I think *ush has promised Kenny boy a pardon already

[Lusted4]

to keep him ratting out himself and Dicky daddy.
What do you think?

[MichiganVote]

1. Yes, the consultation with God has begun...again

[pinto]

2. No. They won't touch this. At least not by pardon.

[LSparkle]

3. I'll be VERRRY interested in *'s pardon list

I'm expecting Kenny Boy, Libby, KKKarl (if applicable), DeLay (if applicable), et al. Never before have I been so curious about who gets pardoned by a prez ...

[ThoughtCriminal]

4. If he does, it won't until his last week in office

Kenny Boy has to hope for an early exit by Bush.

[KharmaTrain]

5. What Good Is A Pardon Now?

That's what you do to prevent someone from facing prosecution...this is a done deal...minus the appeals, which should go against Kenny Boy.

The dude has been convicted. He is now and forever a felon that no pardon would ever remove. Unless Kenny Boy flees to Switzerland, he's got a date with Bubba in the near future. Boooosh could give him early release, but not a pardon...and why? Booooosh no longer needs him.

[pnwmom]

9. But we don't know whether Ken might have "the goods" on Bush.

[LaPera]

13. What goods? It would be ignored and fade just like everything else...

[pnwmom]

14. But it could be a reason for Bush to pardon him, after 11/08.

[Old and In the Way]

12. A convicted person can be pardoned....remember Ollie North?

Here's my take.

It depends on what Kenny Boy has on Dimson. If there's nothing there, I don't think a pardon would be viewed as good for the Republican Party. If he has the goods on Junior, then the Bush Family interests outweigh Republican politics.

[KharmaTrain]

18. North Came Off As A Hero...Lay's A Zero

North played the '87 Senate hearings into superstardom. He trotted in with his army uniform and became a media darling. Yes, he was convicted (which was later overturned...technicality or no, let's stick to facts)...but to millions he became a "hero" for standing up for Raygun and against the Democrats. Ollie's pardon wasn't enough to win him a Senate seat in Virginia...and even Faux has put a muzzle on him.

Lay and Skilling are another matter.

I don't see any political upside on pardoning either criminal. The only value they had was as bagmen for the GOOP...and now they're damaged goods.

If Kenny Boy and Enron has any dirt, it would be toward DeLay and his weasels...as all these people were attached by the wallet in the high-flying 90's. The BFEE long ago bought the silence of their "friends in trouble"...keeping Kenny Boy and Skilling in the cooler will do just fine...any bitching or "tell-all" they claim now will have little impact.

[Lusted4]

6. He can't pardon if he's removed from office.

Good bumper sticker idea.

Quick, Impeach before he starts pardoning.

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. Does a bear shit in the woods?

Remember his daddy pardoned the Iran/Contra six to save his sorry a$$. Like father, like son.

[Johonny]

8. Not before Nov

He won't pardon him before the mid-terms. If he once again "wins" the mid-terms. Well I can't see why he wouldn't. Who is left to object to such a thing.

[pnwmom]

15. I think that he'll wait to pardon him till just before he leaves office.

But Ken can probably stay out of prison most of that time just by dragging out the appeals.

[shanti]

10. ya think??

:eyes:

[ewagner]

11. With Appeals,

Lay and Skilling can stay out of the slammer long enough for Bush's* term of office to end and get a pardon.....neither of these sleaze balls will spend a single day in the slam....

[madrchsod]

19. now that will be interesting if they get out during appeal....

let`s hope they get to meet some homeboys in the "fuck`m in the ass federal prison"-("office space")

[TheCowsCameHome]

16. I don't think he's THAT stupid. But I've been wrong before.

[madrchsod]

17. he will pardon everyone the on last day in office

that`s a no brainer.

[DemoTex]

20. It WILL happen (pardon), IMHO. Here is the WHY of that ..

I know Ken Lay fairly well (and, Oh! the stories I could tell), having worked as corporate pilot for him (Learjet 55 and Lockheed JetStar II) at Transco (Transcontinental Gas Pipeline). I flew Lay and his second wife Linda (and their kids) all over the US and Europe for several years. A young George Bu$h rode my jump-seat on the JetStar from DCA to IAH (ca. 1981, as a guest of Lay) in the early days of GHWB's vice-presidency. I tell you this to segue to what I see as Lay's mindset through all of this.

Lay, in my opinion, expects a pardon from Bu$h. In Lay's mind he deserves that pardon. I think that Lay and Bu$h have had back-channel communications all along and that a pardon is topic #1.

But Lay doesn't expect that pardon to come until more politically practical. Lay has been fairly stoic vis-a-vis the lack of support from the oil-patch nere-do-well on whom he staked his treasure, career, and reputation (making Lay, of course, a double-dog loser).

Lay and Bu$h go back much farther than Bu$h has admitted (at least to 1981, as opposed to Bu$h's claim of 1986), but Lay has been gracious enough not to call Bu$h on his memory of their relationship. Lay's influence in securing the Texas governorship for Bu$h is well documented. The Lay/Enron well of money available to Bu$h is legendary.

So YES, Lusted4, I think a pardon is on the table. Lay's side of the deal is to draw the legal process out - at his own "expense" - as long as possible. Make no mistake, his personal wealth is unknown. Perhaps the civil lawsuits to come can discover that. I doubt it.

Bu$h would rather pardon Kenny-boy on the last day of his second term. Barring that, he would prefer to hold the pardon until after the 2008 November elections. Barring that, Bu$h would probably rather hold off a pardon until after the 2006 mid-term elections.

But, mark my word, Kenny-boy will never see the inside of a Gray-bar Hotel. If Lay gets a prison report date of 10/15/2006, he will be pardoned on 10/14/2006. And then, sooner or later (to paraphrase the words of Yeats), things will fall apart; the centre will not hold.

Mac