१९ फेब्रुवारी, २०२०

"I’ve written hundreds of stories, blog posts, magazine articles and, finally, a book on Blagojevich’s case. There was one sentiment I heard over and over again..."

"... which went something like, 'I know Blagojevich was guilty as hell but 14 years is insane.' That’s why President Donald Trump likely risks little political blowback by commuting the sentence of his onetime Apprentice contestant, even in the state that Blagojevich disgraced."

Writes Natasha Korecki in Politico.

And here's Jeffrey Toobin in The New Yorker, "The Trouble with Donald Trump's Clemencies and Pardons":
Authoritarianism is usually associated with a punitive spirit—a leader who prosecutes and incarcerates his enemies. But there is another side to this leadership style. Authoritarians also dispense largesse, but they do it by their own whims, rather than pursuant to any system or legal rule. The point of authoritarianism is to concentrate power in the ruler, so the world knows that all actions, good and bad, harsh and generous, come from a single source. That’s the real lesson—a story of creeping authoritarianism—of today’s commutations and pardons by President Trump....

[T]he pardons were entirely personal in origin.... A benevolent leader dispensed favors.... In this era of mass incarceration, many people deserve pardons and commutations, but this is not the way to go about it. 
Here's Wikipedia's list of Trump's pardons and commutations. Did Toobin just look at yesterday's announcements? It seems to me that Trump has granted clemency to some ordinary but deserving people caught in our "mass incarceration."

Toobin concludes:
All Trump has done is to prove that he can reward his friends and his friends’ friends. The chilling corollary is that he knows he can punish his enemies, too.
Granting clemency is a normal part of executive power, an explicit provision of the Constitution. Did Toobin indulge in this kind of "chilling corollary" reasoning when Obama was President?

By the way, why didn't Obama commute Blagojevich's sentence?

१९० टिप्पण्या:

Jaq म्हणाले...

It’s like Criminal Justice Reform has been memory holed. Remember the Super Bowl ad? “God bless you Donald John Trump!”?

wendybar म्हणाले...

Obama's Pardons and Commutations. 1927
Trumps 28

Who is the authoritarian again???

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

At least Toobin didn't call Blagojevich a Republican.

wendybar म्हणाले...

Obama didn't pardon Blogo, because he didn't want all the questions about Tony Rezko to come out about the great deal he gave the Obamas for land, amongst other things!!!

Ken B म्हणाले...

It gets worse. Trump donates his salary: what better way to establish dominance? He praises firefighters: this emphasizes his (latent) power to castigate them. And do not get me started on him shaking hands with kitchen workers, the bastard.

Mattman26 म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Mattman26 म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Limited blogger म्हणाले...

Don't know what it was about Blago, but I always liked him.

Mattman26 म्हणाले...

And remember when Clinton pardoned that big-time fraudster fugitive in what was pretty clearly payback for donations?

Carol म्हणाले...

The Blago business was great fun at the time but I didn't think it merited over 6 mo.
Seems more like a political prisoner and yeah why did't Obama commute?

So, same.

gilbar म्हणाले...

But! BUT Just this morning i read someone who said:
So much for the rule of law, already under siege by the Trump administration, and the notion that no one, no matter how rich or powerful, is above it.


I thought that the pardons were going to Really Hurt Trump's standing; with people that were deranged?

Chuck म्हणाले...

Althouse you’re trying hard to normalize Trump. Isn’t that an exercise in futility? Do the Trump cultists even want a normalized Trump? I don’t think so. I think they want the Trump who does what he wants to. And especially a Trump that does what the system opposes.

What I am about to write really isn’t needed for you, Althouse, because you certainly already know it. But if there were articulable, cogent, convincing reasons to pardon a Blagojevich, the Trump Administration could have pursued it through normal means within the Department of Justice. The DoJ has an entire team of lawyers reviewing thousands of pardon applications. Trump doesn’t do that. He never does that. There is just no point in discussing the real merits of a Blagojevich commutation or a Joe Arpaio pardon and certainly not a Roger Stone commutation because Trump has already rejected the process that incorporates reasonable thought and fair consideration of any legal merits. End of story.

gilbar म्हणाले...

Ken B said...
It gets worse. Trump donates his salary: what better way to establish dominance? He praises firefighters: this emphasizes his (latent) power to castigate them. And do not get me started on him shaking hands with kitchen workers, the bastard.


He's Worse than That! Not Only does he do all the dirt that Ken writes about...
I heard he CLOSED DOWN THE US EMBASSY IN TEL AVIV!!! You Don't Get More Anti-Semitic than that!

Howard म्हणाले...

I know right. Why bother to work so hard to attain the highest level of power and then not help your friends. Yeah I always kind of liked blogo and that old mayor of Toronto what was his name Ford the crackhead. There's something authentic about both those gentlemen. Don't get me started on Eddie d the greatest owner almost in NFL history.

Howard म्हणाले...

That fucking New York cop commissioner guy Bernie k never liked that cunt

MikeR म्हणाले...

I have hopes that normal people understand that there is pretty much no good reason ever to put anyone in jail for many years. There is absolutely no gain to anyone and enormous loss. The only excuse I can grasp is that the people are too dangerous to be allowed back on the streets. (I don't accept that excuse but I can understan it.)
That's why you get lines like, "I know Blagojevich was guilty as hell but 14 years is insane." The man tried to sell a Senate seat. That's pretty serious; I think it's probably more serious than selling a lot of fentanyl. But you take away the fear of the person being on the street, and pretty everybody say, Whoa - way too much.
But there is no reason to keep people in cages.

IgnatzEsq म्हणाले...

One thing that is hard to understand is that here is no actual reporters or reporting in the news. I used to think that reporters will investigate a story and report on it with their desired spin. Then I can understand their bias and how they work and get value out of their work. I've disabused myself of that notion.

To answer your question: "Did Toobin just look at yesterday's announcements?" the answer is yes. There was no leg work done, no attempt to analyze the semi-big picture, or put things in context. There never is. The only thing he did was look at what happened in the past week and said whatever Trump did was troubling. And he would have done that regardless of what Trump did. Because it happened to be granting clemency, that's what is troubling in today's column. The next column will be done the same way.

Jaq म्हणाले...

"Althouse you’re trying hard to normalize Trump. Isn’t that an exercise in futility?”

Somebody is on an “exercise in futility” here, that’s for sure. Is that phrase on your mind a lot Chuck?

Jake म्हणाले...

"so the world knows that all actions, good and bad, harsh and generous, come from a single source"

LBJ was mentioned elsewhere in today's posts, but I believe Caro's books demonstrated that this was also LBJ's style. I recall when he was merely a legislative aide, according to Caro, LBJ made sure that all correspondence to constituents made sure to identify him as the source of the response, not the actual representative. Authoritarians all, maybe?

Francisco D म्हणाले...

Obama did not pardon or commute Blago because Rod is a great embarrassment to Illinois Democrats.

