A Reminder of where America is heading

Trump pardoned 1500 Jan 6 traitors.

your government is officially run by traitors.

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Wuling mini EV plz

Was Guiness Book of World Records there to certify the event?

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The Australians will inherit the earth since they made wise choices with their EV import strategy

We really need an amendment abolishing the power to pardon

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Yep. After the Stone and Manafort pardons, I was looking for Congress to pass an amendment in 2017. They never had a vote.

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As tempting as it might be to curb the power to pardon, that power is part of the system of checks and balances that is supposed to reduce the risk of tyranny.

I think it unwise to call for such checks and balances to be further eroded.

The Incarceration Proclamation

But that would diminish American exceptionalism! :grinning_face:

Imo, “checks and balances” is defined as one branch checking another, so that any given branch can’t cheat by empowering itself with its own power.

In this case, the president is pardoning people who committed crimes in the name of the president. So I think it’s the opposite of a check. And it lends itself to tyranny, since the criminals can do things like try to overthrow a fair election.

Of course, there’s the impeachment exception, so maybe we just needed to impeach him harder. But in any case, we are absolutely missing a concept of “checking” here.

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That’s fair…but I was thinking of it more in terms of: what happens if the judiciary runs amok, using its power to create a system where judicial outcomes are capricious to further judges’ own goals.

Or, what if the legislative branch were to use its power to inappropriately further its ends by criminalizing opponents’ behavior?

I’ll admit that neither of those seems very likely these days…but there’s a lot that’s happened that I would have thought to be unlikely.

I’ll also admit that the entire system of checks and balances relies on there being a greater proportion of reasonable folks wielding power (including the power of the vote) than seems to actually be the case today.

But despite the imperfections in the system…I think there’s a greater risk of harm if abusable safety valves are eliminated than if they are retained.

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Yes, I see what you mean too. Political imprisonment is a classic approach to tyranny. Having some escape valve that is separate from the police, the judiciary, and the jury makes some sense. I just feel like the current approach is not quite right.

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“Do something (illegal) for me, and I’ll take care of any complications.”
Mob talk, IMO.

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I agree.

Removing the ability to pardon slightly limits the power of the presidency by increasing the impact of abuse by the other branches of government. The problem is the creep of power that has shifted to the presidency. Weaken executive orders and shift cabinet positions/powers away from the president would do a great deal more to balance power between branches and create a healthier government.

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There are limits to what the law and constitution can do. If people give ultimate power to criminals then they have essentially lost faith in the legal system/institutions. I think that’s probably where you’re at right now. So Trump committed treason on Jan 6, but how can you prosecute a man of treason when the people re-elected him as president? The two are incompatible realities. The people’s will supersedes everything.

Eh, “The People’s Will” on average, is a 3-year-old.

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You know, it’s kinda sad in a general sense, not a Trump specific sense. One can hold high office, but can’t be silly publicly. I don’t think my colleagues at work would think less of me if they saw videos of me clowning around with my kids, especially when the kids were little (or maybe they would). But I think more important folks have less freedom in that area. Now granted, there are times and places for it, but I’m not going to judge someone as a fool from recreation. I’ll let their work speak for itself.

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Every circus needs its clown

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