Bush Pardons Nineteen

In an act of Christmas clemency, George W.Bush has announced his latest list of pardons. But those who were expecting him to let off Scooter Libby, Dick Cheney’s chief of staff who lied to the federal investigation into the leaking of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s name, or Conrad Black, the jailed newspaper proprietor who personally applied for a pardon, or Michael Milken, the junk bond fraudster, whose name has been touted as a likely pardonee, are in for a disappointment. Among the 19 is the late Charles Winters, who served 18 months in prison for violating the Neutrality Act, though he was also a hero, helping ship arms and airplanes to the nascent Israeli state.