I'll hold my breath until I win!$28,500. That is how much Isaac Toussie’s dad had to donate to the Republican National Committee to get his son pardoned by George W. Bush. The younger Toussie had cheated Suffolk, NY out of $5 million in a land scam and had falsified documents in order to get people qualified for HUD mortgages who otherwise could not have gotten mortgages. Toussie got five months home confinement (go to your room!) and did not have to make restitution for any of the money he stole. And now he has a completely clean record. As the NY Daily News said, “[This is either] breathtaking abuse of discretion that smells of cheaply bough political favoritism [or] Bush is a tone-deaf moron.” I say, why can’t it be both?

Update (12/25): The report today is that Bush has recalled the pardon. He claims that it was a mistake and that he had no idea that Toussie’s criminal record was so extensive or that Toussie’s pop had donated so much money to the RNC. Sure he didn’t.