Michael Isikoff, in Newsweek:

In a move that has keenly disappointed some of his strongest conservative allies, President Bush has decided not to pardon Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, for his 2007 conviction in the CIA leak case, two White House officials said Monday.

On Bush's last full day as president, Bush did commute the sentence of two former Border Patrol agents--Jose Compean and Ignacio Ramos--for shooting a Mexican drug dealer and then lying about it. But White House press spokesman Tony Fratto told NEWSWEEK "you should not expect any more" pardons and commutations from Bush before he leaves office Tuesday. Another senior official, who requested anonymity discussing sensitive matters, confirmed that no more pardons would be granted.

Bush's decision leaves a long line of rejected pardon applicants, many of whom have retained politically well-connected Washington lawyers, to make their case for presidential mercy in Bush's final days in the White House. Among them were junk-bond king Michael Milken, media mogul Conrad Black, former Illinois GOP governor George Ryan and former Louisiana Democratic governor Edwin Edwards. Bush also apparently turned down a last-minute plea from Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski to pardon her former GOP colleague Ted Stevens for his recent political corruption conviction.

I must admit that this news surprises me, as I believed that George W. Bush was going to do whatever he was going to do -- no matter what popular opinion demanded. And I'm not holding my breath on this report either, despite the fact that Isikoff is a great reporter with sources at the highest levels.

If this story does pan out, and the President doesn't pardon Scooter Libby or Ted Stevens -- or preemptively pardon his administration -- it seems to me that the scandal surrounding Rod Blagojevich will have played a not insignificant role. With the alleged sale of a Senate seat being thoroughly discussed throughout the press in recent weeks, could a President, even George W. Bush, really escape unscathed from pardoning or commuting the sentences of those in his administration and party? While President Bush (and I am happy to say this is the last time I will be using those two words in succession without the modifier "former" attached) may not care about his current approval numbers, he does seem to worry about the way he is viewed by history, and excusing the official misconduct of cronies might be an unpardonable sin for Americans, in the long run as well as in the short.