The Libby commute may be the best thing that ever happened for the pro-impeachment movement since we took over Congress, because the Libby commute is easy for the general public to recognize as being a very bad thing done by Bush, as Keith Olbermann pointed out two nights ago.
Olbermann sees the Libby commute as being akin to Nixon's epochal & pivotal firing of Archibald Cox (known as the "Saturday Night Massacre"), an event which the general public could readily recognize as a naked abuse of power by Nixon.
Like with the Libby commute, Nixon's firing of Archibald Cox was technically "legal", but everybody knew in their gut that it was a very very bad thing that Nixon had done here.
After the firing of Archibald Cox, things rapidly fell apart for Nixon. It was a pivotal and defining moment in the Watergate saga.
I am hopeful that just like with Nixon's firing of Archibald Cox, the Libby commute by Bush will resonate with the general public and force a paradigm shift in Pelosi's thinking regarding impeachment, as well as diminish the influence of whomever Pelosi's current Svengali is (the Blue Dog caucus?) who is telling Pelosi not to do impeachment because "the public would never go for it".
Another nice thing about the Libby commute is that it gets Bush himself personally involved deep into obstruction of justice, for everybody to plainly see.
It does not matter if the Libby commute was technically "legal"; Congress has broad subjective/interpretive powers under impeachment to call a spade a spade (to recognize obstruction of justice), even if the foundation act (the Libby commute) is technically "legal".
That is why we have to get formal impeachment hearings in Congress initiated asap, to provide the proper frame & focus for the general public and the MSM, the frame that says that we have a potential very serious obstruction of justice matter here.
Basically, the Libby commute was a form of hush money paid by Bush himself to keep Libby quiet, and I think the general public can readily see that and buy into that as being a serious impeachable offense.
Citing Jesse Jackson Jr:
In her first weeks as leader of the Congress, Speaker Nancy Pelosi withdrew the notion of impeachment proceedings against either President Bush or Vice President Cheney," announced Jackson. "With the president's decision to once again subvert the legal process and the will of the American people by commuting the sentence of convicted felon Lewis Scooter' Libby, I call on House Democrats to reconsider impeachment proceedings.
and John Conyers:
In light of yesterday’s announcement by the President that he was commuting the prison sentence for Scooter Libby, it is imperative that Congress look into presidential authority to grant clemency, and how such power may be abused," Conyers said. "Taken to its extreme, the use of such authority could completely circumvent the law enforcement process and prevent credible efforts to investigate wrongdoing in the executive branch.