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Posts Tagged ‘Trump’

Pardon Me

January 21st, 2025 No comments

link: https://www.cnn.com/2024/12/01/politics/hunter-biden-joe-biden-pardon/index.html

By now we all know that the defining event of Joe Biden’s troubled presidency was the 11th hour and 45th minute of his regime; that is the revelation of the list of people being granted the Presidential pardon.  Biden’s action is hardly unique in history as every parting President has granted such courtesies at the end of their tenure.

However, Biden’s list is a bit different than all previous pardons.  Doing his best Oprah Winfrey imitation, he granted a total of over 2500 presidential pardons, essentially declaring, “and you get a pardon and you get a pardon”.  He tossed them out like nauseating accolades at the Oscars.

In total, Biden pardoned or commuted over 2500 individuals from their transgressions.  Upon performing this fact check on Bing Copilot, even this AI platform commented that “this seems a lot, don’t you think?” In fact, these pardons are the most ever in US history. Among those pardoned were family members; not unprecedented given that Bill Clinton and Donald Trump did the same for their relatives when they were leaving office.

What was most interesting this time however was that he gave pre-emptive pardons to a large list of people who could be in trouble in the future, including of course, his entire family.  As far as anyone knows, this has never happened before and I’m sure the brilliant legal machinery will argue over its legality.  It’s essentially a blanket ‘get out of jail free’ card.  Even though the named individuals including Liz Cheney, Adam Schiff, Mark Miley and Anthony Fauci are not currently under any indictment or yet in prison, they have been given a federal immunity card; just in case.  Nothing says you’re probably guilty than to require a shield of immunity from future legal culpability.

When you research the criteria for presidential pardons, there are supposedly guidelines on who may be eligible.  I wouldn’t get all excited over legal agreement on this since they’re still fighting over what a man or a woman is.  Suffice to say, the President has enormous latitude on who he excuses from legal punishment. The left leaning website, “Protect Democracy” wrote in 2020 when President Trump was leaving the top office:

“…In practice, as president, Trump also supercharged abuses of the pardon power, twisting a power intended to serve the public interest into a tool for self-dealing. As a Washington Post investigation of all clemency acts during his tenure concluded: “Never before had a president used his constitutional clemency powers to free or forgive so many people who could be useful to his future political efforts.” This included a record number of pardons for white-collar criminals who would go on to provide political and financial support to the former president…”

We won’t hold our breath waiting for their snarky commentary on Biden’s phone book list of pardonees.

The implication of this pre-emptive pardon is clear.  If this stands, it will give any future president a tool in which to oppress and terrorize citizens without exposing their foot-soldiers to any culpability.  If means that there is no rein on what political acts can be performed even and including treasonous acts and conspiracies against citizens.

According to the Supreme Court, the pardon power is intended as a tool for justice and mercy (an “act of grace”) and to further “the public welfare.” As one federal court has held: “The President, who exercises that power as the elected representative of all the People, must always exercise it in the public interest.”  It will be amusing to see how the pre-emptive pardoning of people yet to be charged with a crime is in the public interest.

 

Trump Won….Or Kamala Lost?

November 12th, 2024 No comments

Trump won… or Kamala lost?   What’s the difference?  If one steps back and looks at the zeitgeist leading up to the 2024 election, the groundwork had been laid for years, if not decades.

Post the World War 2 era, the United States began its ascent to becoming the world’s top economic and cultural engine.  It was a time of great emerging prosperity and during this era, the US transformed more and more into an urban rather than an agricultural society.  Industrialization drew people into cities and the influence on American culture likewise shifted towards the sensibilities of their inhabitants.

Consumerism became a thing and suddenly, keeping up with the Jones’ also emerged as the great American pursuit.  Endowed with new prosperity, Americans moved even further away from its agricultural roots and children were instead funneled into universities and colleges to fit into the new economy.  What also blossomed during this time was the appetite for entertainment of all kinds. These were the golden days of the newish device of television.  Now, news and opinions could be transmitted nationwide not just in localized regions.  Two regions emerged as major influencers on American culture; New York and California.  What came out of those regions influenced the entire nation.

