Why is it a victory for the 'right'? I was for them to be pardoned a long time ago, and I am most certainly NOT on the 'right'. If you read the court case that put them behind bars, you would see that it is not a "victory for the right". Bush's U.S. Attorney, Johnnie Sutton, was the prosecuting attorney that perpetrated this injustice! Please read the facts of the case before putting a headline out that is patently false!

If Bush is willing to use his pardon power to help two guys who shot an unarmed man in the back, then folks like Scotter Libby and Brad Scholzman have got it made in the shade. Their phones will be ringing momentarily.

The overwhelming (and not unjustified) media frenzy surrounding Obama's inauguration is a perfect cover for any pardons Bush wishes to make. At 11:00 tonight, he could pardon Hitler, Satan, and Osama bin Laden, and it would go barely noticed.

Also, you have it down as they "killed" the smuggler. That is not correct. He was wounded by buckshot in the buttocks and brought back to the U. S. for treatment. He was smuggling drugs into the country and was shot trying to escape. The border agents were partners and one thought the other had been shot. So...The agents had no idea that he was unarmed. In fact, that has never been proven. He escaped back across the border and then the Mexican government made a big deal out of it, and the Bush Admin went after the border agents. The agents did not report what had happened. They just thought the guy had escaped unharmed. They WERE in violation of rules requiring them to report the firing of a weapon, which they did not do. But, 9 and 10 years in prison for breaking the rules?? (They were convicted of shooting and wounding him).

The prosecuting attorney, Bush's hand picked guy in Texas, brought the smuggler back to testify at these border guards trial, even after he had been caught smuggling drugs across the border AGAIN!! They (Bush Justice Dept) wanted to stop the border patrol from doing their duty, which is to stop illegal aliens from entering the country. Hence: The prosecution for doing their jobs. You need to realize that the Conservatives were the ones who wanted cheap labor in this country in the first place. Only after their constituents protested, did they change their stance.

I hope Bush pardons everybody, because it takes the 5th amendment protection off the table in any future investigations/commissions AND it takes the decision out of Obama's hands. I don't think Obama is going to prosecute, which would be a stain on his Presidency right off the bat.

According to the AP "Nearly the entire bipartisan congressional delegation from Texas" supported the commutation. Immigration demogoguery is always a left/right thing. This border guard issue was a cause of the GOP base but there are plenty of border state Dems who are happy to go along with the show.

Can TPM get breakdown of who supported this action in among Congressional Democrats?

THis is an interesting piece of information. It seems, as in Scotter's case, that Bush is struggling with reversing a jury's verdict. Now, I may be giving him too much credit, but on its face, that seems to be what's going on.

With respect to the actual case, it looks like the agents used far more force than was warranted or necessary. The guy wasn't a physical threat to them. They shouldn't have shot him in the back. I suspect that there were other ways to deal with the escape.

Let's see... pardon a business guy who paid all his fines for bad accounting and who should never have been charged with criminal charges, only civil ones, and that is reason to scream bloody murder because Clinton did it, and hold up the nomination of Eric Holder for his secondary involvement in said pardon, but pardon two guys who KILLED an unarmed person, and that's all fine and dandy.

GOP "values" writ large.

Could Bush be trying to make a PR stand here - I didn't pardon anybody because I believe in the law. Ag Holder, who pardoned terrorists and felons, is now coming after me saying I broke the law. Folks, I know the law and respect it which is why I didn't pardon anybody. Everything I did, I did so within the law. I didn't pardon anybody from my administration because nobody did anything wrong. If pardoning anybody/everybody would have been seen as an admission of guilt, would pardoning nobody when he had the power to be seen as the belief in their complete innocence?

This isn't just a win for the right.

On this, it was the right thing to do. This guy was a repeat offending, drug smuggler who was running away from the scene of the crime he was committing.

As far as I'm concerned, front or back, shot the motherfuckers.

Can a gay, progressive say that?!

Hmmm.

The people most adamant about the prosecution of these two guys were the people in law enforcement. Keep that in mind folks.

When the brotherhood is willing to say these guys oughta be locked up for what they did then you need to take notice. It, therefore, makes perfect sense that Bush (himself a multiple felon albeit not yet convicted) would commute the sentences of these vermin.