Will Bush pardon Libby? Is he really allowed to do that?

Now that top White House aide Karl Rove is off the hook in the CIA leak probe, President George W. Bush must weigh whether to pardon former vice presidential aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, the only one indicted in the three-year investigation.

Speculation about a pardon began in late October, soon after Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald unsealed the perjury indictment of Libby, and it continued last week after Fitzgerald chose not to charge Rove.

"I think ultimately, of course, there are going to be pardons," said Joseph diGenova, a former prosecutor and an old Washington hand who shares that view with many pundits.

"These are the kinds of cases in which historically presidents have given pardons," said the veteran Republican attorney.

The White House remains mum on the president's intentions. Spokeswoman Dana Perino declined to comment Friday.

Bush has powerful incentives to pardon Libby, however. They range from rewarding past loyalty to ending the awkward revelations emerging from pretrial motions, a flow that could worsen in his trial next year.

Even Richard Nixon never misused the power of his office as much as George Bush does on a nearly constant basis. He rewards the staff members that kiss his ass and then blocks investigations into their criminal activities. He sabotages the careers of his political enemies and then sends his underlings to take the heat before he puls them out of the fire before any real justice can be meted out.

The biggest criminal of all is still George W. Bush, and until he is held accountable for his many crimes against this country there will be no justice.