Blago married Dick Mell's daughter and then ran for Dan Rostenkowski's old seat. The incumbent (Mike Fitzgerald) was a hapless drunk who beat Rosty because of the House financial scandal. There was no way that the Dems would not take back the seat and Blago was fortunate to be the chosen one to run.

Blago used his House seat for bigger things. The name recognition helped him run for Governor, a job with as much political patronage as Chicago Mayor or Cook County Board President. However, Blago was a simple hack who was too obvious in his corruption. He also thought he was a force unto himself and did not pay the "respect" required to party elders (sort of like the Mafia).

Trying to sell Obama's Senate seat was not a crime for Democrats. It has been done many times before. Getting caught and ridiculed was the crime. His punishment was severe because he needed to be made an example.

gilbar म्हणाले...

Please tell us how these pardons affect people's understanding of the Charlottesville Hoax Hoax Hoax Hoax?

Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

The chilling corollary is that he knows he can punish his enemies, too.

Like happened to McCabe?

Nonapod म्हणाले...

There was no obvious political benefit for commuting Blagojevich and only political downsides. So why did Trump do it? Is it possible that he did it because he thought it was the right thing to do? Is it possible that he wanted to help a past acquaintance who he had at least a passing fondness for who got a raw deal in terms of a harsh sentence?

Howard म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Bob Boyd म्हणाले...

The chilling corollary is that he knows he can punish his enemies, too.

Battlespace prep for what's coming?

Michael म्हणाले...

Yo, Chuck! FALN baby. Let em loose. Marc Rich dude.

CJinPA म्हणाले...

By the way, why didn't Obama commute Blagojevich's sentence?

He's somewhat close to the actual crime that put Blago away. It was Obama's former Senate seat the gov was offering to the highest bidder. Plus, Illinois Democrats have a long history of corruption, one that never tainted Obama, and he wants to keep it that way.

That said, I, too, cringe at Trump's stated reasoning for these things. "I knew him...he was on Apprentice..." I just wish he put forward more legal reasons.

Stephen म्हणाले...

In other administrations, pardons and commutations have gone through a process that involves close vetting and that very much includes the Justice Department. That doesn't mean that bad decisions didn't happen, Marc Rich being the best example of one. But Trump's process apparently bypasses that process. Doesn't that fact provide strong support for Toobin's interpretation?

Is it any wonder that Barr is considering resignation? I never thought I would say that I wanted Barr to stay, but given the President's "l'etat c'est moi" attitude toward federal law enforcement, I fear who he would pick as a replacement.

wendybar म्हणाले...

Meh....Spare me. Obama also pardoned Terrorist Oscar López Rivera, a Puerto Rican nationalist

TrespassersW म्हणाले...

"Did Toobin just look at yesterday's announcements?"

History began yesterday for people like Toobin.

Leland म्हणाले...

In some ways, Trump is establishing the boundaries of Presidential authority. That's undeniable. It is also undeniable the source of that authority is the US Constitution and not the DOJ or Congress. I think that is why Trump did these moves at this time. However, Trump's use of this power has been more reserved than his predecessors. That's probably because he owes nothing to the people he helped. The term for such action is called altruism.

TrespassersW म्हणाले...

Chuck said...
Althouse you’re trying hard to normalize Trump.

Let's flip that: Chuck, you've been trying hard for years to de-normalize Trump.

Drago म्हणाले...

LLR-lefty Chuck still thinks Trump is supposed to report to and defer to and pledge allegiance to all of Chuck's beloved democrat partisan hacks in the DOJ.

That's really now how any of this is supposed to work....and it's just killing the FakeCons...which is a very good thing.

And funny!

Did I mention how funny it is?

Amexpat म्हणाले...

The Blagojevich pardon struck me as odd. I didn't see any political angle. Blagojevich isn't exactly a popular figure without any part of the electorate that would help Trump. Perhaps he thought it make him look even handed when he pardons or commutes the sentence of Stone, Manaford or Flynn.

But then I saw the Apprentice connection. Blagojevich was a participant. So perhaps Trump just liked the guy and thought his sentence was too harsh.

Tom T. म्हणाले...

Some people seem determined to chase the laser beam every time Trump waves the pointer. I'd be embarrassed to argue that the protection of democracy requires elected officials to submit their constitutional authority to the whims of an unelected bureaucracy, but words and ideas seem to have lost all meaning for some people in their reflexive opposition.

Drago म्हणाले...

Roy J: "Let's flip that: Chuck, you've been trying hard for years to de-normalize Trump."

Lots of lefty billionaires have been paying FakeCons for years to do just that.

LLR-lefty Chuck just happened to pull "Althouse duty".

Drago म्हणाले...

Tom T: "I'd be embarrassed to argue that the protection of democracy requires elected officials to submit their constitutional authority to the whims of an unelected bureaucracy,..."

Actually, LLR-lefty Chuck isn't saying that in such general terms.

No.

What LLR-lefty Chuck psychotically and specifically requires is for every conservative, and conservatives alone, to submit their constitutional authority to the whims of unelected partisan democrats AND lefty media types.

Because that is how one "conserves conservatism"...........or something.

Howard म्हणाले...

Amexpat: I think you're right on both counts.

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

Via Insty:

...It wasn't too long ago, one year before he left office, that Barack Obama gave full pardons to men in prison at the behest – not of Alice Johnson or Alveda King– of the Iranian government as part of the Iran nuclear deal.

On January 16, in his last year of office, President Obama put the finishing touches on his dreadful Iran deal by giving full pardons to people with ties to the number one state sponsor of terrorism....


And now we have a sitting Dem Senator violating The slogan Act.

Impeach and remove said senator.

Seeing Red म्हणाले...

The Logan Act.

Amadeus 48 म्हणाले...

I agree with Howard and Amexpat. A first? Not really. But rare.

Chuck म्हणाले...


Blogger Ann Althouse said...
PLEASE stop attacking other commenters by name. It’s unreadable and pointless. You are creating a situation where I will need to spend my time figuring what to delete. If you think that’s okay, you are not a good faith commenter!

2/11/20, 5:30 PM

Drago म्हणाले...

Banned Commenter LLR-lefty Chuck:

Blogger Ann Althouse said...
PLEASE stop attacking other commenters by name. It’s unreadable and pointless. You are creating a situation where I will need to spend my time figuring what to delete. If you think that’s okay, you are not a good faith commenter!
2/11/20, 5:30 PM


Discuss.

Darrell Harris म्हणाले...

wendybar said...
Meh....Spare me. Obama also pardoned Terrorist Oscar López Rivera, a Puerto Rican nationalist

Wendy is absolutely correct on this one. Rivera was a LEADER of the FALN, and his safe house was found to have bomb-making equipment in it. He was planning his armed rescue while he was in prison. He never repented for his crimes.

There is no justification for pardoning someone like that. BTW, I wanted to see Hamilton at one time, but there is no way I will support anything from Lin-Manuel Miranda going forward. After Obama pardoned him, Miranda offered to reprise his role as Hamilton for a private performance for Rivera to celebrate his release.

