• Billiam
    2262 months ago
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    Remember: no Republicans are arguing Trump didn’t break the law.

    They’re arguing he shouldn’t be punished for it.

    • rayyy
      562 months ago
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      They’re arguing he shouldn’t be punished for it

      They are really arguing that all Republicans shouldn’t be punished but if you aren’t in the club you get the full blast of the law.

      • Kairos
        52 months ago
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        I think you have to admit guilt? Which is bullshit because the purpose of a pardon isnt to get guilty people off but to act as a check against judicial power. I’m not sure though.

        • cogman
          152 months ago
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          Nope.

          A pardon stops all punishment from the judicial system. You don’t have to plead guilty and criminal proceedings stop. A pardon further undoes any legal handicap (for example, you can own firearms again).

          That said, if you accept a pardon you can’t plead the fifth when it comes to details related to the crime you’ve committed.

          There’s also a commutation, which is weaker than a pardon. Instead of having the crime fully forgiven you are simply let out of jail with the understanding you committed the crime and must face follow up consequences (like not being able to own firearms).

          Finally, there are also conditional pardons. Those are ones where the president could impose a “you must plead guilty” style rule before the pardon can be applied. He could also apply a rule that says “you must perform 10 jumping jacks”.

          Pardon powers are some of the most broad we have in the US.

          About the only limitation is you can’t pardon for future crimes.

        • wolfpack86
          22 months ago
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          I think you’re remembering some instance where a pardon can expose the recipient to civil liability. Or at least it was theorized it might

          Bannon, stone or one of them.

  • meeeeetch
    cake
    1582 months ago
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    Ford was, based on the behavior of the Reagan, W Bush, and Trump administrations, entirely wrong to pardon Nixon. There is no reason to repeat his mistake.

  • theprogressivist
    1082 months ago
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    And there ya go groveling to your orange master, Romney. What a spineless bitch.

  • elbuchoEnglish
    1052 months ago
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    Well, not that we needed one, but I really appreciate you giving us a reminder for why we should never ever make you president, Mittens. It’s very thoughtful of you.

    • The Snark UrgeEnglish
      212 months ago
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      Don’t worry, at some point he’ll say one normal thing and people will remark on how he’s so reasonable compared to the others.

      • elbuchoEnglish
        292 months ago
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        It is true, though. If he were to run for president, he’d be the best candidate the Republican party has put forward in 2 decades. And he’s still a gigantic piece of shit.

        • The Snark UrgeEnglish
          92 months ago
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          The smallest coil of shit turned out onto the chests of voters in decades!

        • frezik
          32 months ago
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          There’s a Netflix documentary called “Mitt” that follows him and his family throughout his 2012 run. I took two things away:

          • It helped humanize Mitt a lot, such as loving a beat up, old pair of winter gloves
          • I’m glad he was never President, and should never be President
      • lagomorphlecture
        12 months ago
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        He has a punch card that Moscow Mitch gave him. He gets to say 1 reasonable thing every 3 months and punch the card every time. Once the card is full he gets his Russian check for doing his duty to make the party look normal and reasonable without ever having to vote reasonably. If he actually votes reasonably he has to give the card back and can’t get his check.

  • A_Random_IdiotEnglish
    802 months ago
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    Romney again trying to ride both dicks at the same time.

    I, for one, am sick of this whole “Oh lets pardon the past president to protect the institution of presidency”

    Presidents should not be above the law. They are not gods, they are not kings, they are elected as representatives.

    especially when the one in question turned the white house into a goddamn criminal enterprise

    • Zink
      102 months ago
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      Seriously, I don’t know why so many people get this wrong!

      We give guns to our cops to enforce the laws, and we should have higher expectations for the handling of their weapon than random schmuck off the street licensed gun owner.

      We give the military and various other resources and powers to the President to execute the laws. They should also be held to an even higher standard! A bad guy as President can do a million times as much damage than they can as a cop.

      • A_Random_IdiotEnglish
        52 months ago
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        Agree. These people are given the public trust. betraying the public trust should result in severe punishment. More severe than a random schmuck doing the same act, cause that random schmuck wasnt given the public trust and the power of authority.

        • Jimmyeatsausage
          22 months ago
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          But then the people who want to use that public trust for personal gain won’t want to run for office! Then what!?!

          • A_Random_IdiotEnglish
            22 months ago
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            I know you are joking, but you have no idea how many times i’ve heard legitimate arguments like thatespecially with regards to police.

    • sudo42English
      22 months ago
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      I, for one, am sick of this whole “Oh lets pardon the past president to protect the institution of presidency”

      You know how we protect the institution of the presidency? We stop having presidents that break the law.

      Agreed. I too am so sick of this ass-kissing authoritarian BS. They’re not kings. They served in an office and now they’re out. They’re humans FFS.

  • Flying Squid
    782 months ago
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    Maybe the ex-president shouldn’t have been such a criminal, Mitt.

      • guacupado
        62 months ago
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        I guess we shouldn’t allow any more new people to start commenting.

        • Todd Bonzalez
          72 months ago
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          I have contributed more comments to the community in my 8 days here than this clown has in 7 months.

          More than half of their comments are just failed call outs to new accounts. One comment a week, and this is what they bring to the table.

        • swallowyourmindEnglish
          -12 months ago
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          We absolutely should!

          How is welcoming someone for being new a bad thing?

  • LEDZeppelin
    442 months ago
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    And this guy is supposed to be the “moderate” GOP. Crooks and liars all the way down their bones.

  • AA5B
    362 months ago
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    I can see discussion if he committed crimes related to being in office, that time was past, and we wanted the country to move forward, but none of that is true. Trump is finally facing justice for crimes throughout hiss adult life and he’s trying to skip justice to gain the presidency. This is not the Nixon situation. Even worse, Romney reasons it “to be a bigger man”, wtf, this isn’t just play acting as part of the presidential campaign

    • jonne
      182 months ago
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      And pardoning Nixon just set the stage for Republicans continuing to commit crimes while or in order to get into office.

    • Corkyskog
      152 months ago
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      If you want to see how bad stuff gets for someone constantly trying to stay in power to avoid jail time, all you have to do is look at Netanyahu

  • Jimmybander
    302 months ago
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    Presidents should be prosecuted for crimes. They are not Kings and Queens.

      • dufkm
        52 months ago
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        Louis XVI was prosecuted and found guilty of high treason and crimes against the state by the National Convention during the French revolution, so it does happen from time to time.

    • dufkm
      32 months ago
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      They are not Kings and Queens

      I understand the sentiment, but I hate this phrase. If any of the e.g. Scandinavian royals would exhibit this kind of behaviour and lawlessness, the monarchy would be dismantled in a heartbeat. It’s mostly for show, and the monarchy only exists for as long as the people want it to.

  • Honytawk
    282 months ago
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    Well, Trump could just try not being a criminal if they care so much about prosecuting an ex-president

    • mPony
      32 months ago
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      When you think the law doesn’t apply to you then of course you’d think you can do anything you wanted and never be a criminal.