For our commander-in-thief, bumbling along in the final days of his occupancy in the White House, there is one last perk that he'll get this December.
Every lame duck president has taken advantage of this blanket pardon idea since Washington pardoned the men who started the so-called whiskey rebellion in 1794.
Some past examples are; Nixon pardoned Jimmy Hoffa, President Ford pardoned Nixon, Jimmy Carter pardoned Vietnam war draft dodgers in 1977, President H.W. Bush pardoned Casper Weinberger, and President Clinton pardoned his buddy Marc Rich after getting hefty donations from his wife Denise.
My point? Abuse of power. There's been times, as in President Carter's case, that the pardon really was warranted. But there also has been numerous cases of really bad people getting a pardon like Marc Rich (who by the way fled the country and was pardoned while living overseas.)
Here's more information about presidential handouts.
TODAY'S THREAD:
Should the practice of presidential pardons be stopped?
1 comment:
Absolutely. Doing away with Presidential pardons would send a message to the President and his cronies that the American people will hold the administration responsible for any criminal activities and apply the same standards that all Americans are held to. I'd sure like to see Karl Rove get his just desserts.
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