Pardon Me?

The Skinny is Joel Roberts' take on the top news of the day and the best of the Internet.

The Washington Post reports the sentencing leaves President Bush with a dilemma: "Trigger a fresh political storm by pardoning a convicted perjurer or let one of the early architects of his administration head to prison."

The Post says it's become such a sensitive issue inside the White House that even the president's friends have been told not to bring it up with him. Officials say Vice President Cheney, Libby's former boss, is said to favor a pardon, while other aides worry about the political fallout from a pardon.

The New York Times says "several Republican advisers close to the White House" are perplexed as to why Mr. Bush seems hesitant about pardoning Libby. Mr. Bush has pardoned more than 100 people so far in his presidency, although none have been prominent former members of his administration.

The White House sought to defer the matter, saying that the president is "not going to intervene" for now. But he may have to make his mind up soon. The judge in the case indicated that he's not inclined to let Libby remain free pending appeals, meaning he could be headed to prison within a few weeks unless Mr. Bush acts.

GOP Debate: Not Front-Page News

At least they're consistent. As was the case with a Democratic debate earlier in the week, last night's Republican presidential debate was largely absent from the front pages of the morning papers.

While the GOP face-off in Manchester, N.H., did include some fireworks – mostly as Sen. John McCain defended his controversial immigration legislation against bitter attacks – the Washington Post was once again the only major daily to feature a debate story on page one, although others did feature front-page teases for debate stories buried inside the paper.

How'd the rest of the major papers play the debate? The New York Times ran its debate story on page A18, the L.A. Times on page A15, and USA Today on page 4A.

All the debate stories included mentions of the event's missing man, former Sen. Fred Thompson, who still hasn't officially declared his candidacy but appeared on Fox TV immediately after the debate to announce the launch of his campaign Web site.

Raising A Stink Over Turkey Manure

It doesn't look, or smell, like an answer to America's energy needs. But Minnesota farmers are hoping that turkey waste – that's right, turkey waste – can help reduce the nation's dependence on fossil fuels, and put a few extra bucks in their pockets.

The New York Times reports on a new $200 million power plant in the small town of Benson, Minn., that burns turkey litter – manure mixed with farm animal bedding like wood chips – to produce electricity.

The project, which was subsidized by the state and is viewed largely as a test case, is a boon for local turkey farmers who've been bringing truckloads of waste to the plant, where it fetches $3 to $7 a ton, "depending on the quality." And with Minnesota producing more turkeys than any state in the country, 44.5 million in 2005, there's a lot of money to be made in manure.

But not everyone's happy with the prospect of turning the gobblers' droppings into gold. Critics charge that the plant is unfriendly to the environment and that turkey waste is more valuably used as a rich, organic fertilizer than as an untested alternative energy source. Producing electricity from turkey waste is also expensive, requiring a lot of input for a relatively small output.

Still, says The Times, the plant's supporters wonder why all the stink over turkey manure?

"This is the only advancement in manure utilization since the manure spreader – that's 100-year-old technology," said a third-generation turkey farmer who now works at the plant as a field manager.

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