NY Times (reg. req'd) did an article on Libby's commutation and how hesitant Bush has historically been in granting clemency in trial verdicts. We know all this, so I'll spare you the whole article. But one little paragraph caught my attention:
In his memoir, Mr. Bush wrote about agonizing over the case of Karla Faye Tucker, who in 1998 became the first woman executed in Texas since the Civil War. Ms. Tucker, who was convicted in the ax murders of two people during a robbery in 1983, had become a born-again Christian while in prison, and her case drew support from across the political spectrum. Mr. Bush described feeling "like a huge piece of concrete was crushing me" as he waited with aides for Ms. Tucker's execution. It was, he said, "the longest 20 minutes of my tenure as governor."
Wow. Twenty. Whole. Minutes. Do you suppose that was before or after he did this?