What Happens When Moral Values and Supporting the Troops Collide?

Scooter Libby gets special treatment directly from the President after being convicted of obstruction of justice. This same president loves to accuse those who disagree with his war in Iraq of not supporting the troops. Well, what happens when a veteran returns from that same war, develops a deep personal and religious conviction and decides based on his moral convictions that he could not redeploy after "seeing scenes of devastation in Iraq, and through his readings of both the Bible and the Qu’ran." Scenes of devastation such as this:

“Homes were bombed, people lived in mud huts and drank water from the mud puddles," Benderman wrote in his conscientious objector application. "I could not ignore the little girl standing by the side of the road with her mother. Her arm was burned to her shoulder, and she cried in pain. To be aware of the mass graves throughout the area that we were in, full of bodies of women and children and men, all who had died by the hand of war, maybe not our war, but war.”

Well, Mr. President of the party of moral values, where was your commutation or pardon for this 10-year Army mechanic and Iraqi veteran? This guy "spent 14 months in prison for filing a conscientious objector application against redeployment to Iraq." According to his wife, it gets worse from there and she's, justifiably, a little pissed off at the President's actions:

"Parole was denied to Kevin because he had not been 'sufficiently rehabilitated.'", she said. "What were they rehabilitating him from? Not wanting to go to war. During those 14 months Kevin would be sitting in a plastic chair getting shouted at; he was denied his mail at times, they tried to prevent his talking to his attorney and our congressperson. Meanwhile, Libby -- who covered up the truth on issues of war that affect the lives of people like my husband -- is going to walk away."

Kevin Benderman is this veteran's name, and I want to know one thing, when is Bush going to pardon Mr. Benderman? Probably never.

An outrage, you say? No, I think we're well beyond the point of outrage.