Trump Pardons Domestic Terrorists

 

Trump and his confederates (word choice definitely intentional) like to play off what happened in 1/6 as, variously, a love-in, a prayer circle, a tourist group, but many of these people were violent, were previous offenders and some have already started being violent-minded assholes again. Take Stewart Roades of the Oath Keepers, seditious conspirator, whose sentence was actually only commuted because he really is an admitted piece of work. He was just seen at the Capitol Complex with some GOP Reps, because I guess they are some kinds of piece of work, too.

He's got family who are nervous about him being out and about, and he's not the only one.

It's All Right

 

President Biden has announced that he is issuing a pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, and for one thing--good. 

Although he had previously said he wasn't going to, I rather hoped he would and am not one bit disappointed. If the power of the pardon is supposed to be for the sake of mercy--why not one's own son? Is his son less deserving by virtue of blood? And if the father seriously believes that the son was persecuted and prosecuted for his political sake, is that not something he can at least do for him?

Some are calling it an "abuse of power." A pardon is an official act. I don't even understand what that argument is supposed to mean. Is he gaining something other than his son not being further punished? 

Is it a norm? Bill Clinton pardoned his half-brother, Roger. George H. W. Bush granted clemency to his son. Neil. Trump pardoned his daughter's father-in-law, Charles Kushner, and has now appointed him to an ambassadorship. You tell me: what is a norm, here? 

If someone wants to say it enrages MAGAs, again: good. They can bite their My Pillows in rage. They are outraged by things all the time. It's what they do. I don't care.

Deep in the Dark Heart of Texas

 

BREAKING: Texas Governor Greg Abbott pardons Daniel Perry for killing BLM protester Garrett Foster pic.twitter.com/lSn3WafPE4

— BNO News (@BNONews) May 16, 2024

I could just blog about how TX Gov.  Greg Abbott is a signifying sociopathic fascist who is pardoning a racist and pedophile murderer to send a chilling message to his state about his values, but I need to point out that he is not just following through on a political promise, but that the Texas Pardon and Parole Board recommended it. 

Let me repeat that: this was not without the consent of other people who sit in judgment over who gets pardons or parole, but with their express approval. Greg Abbott isn't a brand-new baby governor trying to feel out the ethos of his state--he is a monster who has figured out that many people will clap for a particular kind of monster. 

In Texas, anyway. 

Unpardonable

 

I guess you could do a search to "Lowry", "Trump" and pardon to read whatever the argument behind this is, but I'm going to go ahead and give the counterargument, sight-unseen and link-unlinked:

Convicting a former president for crimes isn't a violation of norms but a necessary function of criminal justice. Pardoning Trump would give the impression that there was something right or permissible in Trump's continuing to have documents he had no business having, even obstructing justice to keep them. A pardon would send the message that what Trump did is somehow right--it was not.

TWGB: The Quality of Mercy is Priced at $2 Million

 

So, lawsuit against Giuliani just got really graphic, and if you want to read the whole thing, I recommend having a sick bag or bucket handy because the parts where he emotionally and physically abuses a female employee is nasty and I wish my read on him didn't feel validated. She says she has texts and emails and even recordings of his abusiveness and more.

But the part I notice is the claim that she can validate that Giuliani was asking $2 million for pardons, because this wasn't new. It's just amazing we have validation now. Also, it appears that as early as 2019, Trump was scared enough of Dark Brandon that he was going to have a plan for losing, but claiming the election was stolen anyway. 

Wow: In *Feb. 2019*, Giuliani had "voter fraud" claim planned if Donald Trump lost the election, according to the complaint.

"Giuliani told Ms. Dunphy that Trump’s team would claim that there was 'voter fraud' and that Trump had actually won the election." pic.twitter.com/qU0pDJUwIK

— Frank G. Runyeon (@frankrunyeon) May 15, 2023

And if that doesn't remind me of anything?   

Yeah. We knew. It was always about fuckery. Undermining democracy. Damaging what makes our democracy effective and unique. 

I am Feeling Confident

 

EXCLUSIVE: The Daily Beast has obtained a confession letter that Joel Greenberg wrote while working with Roger Stone to obtain a pardon… and it directly implicates Matt Gaetz https://t.co/hJNkkmnudq

— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) April 30, 2021

But you know, go ahead and wire me $250, 000 and send a detailed letter of all the nasty stuff you did. Because no one gets a pardon from Trump unless he understands what you did (I mean, whoever heard of a very open-ended broad pardon from a US president?) and be sure to throw in a lot of stuff about your loyalty.

Is loyalty rewarded? Uh, sure. I am confident. 

I am sure in Roger Stone's mind all of this was hilarious except the dude was taking screenshots. Because this is TrumpWorld.