Jersey Fled म्हणाले...

I love the way Lefties start with unproven assertion (Trump is an authoritarian) and end with pure supposition (Trump will throw his enemies in jail).

I can't even guess what passes for thinking in this woman's head.

Francisco D म्हणाले...

LLR-lefty Chuck just happened to pull "Althouse duty".

Yes.

It has become rather obvious that Chuck is a paid troll. For a while, he faked his LLR credentials pretty well. The Kavanaugh hearings are an example. However, as Trump increasingly succeeded, lil' Chuckie has let the mask slip.

Althouse should be flattered that she garners such attention. It's not just the WSJ who thinks she is an opinion leader.

Sebastian म्हणाले...

"14 years is insane."

It was. And it was a thoroughly political, payback prosecution. Obama's revenge, American "justice."

"The chilling corollary is that he knows he can punish his enemies, too."

I wish.

"Did Toobin indulge in this kind of "chilling corollary" reasoning when Obama was President?"

No. But save yourself time and turn it around: does any prog apply any standard evenhandedly?

Assume bad faith.

Gusty Winds म्हणाले...

"even in the state that Blagojevich disgraced." - I lived in the Chicago Suburbs for 40 years and went to College at Eastern Illinois University.

Is it even possible to "disgrace" Illinois or Chicago at this point? The corruption is EVERYWHERE, and EVERYONE knows it. It's accepted, and perpetuated.

But the Pizza is Great!! So are the Chicago Hot Dogs and Italian Beefs. Awesome Mexican food too.

Francisco D म्हणाले...

In other administrations, pardons and commutations have gone through a process that involves close vetting and that very much includes the Justice Department. ... But Trump's process apparently bypasses that process.

Is that the same DOJ whose bureaucrats are involved in framing Trump so that they can take him out?

Big Mike म्हणाले...

By the way, why didn't Obama commute Blagojevich's sentence?

Because Blago hadn’t offered him a piece of the action. Did Althouse vote for Obama in 2008 and Clinton in 2016!despite their obvious corruption? Or because of their corruption?

Gusty Winds म्हणाले...

Blago had a SU Senate Seat to fill. It was HIS choice as Governor. Obama wanted him to obey orders of who to put in the seat. Blago wanted something in return. A Cabinet Appointment, campaign funds...

So...Obama sent the Feds in to get him, and they did. But let's not call it "wiretapping", or "railroading" or putting him in prison to get him out of the way. Best was after it all blew up, Blago flipped them all the bird and appointed Roland Burris to the Senate.

Mike Madigan controls Illinois. They wanted Blago gone.

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

"He sold a Senate seat" is not a crime. It's routine politics in the USA. Most senate seats take several billion dollars to buy.Soros and the Saudis have bought many. Blago's offense was being small time. He was crossing those big time players by selling for a few political favors to Americans what they wanted to sell for big foreign money.

Stephen म्हणाले...

Francisco,

It's the same Justice Department that Bill Barr heads up, and Barr has shown himself to be very sympathetic to Trump's political objectives. Do you think that the Justice Department's institutional interest in law enforcement and the rule of law should not be considered prior to the exercise of the pardon power, even when that interest is filtered through loyal partisans like Barr or Eric Holder? Perhaps you also think that all Federal prosecutors should be political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the President.

YoungHegelian म्हणाले...

I think that the powers of Presidential Pardon should not be used to ease the well-deserved suffering of white collar criminals. I think that such power such be used only to ease the oppression of well-connected left-wing terrorists instead.

Just like Obama did.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

I see that Chuck’s paymaster, Reid Hoffman, is back in the news. Turns out he bankrolled the company — Acronym — that backed the company — Shadow — that developed the Iowa caucus app. Suddenly what had heretofore appeared to be wild-eyed conspiracy theories become almost plausible. Hoffman is yet another Lefty Internet billionaire, and he should know how to hire people who can identify and organize software talent.

Up until now Hoffman was mostly famous for paying people during the Alabama special senatorial election to sit in their mommy’s basement and troll blog comment threads and chat rooms pretendIng to be lifelong Republicans upset with Luther Strange (resulting in the nomination of Roy Moore) and then opposed to Roy Moore, resulting in the election of Doug Jones.

Nichevo म्हणाले...

It has become rather obvious that Chuck is a paid troll. For a while, he faked his LLR credentials pretty well. The Kavanaugh hearings are an example. However, as Trump increasingly succeeded, lil' Chuckie has let the mask slip.


You know what it is, Dr D'Anconia? Chuck, I believe, has echoed a remark I've heard before, wherein, by way of accusing some sort of imposture or non-belonging, Donald Trump is "a poor man's idea of a rich man." As always, accuse others of that which you do:

I would say that Chuck is a Democrat's idea of a Republican. A high-caste, life-long Republican, of the sort that he considers carrion, but nonetheless expects that other deplorables would respect and esteem. Even the casual racism, although sincere, may be calculated to pander to what he considers to be a racist polity.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Article 2 of the US Constitution grants the authority to the President to issue pardons.

Every President issues pardons -- some good, some bad.

The left freaks out for a few days, as if they were born yesterday, and then forgets about it and moves on to their next freak out.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Trump should pardon Flynn. The problem is that it will hurt him politically, unless Judge Sullivan gives him some cover by slamming the prosecution.

So, Flynn's pardon will have to wait until after the election. If Trump loses, then a Christmas pardon, on his way out. If Trump wins, an "in-your-face" pardon after the inauguration.

Hey Skipper म्हणाले...

Chuck: There is just no point in discussing the real merits of a Blagojevich commutation or a Joe Arpaio pardon and certainly not a Roger Stone commutation because Trump has already rejected the process that incorporates reasonable thought and fair consideration of any legal merits. End of story.

Bollocks on stilts, Chuck.

Confusing merits and processes is a glaring category error. Never mind the credulous assertion that "the process" necessarily incorporates reasonable thought and fair consideration.

Did you learn nothing from the Russian collusion fiasco?

Nichevo म्हणाले...

Do you think that the Justice Department's institutional interest in law enforcement and the rule of law should not be considered


Stephen my man! Got it in one!

No, the justice department has no institutional interests that should be considered. I care not one whit about their pride or their perks or their motivation to do their jobs. No institution should have any institutional interests that conflict with the American people's. AFAIAC they should all be eating hamburger and sitting in plastic chairs with flat screen TVs as monitors. And when they do wrong they should be punished just as harshly as any of their targets, if not more.

The problem is that they do consider law. They consider that the rule of law is what they say it is. And law enforcement is doing what they want. That being consideration, I'll take vanilla.

I think we have to dump the civil service system. And no federal pensions.

Michael K म्हणाले...

wendybar said...
Obama didn't pardon Blogo, because he didn't want all the questions about Tony Rezko to come out about the great deal he gave the Obamas for land, amongst other things!!!


