Are you a Libby donor?

You've probably heard by now that former adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby was convicted Tuesday of lying and obstructing a leak investigation. The four guilty verdicts ended a seven-week CIA leak trial that focused new attention on the Bush administration's much-criticized handling of intelligence reports about weapons of mass destruction in the run-up to the Iraq war. (Go here for full AP story)

The same day Libby was convicted, it was announced that former Senator Fred Thompson, a member of the Advisory Committee for the Libby Legal Defense Trust has offered to host another fundraiser for the Libby Legal Defense Trust.

Are there really Scooter Libby donors out there?

If the former senator (and current Law & Order television star) is really concerned about his buddy Scooter, perhaps he should host a fundraiser for the Human Rights Watch's Sentencing Project. As a convicted felon living in Virgina - Libby will be barred from voting in upcoming elections.

In forty-six states and the District of Columbia, criminal disenfranchisement laws deny the vote to all convicted adults in prison. Thirty-two states also disenfranchise felons on parole; twenty-nine disenfranchise those on probation. And, due to laws that may be unique in the world, in fourteen states even ex-offenders who have fully served their sentences remain barred for life from voting.

That doesn't sound like a democracy to me... but this is a blog about donors and fundraising... so let me say this: it seems to me if you are donating to the Libby Defense Fund you are either wasting your money or paying a scape goat for keeping his mouth closed.