Scooter Libby drops appeal ... is a holiday pardon on the way?

As very well covered by various bloggers here and here and here, the legal teams for I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby has announced that Libby has decided to drop his appeals of his convictions.  For a variety of reasons, I do not find this news especially surprising simply as a matter of economics and practicalities given that, even if his appeal was successful, Libby still could have faced an unpleasant retrial.

What is interesting is the timing of this announcement.  TalkLeft here speculates on a pardon this holiday season, though I do not know why President Bush would not be content to wait until the traditional lame duck clemency season next year.  Then again, maybe Scooter is upset that, because of federal felon-in-possession laws, he will not able able to go hunting this season (or any other) unless and until he gets a pardon.

Another possibility is that Libby, after learning that the latest issue of the Federal Sentencing Reporter is all about his case (details here; available on-line here), decided he needed more time to reflect on the lessons to be drawn from his case.