Bingo. Maybe now we will find out Obama's role in the deal about the Senate seat.

Drago म्हणाले...

I have to say, the dems and FakeCon LLR's are not going to like the Blago presser in front of his house with the black guys proclaiming themselves Trumpocrats and cheering Trump.

They are not going to like that diverse crowd of democrats praising Trump.

Nope. Not gonna like that one bit...

Drago म्हणाले...

BAG: "If Trump wins, an "in-your-face" pardon after the inauguration."

A pardon executed DURING the inauguration.

Along with pardons for every other person caught up in the dems/LLR's manufactured collusion hoax......except Michael Cohen.

He can continue to hang with his dem allies.

Chuck म्हणाले...


Hey Althouse thanks for that link to your old post with the footage from The Apprentice where Blagojevich got “fired.” That clip is making the rounds now insofar as Trump again did that thing that seems to be as reflexive for Trump as it is phony, where Trump (in commuting the sentence) said to the press that he didn’t really know Blagojevich, but on the tv show, they were on a first name basis and Trump claimed to not merely respect “Rod,” but in fact had “great respect” for him.

Wouldn’t it be about ten or twenty solid minutes of video, just going through clips of Trump claiming to not know people that he previously declared were wonderful people? Would it be ten minutes just for Defendant Lev Parnas?

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Stephen wrote:

"Perhaps you also think that all Federal prosecutors should be political appointees who serve at the pleasure of the President."

Not addressed to me, but I am going to answer it. Yes, they should all be political appointees. The cul de sac that the civil service system has landed us in is a bureaucracy that is increasingly unreformable, increasingly autocratic and unanswerable to the voters, and increasingly biased against conservatives and Republicans. You can, of course, deny all of this, but the problem is half the country believes me to be correct in my assessment, and that is a problem for all of us- it is an untenable and unstable situation. The only reliable solution is a cleaning out of the bureaucracy every time power in the executive branch changes hands. That alone would provide accountability of the kind that concentrates the minds of the bureaucrats themselves, giving them pause in how they exercise their power.

Known Unknown म्हणाले...

Why didn't Obama pardon Jack Johnson? Trump did.

"Famed boxer, convicted by an all-white jury in 1913 for traveling with his white girlfriend. It was then illegal to transport women across state lines for "immoral" purposes."

You'd think that be a slam-dunk for the first half-black President.

narciso म्हणाले...

toobin was Lawrence walsh's mini me, who went after colonel north, for his anti soviet efforts, like whitney Seymour, tried with ed meese, like pat fitzgerald, did for david radler and Richard Armitage, but not conrad black, he didn't touch any of daley's inner circle nor Obama, all patrons of rezko,

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

Jeffrey Toobin is a dumb-as-a-sack-of-hammers hack whose first and only principle is “Democrat good, Republican bad”; every word he speaks and writes is reverse-engineered to support this conclusion, which means he never says or writes anything interesting or counterintuitive.

In other words, just like some of your commenters except with the party affiliations reversed.

narciso म्हणाले...

pat fitzgerald also insulated Michigan state, as much as was possible for a year and half, while larry Nasser was on the prowl, of course james comey didn't bother to investigate,

Drago म्हणाले...

Earnest Prole: "Jeffrey Toobin is a dumb-as-a-sack-of-hammers hack whose first and only principle is “Democrat good, Republican bad”;"

You've just identified the most important reason LLR-lefty Chuck adores Toobin.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

@Chuck,

Nobody cares about past clips from The Apprentice. You should try to focus on ARTICLE 2, EXECUTIVE POWERS.

Take a deep breath, and repeat after me:

ARTICLE 2, EXECUTIVE POWERS
ARTICLE 2, EXECUTIVE POWERS

It's kinda fun, and quite liberating.

traditionalguy म्हणाले...

If Althouse has given up on spending her valuable time banning the banned commenter Chuck, then she has in effect assigned that job to the commenters. Which means that we do not engage Chuck in conversations. Either that or we just surrender to his game.

jnseward म्हणाले...

Has there ever been a governor with the power to fill a Senate seat who did not seek to get something in return?

narciso म्हणाले...

and the milken pardon, is also a reminder to guiliani, of the creature he created, with this 'William roper' style of prosecution,

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

>‘I'm the chief law enforcement officer of the country!' Donald Trump makes incredible claim amid reports Bill Barr has threatened to resign as Attorney General if President doesn’t stop meddling with his tweets

Can you imagine any other president, of this or any functional country, making this claim. We have put a combination of Al Capone and Roy Cohn in charge of law enforcement.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Apparently things went better on this phone call with the leader of a superpower than his last call went. Sad.

China Claims Boris Johnson Has Committed to Xi’s ‘Belt and Road’ Global Commerce Project

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

ARM:

Under Article 2, the President is the Commander in Chief of the armed services (He can hire and fire any General), he appoints all Officers of the United States, and he must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed." He is, indeed, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the United States, and the Attorney General answers to him, as do all US Attorneys.

Where were you during high school civics?

Drago म्हणाले...

ARM celebrates the Chinese "Belt and Road" plan to put China in the global lead in international commerce and economic power.

An Althouse dem supporting Chinese commie global plans.

Gee, I did not see that coming.

Drago म्हणाले...

BAG (to ARM): "Where were you during high school civics?"

ARM was too busy doodling pics of ChiCom flags to pay attention to Article 2 discussions.

Drago म्हणाले...

Next up for ARM: Everyone should select Huawei for 5G!

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

That 'he must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."' does not imply that 'He is, indeed, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the United States'. In Trump's case it could be more reasonably interpreted as telling him to stop breaking the laws.

narciso म्हणाले...

that would seem ironic, in light of the events out of Hubei, but as pointed out Whitehall mandarins like fmr ghcq chief Robert hannigan, seem to be doing double duty lobbying for china, he's not unlike Andrew scott's character in the last bond film (probably the last one i'll see)

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Trump's failure as a world leader implies that I support the ChiComs? Interesting logic.

narciso म्हणाले...

hsbc seems to have run into a bit of a headwind of late, well they have been doing a lot of laundry,

Drago म्हणाले...

ARM: "That 'he must "take care that the laws be faithfully executed."' does not imply that 'He is, indeed, the Chief Law Enforcement Officer of the United States'."

ARM pretends the President being the Chief Law enforcement officer is some brand new concept!!

This is how Trump has broken the left.

Iman म्हणाले...

Did Toobin indulge in this kind of "chilling corollary" reasoning when Obama was President?

You were thinking out loud. You know the answer to this question.

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

Everyone is supposed to follow the law. Not everyone is tasked with the responsibility to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed", so that's another failure for you (I won't say for whom, but it's pretty much any and all Dems).

Ken B म्हणाले...

