Pollard's 8,460th

Today there is only one person on my mind.
Jonathan Jay Pollard.
He has been in prison for 8,460 days
Today is the last day on which he might be pardoned by outgoing President George W Bush.

The odds are stacked against Pollard, just as they were when Clinton left office. (Bill saved his pardons for fraudsters like Marc Rich and the Gregorys, friends of his brother-in-law Tony Rodham who, it was later revealed, was paid a $100,000 bribe by the felons.)

Bush is a decent man, and I would have thought he'd be reading those thousands of "Free Pollard" faxes with a heavy heart. But the CIA has huge leverage and is determined to see Pollard rot in jail as an example to other Jews working in the security establishment.

But aside from the traditions of transition, the President is entitled to grant a pardon at ANY time.

How embarrassing it might therefore be, if instead of being pardoned by Bush on his last day in office, Pollard were pardoned by Obama on his first?