Illston agreed with Bonds’ attorney to dismiss two of the charges that were based on questions posed by prosecutors asking Bonds if he ever took steroids or received “flax seed oil stuff” because, she said, they were too vague to sustain a perjury charge.

Illston also threw out another count based on Bonds’ repeated denials that he obtained human growth hormone from his personal trainer, Greg Anderson, because it too closely mirrored another charge, she said.

Finally, prosecutors combined two similar charges into a single count.

This seems superficially good for Bonds. Yeah, the counts dropped from 14 to 10; but his defense didn't get any easier.

THOSE FAT CATS ARE GETTING THEIR COMEUPPANCE!

If Bush pardons Clemens (which many people I know seem to feel is a foregone conclusion), does he also have to pardon Bonds?

(which many people I know seem to feel is a foregone conclusion)

Oh please, more of this fairytale?

I would be surprised if Bush didn't pardon himself, so he might as well do Clemens and Bonds while he's at it.

If Bush pardons Clemens (which many people I know seem to feel is a foregone conclusion), does he also have to pardon Bonds?

Why would he help a black guy?

And conversely, Bonds doesn't sign pardon requests for white people.

You can bet your ass that if I were President, on my way out I'd use pardons like you have never imagined. The #### do I care what you think? I'm either an incumbent who lost, so screw all y'all, or I'm departing a two-termer and my history is written. Pardons are a footnote. He may not be from Texas, but GWB has been affected by it, and he's got many of the same personality traits that I know I have because I am from Texas. As liberal as I am, we're probably closer than I'd admit, and I honestly will be unsurprised by much of anything when pardons come down. He's been flaunting the law with signing statements for 8 years, I don't see why he wouldn't do it on his way out by pardoning a whole mess of people.

Wouldn't signing a pardon for Clemens say that you thought he was guilty?

I wonder, if I was it Rocket's shoes, if I would like that or not.

Flouting. Not flaunting. But the point remains. However, I'd be shocked if Bush pardoned Clemens. Does anyone even know if there's a pardon application to act on?

"If Bush pardons Clemens (which many people I know seem to feel is a foregone conclusion), does he also have to pardon Bonds?"

Hell no. Since when does Bush care about intellectual consistency?

Does anyone even know if there's a pardon application to act on?

Didn't you catch Gamingboy's accidental misread?

Basically, someone was speculating that Clemens could submit a pardon application, but there's no actual indication that one has already been submitted, or that Clemens has any plans to submit one in the future. Given that his position from day one has been that he's totally innocent, it would be a fairly big surprise for him to suddenly request a pardon.

Flouting. Not flaunting.

You...you...you just shut up!

(Correct, and why I shouldn't try to think within 5 minutes of waking up.)

You can bet your ass that if I were President, on my way out I'd use pardons like you have never imagined.

As an aside, pardons used to be very common. They've gotten rarer and rarer over the years, but the two Bushes have been the stingiest of all. (Of course, this one still has another 6 weeks, so he could go crazy.)

They've been doing this stuff with re-writing the charges for months. I understand that this doesn't necessarily reflect the merits of the case, but is this common?

As an aside, pardons used to be very common. They've gotten rarer and rarer over the years, but the two Bushes have been the stingiest of all.

Here's a decent reference for the number of pardons (and associated actions) by each of the 20th Century Presidents. As David notes, Bush the Elder really didn't like to pardon anyone at all (only 77 pardons). Bush the Younger, while not listed, has also shared that trait.

4 down 10 to go, you can beat this berry.