Acts of clemency are inherently and inevitably controversial. If everyone agreed on the sentence in the first place there would be no occasion for clemency. For any case there are pros and cons. “I disagree with this act of mercy therefor Trump is Hitler” is a pretty stupid spin on this basic fact.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

"Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution requires the President to “take Care that the Laws be faithfully executed.” This clause, known as the Take Care Clause, requires the President to enforce all constitutionally valid Acts of Congress, regardless of his own Administration’s view of their wisdom or policy. The clause imposes a duty on the President; it does not confer a discretionary power. The Take Care Clause is a limit on the Vesting Clause’s grant to the President of “the executive power.”"

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

The White House web-page on the Executive Branch explains:

The Attorney General is the head of the DOJ and chief law enforcement officer of the federal government.

According to 28 U.S. Code § 503:

The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice.

Drago म्हणाले...

ARM: "Trump's failure as a world leader implies that I support the ChiComs? Interesting logic."

Trump has already forged new coalitions in opposition to the left's beloved Iranian mullahs and delivered increased US and EU sanctions in Iran, he has already defeated the Chinese economically and is successfully rewiring asian supply chains (with zero increase in inflation, he has secured increased EU member funding for NATO, he has already delivered trade deals which serve American economic interests first.

Trump has also delivered agreements with Mexican and Central American nations that have them reducing illegal immigration by 85%.

Trump has squeezed the russians in Syria by maintaining control of the oil fields, thus cutting the russians out of the pattern. All on top of making the US wmthe worlds largest producer of energy providing increased leverage over Middle East players.

Sorry ARM. Your latest lame talking points are no more effective than your inept "Great Awakening" talking points.

Unexpectedly.

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

Does anyone know what "executive" means?

Drago म्हणाले...

ARM: "The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice."

LOL

And the AG reports to the President as well as serves at the pleasure of the President.

ARM remains blissfully unaware of all this.....somehow.....

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

ARM:

Who appoints the AG? Who can fire him at will? Who can hire or fire all the US Attorneys (federal prosecutors) at will?

Think of Truman firing MacArthur -- the DOD has the exact parallel line of authority as the DOJ.

Do you not understand this?

Iman म्हणाले...

Unrepentant Oscar Lopez Rivera should've spent the rest of his defiant life in a maximum security prison. Obama's commutation was just one more example of his shit-for-brains thought process and anti-Americanism.

narciso म्हणाले...

Obama was in hock to rezko, but more interestingly the Baathist oligarch nahim auchi, who is influential enough to have any broadsheet, deny their own coverage, it was his sponsorship as well as al samarrai, who owned electrical plants in Iraq, till 2006, that explained his otherwise inexplicable support for Iraq funding,

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

I try to avoid personal comments here, but seriously, ARM, how many times do you have to be proven retarded before you STFUA?

Andrew म्हणाले...

Jeffrey Toobin's claim to fame is knocking the bottom out of a colleague's daughter , not his wife, and getting her pregnant, then denigrating her and demanding she abort. She had to take him to court.

Jeffrey is a partisan douche bag.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Bay Area Guy said...
the DOD has the exact parallel line of authority as the DOJ.


This is nonsense.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

The White House web-page on the Executive Branch explains:

The Attorney General is the head of the DOJ and chief law enforcement officer of the federal government.

According to 28 U.S. Code § 503:

The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice.

The claim that Trump made is factually wrong.

Drago म्हणाले...

ARM has officially achieved Cher and Rosie O'Donnell-level of civics "comprehension".

Congratulations.

HoodlumDoodlum म्हणाले...

Authoritarians also dispense largesse, but they do it by their own whims, rather than pursuant to any system or legal rule.

Like favoring certain groups, steering government contracts and money to them, and not to others--that kind of thing?
These people cannot hear themselves. Welfare as a spoils system, government grants and employment as a reward and funding mechanism...who could have predicted??

Isn't Toobin just restating the Joker's rant about people only panicking when there's not a plan?

Rewarding friends and punishing enemies using the government and related institutions is A-OK, until Trump does it in an allegedly less-predictable manner--then it's the end of the Republic!

Ridiculous.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Even the idiot in chief admits he is guessing:

Trump said …
“I’m actually, I guess, the chief law enforcement officer of the country,”

I Callahan म्हणाले...

This is nonsense.

Please, ARM, stop making an utter fool of yourself. It's actually 100% right. The President can fire any general at any time, as well as the Attorney General at any time. They both serve at the pleasure of the President, who's the commander in chief.

Drago म्हणाले...

I suppose Bill Barr can now fire Trump.

I suppose this is simply the latest lunatic lefty ploy to have Trump removed.

I expect we will soon see Schiff-ty/Nadler hearings on Barr's newfound power and potential uses.

I Callahan म्हणाले...

The only idiot in chief here is you, ARM. You've spouted nothing but incorrect statements throughout the thread, and are still arrogant about those statements.

Earnest Prole म्हणाले...

Which means that we do not engage Chuck in conversations.

Either ignore him completely (if you believe he’s a troll) or engage his arguments substantively, but please, for the Love of God, stop with the lazy middle ground of attacking him ad hominem. If he is indeed a troll, those comments are like heroin injected into an addict’s arm: Pure bliss for him and deadly for everyone else.

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...
ही टिप्पणी लेखकाना हलविली आहे.
Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

I Callahan said...
The only idiot in chief here is you, ARM. You've spouted nothing but incorrect statements


I have quoted official's statements or official documents. Why do you hate America?

narciso म्हणाले...

he's gone full otto, soon he'll be declaring Aristotle was Belgian, from fast and furious to the suppression of the tea party, to the slow walking on Benghazi, it seems there was no accountability for Obama or any of his officers, including holder,

Drago म्हणाले...

Remember, ever since Trump was elected, the lefties and LLR's have been arguing the entire Executive Branch is both independent of and superior to the office of the President.

Doesnt everyone remember that? It was being argued everywhere.

The ARMs and LLR-lefty Chuck's literally attempted to foist a "Fourth Branch of Govt" argument on the nation.

And it continues to this day. See LLR-lefty Chuck's earlier comments that Trump should defer to DOJ lefty hacks on all pardon decisions.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

narciso said...
Benghazi


When you know the battle is lost.

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

Maybe that person is implying that Congress has supremacy over the Presidency, or at least that the Dem-controlled House does. Isn't that what checks and balances with three co-equal branches of government means?

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

Hillary considers Benghazi a win.

narciso म्हणाले...

like molly gaston, the one who made the determination on McCabe, who is an Obama donor, and the daughter of a Washington post employer, nothing hinky there,

FullMoon म्हणाले...

A pardon for Flynn and Stone not good enough. Need to be found not guilty on appeal, or declared mistrial now. Hopefully, if it has to go to appeal, defendants free on no bail.
A pardon allows left a phony double victory

Francisco D म्हणाले...

ARM seems to be working hard at trolling, although he is completely ineffective.

At least he doesn't claim to be a LLR.

narciso म्हणाले...

https://twitter.com/ChuckRossDC/status/1230195408787451905

Drago म्हणाले...

