell it to the hand") is an English language slang phrase associated with the 1990s. It originated in African American Vernacular English as a contemptuous and urbanized way of saying that no one is listening, and is often elongated to a phrase such as "Talk to the hand, because the ear's not listening" or "Talk to the hand, (be)cause the face don't understand" or "Talk to the hand, (be)cause the face don't give a damn."

The sentence is often considered to be a sarcastic or obnoxious phrase, and is commonly associated with urban black youths, especially black women, as well as teenage valley girls who adopted it. The phrase was popularized by actor and comedian Martin Lawrence in his 1992 sitcom Martin. It is usually accompanied by the gesture of extending one arm toward the other person, with the palm of that hand facing the person being insulted, in the manner of the gesture to stop.

Also noted by Wikipedia:

In Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Arnold Schwarzenegger's character, T-101, learnt the phrase at his first encounter with humans, and used it again, to demonstrate his ability to learn human behavior.

Perhaps Dana Perino is also trying to demonstrate her ability to learn human behavior.

Bush's presidency ends in 112 hours. -- Steve Benen

I can almost believe there's a light at the end of the tunnel, if the end of the reign of error is ending not in weeks or days, but hours.

I wouldn't be surprised if there aren't very many pardons in the end. Bush wasn't exactly known for his compassion as governor of Texas and only did pardons/commutations for really egregious cases.

Talk to the hand. Honestly. She didn't say "cowabunga" or "don't have a cow, man," did she?

A pardon for Libby, or anybody who worked for Bush, would be awful. What deterrence from criminal acts do you have if the President gives pardons to people who worked in his administration?

The pardons issued by GHW Bush were atrocious. Remember former Defense Secretary Casper Weinberger? Elliott Abrams, a former assistant secretary of state for Inter-American affairs? Former National Security Adviser Robert McFarlane? And Duane Clarridge, Alan Fiers, and Clair George, all former employees of the Central Intelligence Agency?

Pretty damn shameful.

dbomp: There's no way in hell Obama would do that. He's all about post-partisanship and "looking to the future", etc.

I'm not surprised that there hasnt been more pardon talk. Surely the two times to look for pardons are late in the day on Friday and late in the day on Monday (or maybe even early on Tuesday). That was always when the most contentious pardons were going to come, if at all - when people are least likely to be paying attention.

I would suspect that Bush is most concerned, not with postconviction pardons, but with pre-emptive ones. He has probably asked Fred Fielding whether he needs to make these public. And he is fighting Congress to prevent the answer to that question from being shared with Congress. Okay, am I starting to sound a bit cynical?

Seems to me, the most controversial pardons will be done as LATE AS POSSIBLE - with the delivery already coordinated to be delivered as soon as Bush "issues" the pardon.

So - either Friday, over the weekend, or Monday - anything to minimize the news cycle/have it swallowed up by the inauguration.

Come on Steve - I know your cynicism is constantly surprised by what Bush does, but this one is a given. Especially after his clearly rehearsed answer at his last press conference, you know there a surprise or two or ten, coming.

He will probably give pre-emptive pardons, both to himself and Cheney, for all we know!

Or, does he even need to announce them publicly? These may have already been executed, delivered, and are allowed a week to announce - if announcements are even necessary.

Sadly, I think Steve's off by a couple of hours. Assuming a noon inaugural on Tuesday the 20th, we should be at 114 hours and 30 minutes as of now (5:30pm est, 2:30pm pst). But who's counting?

(And BTW, it looks like the posting clock is about seven minutes slow.)

Bush's presidency ends in 112 hours.

Sweet, sweet music.

Bush's presidency ends in 112 hours.

Not soon enough.

Also, I'm with JC @5:21 above: we'll see the pardons tomorrow (Friday) or over the weekend.

Somehow I get the feeling that Sen. Specter is bringing up the Mark Rich business to keep Bush from doing anything similar.

If Bush goes ahead with suspicious pardons he knows it'll be impossible to criticize Obama/Holder for anything.

Fitz is out there just praying that Libby is pardoned. That puts Cheney and Rove in play with no Presidential pardons in the offing.

Bush's presidency ends....ahhhhhhhhhhhh

If Bush goes ahead with suspicious pardons he knows it'll be impossible to criticize Obama/Holder for anything.

Sorry to be cynical, but since when have Republicans refrained from criticizing Democrats for things they themselves do?

112 hours. we're counting down in hours. the last 8 years have taken so long i can hardly remember time before that. to see 112 hours in print made me absolutely giddy. i think i'll lay in some extra champagne for 112.1 hours from now. and a box of kleenex for when i start to cry from relief.

The whole criminal bunch of them can be pardoned because none of them will...remember....ANYTHING.. on the witness stand. They'll all go Gonzo.

Shruby has been such a schmuck that there's no guarantee that he won't be a pardoning schmuck before it's over. But he's come to the realization that he not only screwed the pooch but he was Hannibal Cheney's sock puppet when it counted.

Shruby's rather pissed about that and much of the pardoning would revolve around stuff that is toxic residue from the serious sock puppet days. Shruby was ill served by the people he surrounded himself with. Almost everybody except Condi, Gonzo and Karen Hughes was using him and his boobish aura to move their own agendas forward. Loyalty by all these f'ers was in name only.

I don't see Shruby being too concerned about these folks unless he thinks they are going to drag him down with them.

I can't imagine Bush pardoning anyone if it doesn't benefit him. Those who think he will pardon them because he is their friend will be sorely disappointed and surprised.

The Bush knife blade goes in slowly, with hardly a pinch or pain.

Yeah, the egregious years of reign by Shrub will end, but, how long will the pain and suffering caused by his rule remain?

This whole pardon business has to go the way of the dinosaurs.