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Richard's avatar

As to pardons, the problem is that their is no mechanism that TPTB will accept for reining in rogue politicians, prosecutors and judges. Basically, it is only low level police officers that ever go to prison for violating the civil rights of citizens; the others operate with impunity. So pardons are the only tool that Presidents and governors have. What ever you think about J6, the civil rights of the prisoners were clearly violated. Withheld evidence, indefinite detention before trial, coerced pleas and inhuman conditions are not a good look. As for Biden some of his pardons were, in his mind, designed to prevent the same thing happening to his supporters. There is not any evidence from Trump's first term that this would happen but this time who knows. The problem isn't pardons, it is violation of civil rights.

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Minsky's avatar

Here, here. I really do feel like we are at a low point after these past few days. The rule of law and the liberal promise of America was already laying on the ground, bloodied and wounded, and both the incoming and outgoing president, rather than aid it in any way, gave it a good kick and spat in its face, to reaffirm rather than disavow their prior acts of violence against it. I have a very smart 14-year-old son who is already asking questions about all of this and it is a herculean effort to try and answer them truthfully without being fatalistic about the future.

It is insane to me that we went from winning the cold war 30-some years ago to this. Talk about a fall from grace.

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