Char Char Binks: "Maybe that person is implying that Congress has supremacy over the Presidency, or at least that the Dem-controlled House does."

Remember, Pelosi, in an ARM-like moment, declared herself equal to the President...even though she is just 1/2 of 1 of 3 branches.

Jim at म्हणाले...

Obama's Pardons and Commutations. 1927
Trumps 28


Is that accurate?
Holy cow.

Mark म्हणाले...

I see that Edward J. DeBartolo Jr. had been convicted of misprision of felony.

Really?

How many people per century are even charged with that, with failing to report a crime?? (Putting aside the whole constitutional problems with such charges.)

narciso म्हणाले...

you can say it's every major university

Drago म्हणाले...

Its a sign of how far the Althouse lefties/LLR-lefties have fallen that Maxine Waters is the "adult" by comparison.

BTW: here's her latest:

Mad Maxine: "It’s not enough for Barr to resign. I want him out of DOJ, disbarred, disgraced, & investigated for obstruction of justice. Barr sabotaged Mueller report, was in on Ukraine plot, & now he wants to free Trump’s criminal friends. In my estimation, they ALL belong in jail!"

Its like she's channeling LLR-lefty Chuck.

Big Mike म्हणाले...

It has become rather obvious that Chuck is a paid troll. For a while, he faked his LLR credentials pretty well.

‘@Nichevo (11:16), he never fooled me. He may slightly know one or two genuine country club Republicans, but he gets a lot of details wrong. Maybe he caddied at a country club, or perhaps a neighbor or uncle was a country club Republican.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

ARM, if the president can fire the AG at will, then he is superior to the AG. So if the AG is the "chief law enforcement officer of the US", then the president is the chief of the chief law enforcement officer of the US, wouldn't you agree?

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

No, ARM doesn't claim to be an LLR, but his crime is worse- he claims to be intelligent.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Yancey Ward said...
wouldn't you agree?


You are relying on a statement by the dumbass in chief in which he 'guesses'. I am relying on official statements and documents. So, no, I don't agree.

iowan2 म्हणाले...

But then I saw the Apprentice connection. Blagojevich was a participant. So perhaps Trump just liked the guy and thought his sentence was too harsh.

The connection is very plain.

Fitzpatrick,Weiseman, Mueller. Thats the connection.

The message is not to us, or his critics, or political opposition. The message is to the corrupt deep state. He is on to them. He's just saying. "I know who you are, and I'm on my way."

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Even the execrable Piers Morgan is upset:

Pardon the crooked swamp creatures - if you must - Mr President - even though it makes you look like a hypocrite. But if you start acting like America's lawman it makes you a dictator

President Trump pardoned a load of dodgy felons yesterday, and commuted sentences for others.
The dishonorable list included shamed junk bond king Michael Milken, disgraced former NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik and corrupt politician Rod R. Blagojevich.
All of this is thoroughly distasteful and makes an absolute mockery of 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump’s oft-spoken desire to ‘drain the swamp’.
It doesn’t get any more ‘swampy’ than a governor jailed for soliciting bribes for political appointments including Barack Obama’s vacant U.S. Senate seat after Obama became President in 2008.
Illinois House Republican leader Jim Durkin raged: ‘It’s very disappointing. We have a massive federal investigation into corruption in the state of Illinois and this action distracts and dilutes what I think is the proper role of the Department of Justice – to root out corruption. I saw a governor who was rogue on steroids who abused the office. I think this is wrong and sends a bad message to the country that you don’t have to pay your debt to society. This governor did some terrible things.’

Static Ping म्हणाले...

Chuck: But if there were articulable, cogent, convincing reasons to pardon a Blagojevich...

He wasn't pardoned. The sentence was commuted. He served 8 years in prison instead of 14. He's still a felon, which makes sense since no one doubts that he's guilty.

Personally, I think that serious corruption charges should be 20-30 in prison with no chance of parole and I cry no tears for the former governor. But if that is going to be the sentence then it needs to be applied consistently. As has become very evident over the past few years, prison sentences and, for that matter, prosecutions seem completely dependent on whether the target is in good standing with the swamp. We have major political officers blatantly committing multiple felonies and they get, at best, a slap on the wrist, while someone like Flynn gets the full weight of the government placed upon him for what is essentially a non-crime. Sorry, I'm not going to get worked up about Blago.

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

Michael K said...Bingo! Couldn't be closer! IIRC, Rezko prosecution out of NY was involving Loretta Lynch. Obama was the only one of the three who skated on that one

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

Bambi was the pivot man on that circle jerk.

BUMBLE BEE म्हणाले...

Try this one...

http://illinoispaytoplay.com/2018/06/13/robert-mueller-has-a-history-of-meddling-in-elections/

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Trump's Continuing Commentary on Criminal Cases Reflects His Disdain for the Rule of Law

JaimeRoberto म्हणाले...

The unit of measure for stupidity is a Toobin.

narciso म्हणाले...

they can't be serious

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

"All of this is thoroughly distasteful and makes an absolute mockery of 2016 presidential candidate Donald Trump’s oft-spoken desire to ‘drain the swamp’.... "The dishonorable list included shamed junk bond king Michael Milken, disgraced former NYPD commissioner Bernard Kerik and corrupt politician Rod R. Blagojevich."

Doesn't the "swamp" refer to Washington DC, which was literally built on an actual swamp? How are IL and NY figures lsuch as Blagojevich, Milken, and Kerik part of the swamp? It's almost like some people don't think before they comment.

Anyway, Trump didn't put those people back in power in any kind of swamp at all; he merely used his Constitutional authority to temper justice with mercy. I thought liberals were in favor of mercy. I guess they're only in favor of mercy when a Dem president pardons or gives clemency to gun runners, drug dealers, terrorists, and traitors.

Chuck म्हणाले...

.
Blogger Static Ping said...
“Chuck: But if there were articulable, cogent, convincing reasons to pardon a Blagojevich...”

He wasn't pardoned. The sentence was commuted. He served 8 years in prison instead of 14. He's still a felon, which makes sense since no one doubts that he's guilty.


Yes you are correct. Blagojevich not pardoned; his sentence commuted. Thank you for that correction.

However, as I pointed out, both pardons and commutations are governed (or at least they are supposed to be procedurally governed) under the DoJ’s Office If the Pardon Attorney:

https://www.justice.gov/pardon

You’re welcome.

Drago म्हणाले...

LLR-lefty Chuck: "However, as I pointed out, both pardons and commutations are governed (or at least they are supposed to be procedurally governed) under the DoJ’s Office If the Pardon Attorney:"

LOLOLOLOLOL

The President has the sole power per the Constitution.

He should ignore, and continue to ignore, the nest of lefty/dem hack knaves that seek to implement their 1-tier pro-dem "justice" through the completely corrupted DOJ.

Chick म्हणाले...

Did Hitler ever pardon anyone ?

narciso म्हणाले...

