Will Bush pardon Clemens?

As a president leaves office, it's almost a time-honored tradition that they issue some presidential pardons as they go out the door. That's how Gerald Ford took Richard Nixon off the hook from Watergate, and also how George W. Bush could do a favor for a fellow Texan, Roger Clemens.

Clemens was a friend of George H.W. Bush, and he's been a political contributor to Republicans in the past. While Clemens hasn't been convicted of perjury charges - stemming from his Feb. 2008 testimony before Congress - a grand jury will convene to determine if he will be charged.

Clemens' lawyer, Rusty Hardin, laughed at the suggestion last February. "First of all, Roger is never going to be convicted of anything, and second, he (the president) is never going to do that," Hardin said to USA Today. "... I think President Bush has more pressing things on his plate than steroids. That idea had never occurred to us."

No disrespect to Mr. Hardin, but I'm sure that idea has occurred to him these days.

ESPN.com's Buster Olney has an enlightening pro and con on this subject on his blog as well.

Clemens is no threat to society, and he's already been punished greatly in the court of public opinion. But if Bush, a former owner of the Texas Rangers, does pardon Clemens, he'll be going against his public stance on steroid use in baseball.

From the president's State of the Union address in 2004.

"Athletics play such an important role in our society, but, unfortunately, some in professional sports are not setting much of an example. The use of performance-enhancing drugs like steroids in baseball, football, and other sports is dangerous, and it sends the wrong message - that there are shortcuts to accomplishment, and that performance is more important than character. So tonight I call on team owners, union representatives, coaches, and players to take the lead, to send the right signal, to get tough, and to get rid of steroids now."

We'll see how tough that is when Bush leaves office.