Mueller is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Mueller is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, has been a John Simon Guggenheim

Fellow, and has received grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Endowment for the

Humanities. He has also received several teaching prizes.

As I was watching the Libby verdict come in on CNN, a legal analyst was explaining how Libby’s defense

team will try to stall their client’s incarceration until the president issues a pardon, probably in

January 2009. Incredulous laughter began bubbling up from some offscreen presence. The camera switched

back to the young, African-American anchor, who,with genuine surprise in his voice, asked something to

the effect of, “You mean Libby may never serve a day?”

I don’t know what was running through the anchor’s mind, but I wonder if it had anything to do with

the number of people, disproportionately young and African-American, sitting in prison at this very

moment for the heinous crime of possessing a dime bag. I wonder if he was marveling at the possibility

of this rich, politically connected prick – who made his fortune getting other rich, politically

connected pricks off the hook – never serving a day despite lying us into a war that has killed

tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people. I wonder…