I pointed out how pat fizgerald's malfeasance is so agregious he should be in jail, about George ryan and john kirikaou are the only convictions one can be sure off, the second involved divulging info about his cia colleagues and their families, to the attorneys of the john adams project, meaning the terrorists,

Francisco D म्हणाले...

No, ARM doesn't claim to be an LLR, but his crime is worse- he claims to be intelligent.

He has yet to demonstrate peak stupidity (i.e., Inga level).

However, he seems to be getting there. One of the latest is confusing Trump's disdain for bureaucratic procedure with disdain for "rule of law" in his above post.

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

Leave it to a Life-Long RINO to assert that a middling-level bureaucrat outranks the president on pardons and commutations, and can supersede Article II Section 2 of the US Constitution.

Good one, Chuckles! HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Char Char Binks, Esq. म्हणाले...

After all, a Lt. Colonel outranks the president in our military dictatorship.

अनामित म्हणाले...

President Clinton pardoned FALN terrorist bombers. I don't want to hear anything, not one tiny thing, from any media Democrat shill about one of Trump's pardons being for the benefit of his "friends." Phooey! (is that like malarkey?)

Drago म्हणाले...

Char Char Binks: "Leave it to a Life-Long RINO...."

Oh, it's much much worse than that. LLR-lefty Chuck has long attempted to position himself as a legal beagle constitutional conservative! LOL I know, right? Too funny.

He's a lefty hack just like all the others.

Drago म्हणाले...

Hey Chuckles, since you clearly want Sally Yates running the show, maybe you ought to run her campaign for the Presidency.

narciso म्हणाले...

lopez rivera, the architect of the frances tavern bombing, wasn't pardoned the first time around, because he wouldn't give up violence, the next time around that wasn't a condition,

Michael K म्हणाले...

The dishonorable list included shamed junk bond king Michael Milken

I guess ARM is a Bernie Bro after all. Milken was not guilty of any crime. Any more that Arthur Anderson & Co. was.

It was a feeding frenzy of people who hate markets and people who make money in them.

MIlken was pressured to plead because of threats to his brother. Just like Flynn.

Chuck म्हणाले...

I heard a very interesting Trump commutation story today with a Detroit/Michigan twist...

Rumors that consideration is being given to a commutation of the 28-year sentence handed down by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against the ex-mayor of Detroit, Kwame Kilpatrick. (He was charged with an array of state charges through the same time period.)

That federal prosecution was conducted under then-U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District, Barbara McQuade, who is now on the Michigan Law faculty and is also a legal analyst for MSNBC.

Kilpatrick presided over an administration that was so rife with corruption that even the simple Wikipedia page summary is thousands of words. The length of Kilpatrick’s sentence was enhanced by his complete arrogance as a defendant, the immense financial and reputational damage he and his co-conspirators did to the city, and the extreme public corruption aspects.

Kilpatrick was known to have formally applied for a pardon more than a year ago, but the scuttlebut now is that Trump might actually do it if he thought it could buy him some votes in the black neighborhoods of Detroit.

The curious thing is that among Trump’s base in the Detroit exurbs and outstate Michigan, Kilpatrick is a pariah; a symbol of everything that is wrong with the City of Detroit and its generations of African-American kleptocrats. If Obama pardoned Kilpatrick, they’d probably demand articles of impeachment.

But a Trump pardon/commutation might just serve as further proof that Trump could pardon somebody who committed murder in the middle of Fifth Avenue and it would not cost him any votes.

narciso म्हणाले...

there were more than a few irregularities, in that case, the prosecutors went after milken's brother, sound familiar, compared to subsequent cases like bcci or Enron (not Arthur Anderson,) it was near beer,

narciso म्हणाले...

Harvey silverglate, has a whole chapter of the 'three felonies a day' book, related to the milken case,

Drago म्हणाले...

You can tell the Reid Hoffman/Soros/Omidyar-paid "LLR's" already realize all their previous talking points re: pardons and commutations have already failed because LLR-lefty Chuck is pulling another Adam Schiff "make it up as you go" ploy.

I guarantee that within 24 hours Inga and ARM will already be repeating this latest LLR-lefty Chuck fantasy as if it were true in the exact same way that LLR-lefty Chuck kept repeating the Tina Fey line targeted at Sarah Palin: "I can see Russia from my house!".

Oh how LLR-lefty Chuck ran and ran with that one!

Drago म्हणाले...

Here are some actual actions taken by prior Presidents that would not have been possible if ARM and LLR-lefty Chuck were correct in their moron theory that the President is not the chief law enforcement entity:

Reagan ordered halt of a criminal grand jury investigation against British Airways in 1984.

George HW Bush ordered to DOJ to investigate police in wake of Rodney King rioting.

Obama directed DOJ action after Eric Garner acquittal.

Discuss.

Browndog म्हणाले...

I've heard it all.

Trump might pardon Kwame because nutjob McQuade is talking out of her ass on MSNBC, and Trump wants the Metro blacks.

You're a nutcase, Chuck.

Drago म्हणाले...

Browndog: "I've heard it all."

There has yet to be a far-left moron theory from the dem-swamp that LLR-lefty Chuck did not dutifully push on Althouseblog.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Our friend, ARM, is an important member of the Commentariat, so I'd rather engage, than pile on. So, permit me to engage, because I think a lotta liberals don't understand this or don't want to to understand it.

ARM cites a federal statute:

According to 28 U.S. Code § 503:

The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice.


The full statute reads: "The President shall appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, an Attorney General of the United States. The Attorney General is the head of the Department of Justice."

So, this statute was enacted by Congress after it was signed into law by the President. Which means, of course, if Congress enacted it, Congress can repeal it, right?

So, my question to you is this: If Congress repeals the law you cite, how would violations of federal laws be prosecuted in the US?

I'm tempted to ask what would happen if Congress repealed the Judiciary Act of 1789, but I'll save that for later.



Howard म्हणाले...

Bob Barr was helping Trump puke into the toilet, asked who else to pardon and thought he heard Blagojevich

Michael K म्हणाले...

In my opinion, the worst pardon in recent history was that by Clinton (one of several that stink) of the Puerto Rican bomb maker who had previously been denied a pardon as he would not renounce terrorism. Clinton pardoned him anyway. Multiple deaths due to his bombs.

Nichevo म्हणाले...


Big Mike said...
It has become rather obvious that Chuck is a paid troll. For a while, he faked his LLR credentials pretty well.

‘@Nichevo (11:16), he never fooled me. He may slightly know one or two genuine country club Republicans, but he gets a lot of details wrong. Maybe he caddied at a country club, or perhaps a neighbor or uncle was a country club Republican.



Hi Big Mike! The first piece was a quote from another poster which I should have worked harder to delineate with italics or something. Anyway, the rest was mine, which pretty much agrees with you.

Nichevo म्हणाले...

Blogger Howard said...
Bob Barr was helping Trump puke into the toilet, asked who else to pardon and thought he heard Blagojevich


That's about as intelligent and valuable as anything else you've ever said here.

narciso म्हणाले...

the hill review, of Solomon's columns, surprisingly have been wrong on a number of matters, nbc news has not reviewed howlers from ken dilanian, among other fusion gps recipients,

Amexpat म्हणाले...

