Where are you, Eliot Ness?

As this Fourth of July has ground to a close, I had the sense that our country had become a part of a late 1950's crime drama. This complete with characters that would do a Mafia family proud: Dick "The Enforcer" Cheney, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, "W". The episode begins when Scooter lies under oath to cover the goings-on in the Enforcer's fiefdom and is convicted of perjury. The Enforcer tells him not to worry because he'll never have to serve any jail time since the appeals will drag on till after the elections and then W will pardon him just before leaving office. But the tough-on-crime judge appointed by W seemed to think that Scooter should start serving his sentence before the appeals process had run its course. Did Scooter threaten to squeal if he had to do jail time? Was that why W commuted the jail time in the sentence? What do the Enforcer and W have to hide? Where is Eliot Ness when you need him?