A Decision Made Largely Alone - washingtonpost.com:

"A spokeswoman for the vice president said she did not know what he advised."

Of course not. The Veep had nothing to do with this. Just because he's super duper secret with those tomb sized safes in his office, somehow, someone would tell the press (who the Veep has the utmost respect for) what Dick Cheney said to the President. Sure ....

On some more realistic points, the fact that some conservatives are embracing this commutation as OK, shows that modern conservatism is dead. Personal relationships has taken precedent over the law. Plus with his legal defense fund paying the fine, it looks like his appointment with the parole officer doesn't sound so bad. I wonder if Bush thought about the criminals family that he put to death in Texas as he did with Mrs. Libby.