In my opinion, the worst pardon in recent history was that by Clinton (one of several that stink) of the Puerto Rican bomb maker

The Mark Rich pardon is worse in my view. Stinks of pay for pardon.

The most courageous pardon was Ford's for Nixon. Most likely cost him his reelection, but it was the right thing to do. I even thought so at the time when I hated Nixon with a passion.

Browndog म्हणाले...

Fox News is now pushing the "Barr wants to resign" propaganda. "Even though the DOJ says Barr isn't going anywhere" was nice touch.

Tv off.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Bay Area Guy said...
pile on


You are confused by the meaning of the phrase 'pile on'. Random people on the internet insulting someone for having an opinion different to their own is not 'piling on'. It is simply sad, because they have deluded themselves into believing that their insults carry some emotional weight. People who are so deluded on this particular rather fundamental issue concerning human social interactions tend to be deluded across a broad range of other issues.

Your other questions are unrelated to the propriety of the presidents behavior, which is the topic under discussion. My view is that he is a borderline criminal without even a minimal understanding of the proper function of law enforcement or his role in that process. A majority of people agree with me, including his own attorney general.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Amexpat said...
Stinks of pay for pardon.


And this would be different from the Paul Pogue pardon exactly how?

Browndog म्हणाले...

Total Presidential pardons/sentence commutations:

Carter: 566
Reagan: 406
H.W Bush: 77
Clinton: 459
George W: 200
Obama: 1,927
Trump: 26

Drago म्हणाले...

ARM: "People who are so deluded on this particular rather fundamental issue concerning human social interactions tend to be deluded across a broad range of other issues."

Indeed.

Some even conjure up "Great Awakenings" so they can convince themselves the chimera they imagine is also seen and believed in by others.

Its really rather pathetic.

Amexpat म्हणाले...

And this would be different from the Paul Pogue pardon exactly how?

Wasn't aware of it until you brought it up. Seems the media is focusing on Blagojevich. On the surface it looks very bad pardoning someone whose family contributed over 200K to your campaign. Not exactly draining the swamp. I'll let members of the 5th Avenue club defend it.

For me, there's little difference between Clinton and Trump when it comes to ethics.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Amexpat said...
For me, there's little difference between Clinton and Trump when it comes to ethics.


Amen.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan म्हणाले...

Drago said...
awakenings


I wonder what the odds of Barr experiencing an awakening in the next six months happen to be? He is approaching the average half-life for sentient beings fated to work with Trump.

narciso म्हणाले...

is this the latest meme

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

Chuck wrote:

"However, as I pointed out, both pardons and commutations are governed (or at least they are supposed to be procedurally governed) under the DoJ’s Office If the Pardon Attorney:"

You are literally the dumbest fuck on this blog- even Inga is smarter than you. The pardon power is in the Constitution you lying, stupid bag of shit. Trump can pardon and commute the federal crimes and sentences of whoever the fuck he wants to, and there isn't a damn thing anyone can do about it.

Yancey Ward म्हणाले...

If he wants to ignore the DoJ's recommendations, or not even ask, that is the President's prerogative- full stop. Doing so is the violation of nothing.

Drago म्हणाले...

ARM: "I wonder what the odds of Barr experiencing an awakening in the next six months happen to be?"

Your "Great Awakening"?

Zero.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

I think a lotta Left of Center folks don't understand: (1) The Constitution, (2) The concept of Separation of Powers, and (3) the scope of Executive Power the Prez gets, under Article 2.

It seems to mystify some folks. Oh well.

Drago म्हणाले...

I do have to admit that I am impressed with the combined intellectual "firepower" of Inga and ARM coming up with a brand new "The Walls Are Closing In!" gambit centered around some super secret info Roger Stone and Rudy supposedly have on Trump which is why Trump will pardon Roger Stone.....who is at the sentencing point in his corrupt prosecution and Rudy who hasnt even been rumored to have a charge levied against him.

LOL

One has to marvel.

Drago म्हणाले...

BAG: "It seems to mystify some folks. Oh well."

There are lots and lots of obvious and logical things of which you have to be ignorant OR which you have to pretend not to know to be a lefty or LLR-lefty.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Toobin has no credibility, he's a left-wing hack. As for Blago, he's your typical Illinois Crooked Pol, 8 years is enough.

rcocean म्हणाले...

Notice that all the average people that Trump pardoned got forgotten - because Orange Man bad.

rcocean म्हणाले...

You can always detect bullshit when someone starts using the word "authoritarianism" when discussing President Trump. The constitution grants the President certain powers, using those powers in not bad. If Trump is exceeding the Constitution then its up to the other two branches too reign him in.

Calling it "authoritarian" is meaningless cant.

rcocean म्हणाले...

i haven't seen a single pardon by Trump that's been corrupt or an abuse of the pardon power. The biggest scandal and abuse of that power, was Clinton's last day pardon of Marc Rich because he and his wife donated $millions to the Clinton Foundation. But of course, when Hillary ran in 2016 that was all forgotten.

Bay Area Guy म्हणाले...

Compare and contrast the Ford pardon of Nixon in 1974:

1. At the time, there was a lot of political outrage by the Left. Fair enough. The Nixon pardon definitely hurt Ford's chances in 1976. That's life. Ironically, 25 years later, Ted Kennedy awarded Ford the "profile in courage" award for the pardon.

2. However, no sane person ever argued that Ford had abused his authority to offer the pardon. It was lawful.

3. The general view was that the pardon was lawful, but a bad idea.

Same deal with unpopular pardons by GHW Bush, when he pardoned Cap Weinberger. Legal, but bad politically. Same with Clinton, when he pardoned Mark Rich. Same with Obama, when he pardoned/commuted Chelsea Manning.

narciso म्हणाले...

Like the wondertwins.

narciso म्हणाले...

https://thehill.com/opinion/criminal-justice/483620-free-roger-stone?fbclid=IwAR30JuUjBYKxBMcdoUwm9N9GMFTgQ3ULa1qycpCy3YGa6s36k3_cV_r6pzI

Drago म्हणाले...

BTW, if you are wondering why LLR-lefty Chuck went Full Schiff Mode in constructing ANOTHER fake and meandering and incoherent "shoot someone on fifth ave" post today, its because that very theme is percolating once again on the insane lefty hollywood grapevine.

"Unexpectedly"

narciso म्हणाले...

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/02/18/nyc-mayor-michael-bloomberg-proposed-ban-baby-formula/

Scientific Socialist म्हणाले...

If Trump pardoned Angela Davis, Kathy Boudin and the surviving members of the Black Liberation Army, Jeffrey Toobin would assail him for trying to curry favor with the America-hating, ultra radical Left.

Tina Trent म्हणाले...

Obama and Clinton freed terrorists.