Mark SumnerFrom the time he made the most ridiculous entrance in political history, riding down a golden escalator to spew an almost unbroken stream of anti-immigrant rhetoric, one part Donald Trump’s appeal has been obvious: He’s a racist. A misogynist. An unfettered narcissist whose wealth and connections have allowed him to cheat contractors, defraud investors, insult whoever he chooses, endanger workers, and sexually assault women. …
Trump is so crude he’ll talk about the size of his daughter’s breasts in a radio interview. So heartless he’ll make his disdain for prisoners of war and Gold Star parents into a campaign plank. So brazen he’ll tell obvious lies, tell a different lie five minutes later, then deny what he said on camera in front of an audience. His ego is infinite. His self-awareness nonexistent. …
Trump is an unrepentant bully. That alone is enough to make him appealing to many, for the same reason high school bullies have henchmen.
But it’s not Trump’s biggest appeal. The big pull, the thing that turned Trump from a clown on a gaudy yellow staircase into a nightmare in the White House, is that he holds out the same offer to his followers that he enjoys: the promise of cruelty without consequence. …
Over the course of Trump’s time in the big chair, he pardoned Steve Bannon for defrauding fans out of $25 million to pay for a fictional border wall. He gave racist Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio a pass on contempt of court. George Papadopoulos was given a gold star after lying to federal investigators. Conservative talk show host Conrad Black was forgiven for obstruction. Roger Stone was convicted of seven felonies with direct connections to Trump’s campaign. Just like that, Trump set him free. …
Trump may as well have put up a sign declaring any friend of his could do as they pleased, without concern about morality or legality. In fact, anyone on the team was also up for this Get Out of Jail Free card.
Trump didn’t just brush away laws like cobwebs when it came to his friends. He made it abundantly clear that he was there for those who would swear allegiance, like a trio of Republican ex-congressmen who were given passes on everything from securities fraud to money laundering. …
The franchise was also extended to those who did things that Trump and his fan base admired. That included giving full pardons to Dwight and Steven Hammond, a pair of Oregon ranchers and serial arsonists who were part of Ammon Bundy’s anti-government uprising. …
Then Trump topped himself by pardoning Clint Lorance for casually ordering the murder of two civilians in Afghanistan. And pardoning Mathew Golsteyn for murdering a civilian. And he pardoned Edward Gallagher, who not only murdered a prisoner by slowly sticking a knife into his neck, but went on to desecrate the man’s body before posing for a few pictures. Gallagher’s own squad testified against him. …
All of the above were found guilty in military courts before officers and men who had served in the same areas. All of them had their convictions reversed, and their crimes blessed, by Trump. …
If there’s any doubt that this trend would continue, Trump has already declared he would pardon a “large portion” of those convicted in the Jan. 6 insurgency. He’s also announced his support for Daniel Penny, who choked homeless man Jordan Neely to death in front of multiple witnesses and cameras on the New York subway. (Trump’s far from alone in this one. Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley have both promised to pardon Penny, too.) …
SCSalon@Devilstower I understand pardon power of the president but why is talking abour a pardon before elections not a bribe