Denis: Don't be so silly. The Nixon pardon was done because he was still elected President, and the country did not need to have the whole affair dragged through the courts. Nixon died dishonored and reviled by many people. That pardon was to save the country from an unnecessary soap opera. This Rich pardon (have to love the irony of the name!!), on the other hand, was solely motivated by money and donations either to the Presidential library, to the DNC, or to Clinton himself (any speculation that Rich gave money to Clinton's legal defense fund?). There is no reason whatsoever to pardon this prick other than as a quid pro quo, since everyone who is familiar with the scoundrel agrees that he's despicable in every way.
JellyBaby: I think it's understandable for Bush to not "rock the boat" on the pardon issue as far as Presidential power is concerned. While there is talk of limiting the President's unfettered power in the future (Specter talks of an Amendment), I doubt that anything will be done on that front. The issue is that Clinton broke the traditional rules in granting the pardon by not consulting with law enforcement or intelligence agencies about this case prior to granting it. Of course Bush doesn't want to lose this Presidential privilege, nor does he want part of his legacy to reflect that he ceded power to Congress.