Politicians, always astute in recognizing opportunities to help themselves, focused much of their political messages in these heavily populated regions, since that’s where the votes were.  As wealth grew, focus on quality of life eclipsed the mundane needs of simple survival.  Self-actualization became the rage and campuses and culture embraced this new cultural direction.  The era of ‘me’ came into being by the mid ‘60’s.  The late 60’s and early 70’s period was scarred by the war in Vietnam.  As a nation, people strongly pushed back against a war which cost the lives of thousands of young men and which seemed to have no relevance to their own lives.

This anti-war contingent was most prevalent on college campuses both for philosophical reasons and for the existential reason of maybe being drafted for war. In tandem with this was the emergence of the civil rights movement which again found fertile ground at college campuses nationwide.  The power of the youth vote emerged and became a significant political voice which politicians had to consider.  Thus, perhaps for the first time in history, the elders had to consider the views of their children.  But having radically different views from their parents was not easy in the early days.  Often these kids were considered brainwashed and rebellious for the sake of being rebellious. In fact this massive pushback against the dictates of the establishment gave rise to a new consciousness about America and its role in the world.  The notion of peace versus war became more and more mainstream and accepted by Americans tired of never ending wars.  The colleges became the conscience of the nation. They collectively concluded that the vision of the establishment was not one that they agreed with.

As the threat of war diminished along with a national draft, other issues began appearing at college campuses now empowered to exert influence.  The kids that were students were now professors teaching the next generation of students. Being bastions of free thought meant that all kinds of divergent views from the mainstream could be explored.  But an interesting thing happened.

While the embracing of free thought was always the foundation of colleges, as time went on, views that were not in accordance with the ‘accepted’ views were not only unacceptable, they were increasingly restricted or forbidden. As we know, much of what is learned at college is carried forward into society at large and supported by media and entertainment.

Thus, we’ve come full circle.  Whereas anti-war activists back in the day were considered outcasts and trouble-makers, on today’s campuses, to express any opposition to LGBT or DEI principles will make you a pariah. Show any skepticism towards Global Warming and you may as well have 3 heads.  Just as anti-war students back in the day were characterized as hippies and communists, any opposition to the woke zeitgeist on college campuses today will have you labelled as fascist right wingers.  To show any support for a traditional nuclear family or to insist that there are only two sexes will be enough to cast you into being a resident of Nutville.

As with many things in nature, the cultural pendulum has reached its zenith.  Kamala Harris was the unfortunate person without a chair when the music stopped.  It was clear that people had had enough of the incoherent utterances on issues with which she had no expertise. It was clear that she represented the very worst of what’s become of American society, someone who had risen to position without any redeeming skills and who represented a set of ideologies antithetical to common sense.  It was clear that her values and those of her celebrity pals were far removed from the values of the majority of Americans, particularly young Americans.  Rather than being an inspiration, many voters preferred to distance themselves from her party’s message.  The most damning event was when Robert Kennedy Jr, whose family is THE iconic stalwart of the Democrats, left the party and condemned them for having morphed completely away from their original foundations.

Sure, lots people of all demographics voted for Trump, but it was just as much a movement away from the radical values of the Left.  Like the college kids of the 60’s the majority of Americans today are now signaling a new consciousness. College campuses can no longer claim to be the barometer of cultural values. Post voting analysis shows that it was the youth vote that swung away from Harris as much as it was towards Trump.  I think it should be noted that people didn’t flock to the Republican party.  Rather, they agreed with Trump’s message.  Some sixty years later, they have calculated collectively again that the vison of the now establishment was not one that they agreed with.  I suspect that younger people were tired of being told what to think and what was acceptable. The woke agenda had morphed into a bizarre and grotesque creature.  Eventually, youth will always question the official narrative, that much is timeless.  Ironically, it was a septuagenarian Trump that empowered them and gave them voice.