30 months is "excessive," but only for Bush's friends

The Raw Story reports that the Bush Administration filed a "friend of the court" brief last year in a case that closely resembles the case of Scooter Libby. In the other case, Rita v. United States, Victor Rita was tried, convicted, and sentenced to 33 months in prison on charges of ... yes, perjury and obstruction of justice. Just like Scooter.

In his appeal, Mr. Rita argued that his sentence was unfair, although it was within the sentencing guidelines (as was Scooter's) and that it failed to take into account his personal characteristics such as his military service. The brief filed by the Bush Administration argues that personal characteristics don't matter, if sentencing is with in the guidelines:

Petitioner contends that his personal characteristics "clearly support a lesser sentence," ... but that contention is not sufficient to rebut the presumption that a within-Guidelines sentence is reasonable.

Huh? Just this week, Bush announced that he was commuting Libby's sentence because he thought 30 months was "excessive," even though it was within the federal sentencing guidelines. Explaining why Libby's within-guidelines sentence was excessive, President Bush said "Mr. Libby was a first-time offender with years of exceptional public service" and that "The reputation he gained through his years of public service and professional work in the legal community is forever damaged. His wife and young children have also suffered immensely."

Sounds like personal characteristics to me. But for Mr. Rita, 33 months for the same charge is "reasonable," and we don't care about your personal life.