Article II, Section II of the Constitution provides that the president "shall have Power to Grant Reprieves and Pardons for Offenses against the United States, except in Cases of Impeachment: conviction of Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
28 U.S. Code § 455 - Disqualification of justice, judge, or magistrate judge
(a) Any justice, judge, or magistrate judge of the United States shall disqualify himself in any proceeding in which his impartiality might reasonably be questioned.
(b) He shall also disqualify himself in the following circumstances
(1) Where he has a personal bias or prejudice concerning a party, or personal knowledge of disputed evidentiary facts concerning the proceeding
https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/28/455
If the president sits as judge and jury to pardon himself and family members, by not recusing himself, how does that square with legal precedent under the U.S. judicial rules of procedure to ensure a fair trial?
The impeachment process under the present circumstances and vote split in the senate would not likely find 2/3rds of the senate voting for impeachment of the president if the results of the special prosecutor finds the president guilty of Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.
Reliance on 28 U.S. Code § 455 may offer guidence if Robert Mueller finds cause for impeachment against the president and pardons are expected to become the central question to resolve.
22
The ideals of the Enlightenment have been long betrayed by liberal Pharisees.
The ideals, as stated by the French, are Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.
Liberals have knocked off the Fraternity leg from under this three-legged stool, and it's fallen over.
Fraternity is incompatible with Identity Politics. You can't be my bro if your primary identification is with your 'protected group' that I'm not part of.
The very fact that 'protected group' is a legal term makes a mockery of not only the Enlightenment but our constitution as well.
From this atheist, a blessing goes to the president for appreciating that America is the one and only group with a right of protection under the law in this country.
4
"The ideals, as stated by the French, ..."
America is not France. You need to cite American documents:
America's Founding Documents
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs
5
Migrant children were separated from their parents to comply with an ordered issued by a federal judge, not divine commandment. In 2015, Judge Dolly Gee of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California. She ruled that migrant children apprehended crossing the border legally with their parents must be treated the same as unaccompanied children. She ruled they could not be held in custody but must be released to licensed child care centers operated by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Refugee Resettlement. Judge Gee’s order was the reason—the only reason—migrant children were separated from parents.
3
Who is next - John Wilkes Booth?
6
The Republican Party has thrown away the "Faith of our Fathers." GOP politicians are dishonest and vicious.
"Land where my fathers died!
Land of the Pilgrim's pride!" ???
If we read the Declaration of Independence we will find
King George III's sins listed. Those sins are now in the
hands of the Republican Party.
16
King Donald indeed.
And who has made him king? The 40% who have seized control of our legislature, our Supreme Court and our executive branch.
This is far worse than tyranny by a single man, it is tyranny by ignorance. The heirs of what Hamilton and Franklin and Jefferson fought for and cherished betray the founding principles while folding themselves in the flag.
These ignorants are so sure of their cause because they are used to being instructed. The rest of us (the majority) enable it by standing by with our mouths agape, outrage on our tongue but no action to take back the republic from this monster and his cretinous flock.
27
Hey Electoral College — thanks for nothing.
28
Trump pardons deplorable American citizens, but jails those migrants who have a human right to migrate here.
We need to reverse this trend, and vote the Blue Wave this November!
And after winning in 2020, hopefully we can get this country back on the right track as it was in the Obama era; jail the deplorable ranchers and American writers who say hurtful things, and give amnesty to the migrants! Side with innocent victims like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown, and put the dirty cops under investigation!
If we can jail and replace enough deplorable Americans, and import enough migrant single mothers, winning elections will be so much easier! Let’s do this!
9
They know the deal they made with this man. They're complete hypocrites and frauds. They make a Faustian deal and become Faust
13
Advice to Asylum Seekers: Be White and, if you can afford 'em, wear cowboy hats. That's like the Get Out Of Jail Free Card nowadays, donchaknow?
4
One is put in mind of H.L. Mencken: -- “As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
NOTHING creates absurdst thinking and incompetent and ugly behavior like exiting the boundaries of objective thinking where the ignorant masses can revel in their emotional paroxysms of idiocy; totally unfettered by their republican leaders.
The demagogues and bronze age faithheads and the fake fox news propaganda machine are all lined up behind a grifter-in-chief who is a match made in heaven for them.
The good news is that it only hastens their slide into political and economic irrelence!
16
Yes, and it can be used to pardon creeps like Marc Rich of Glencorp who ripped off the poor but had contributed mightily to Bill Clinton.
4
Failure to enforce "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion" on that infantile body of fools will be the death of this nation.
23
Tyranny is here
23
No. The divine deceit, as perpetrated upon his marks. You really can’t fix stupid, or willfully ignorant. You can only out VOTE them. Seriously. November.
11
i sincerely believe tha Trump is insane
9
This is great... the president is in fact more powerful than a monarch.even by 18th C standards.. WOW... And some courts don't kowtow to executive power. Double WOW.
I thought emoluments and aspiring to nobility (unlimited term) are impeachable offenses according to the Constitution...
Problem is the greedy wimps in our Congress. (Vote em all out!!)
5
The United States underwent a right wing coup in 2016. The electoral farce was based on Republican gerrymandering and systematic voter suppression financed by right wing corporatists. This was combined with Russian hacking of the media and the electoral system. This was planned in advance over many years. We have become a Banana Republic controlled by the ultra-right wing owners of the Republican Party with the egomaniac Trump at the helm. The voter base that gave the illusion of an electoral of victory for the Republican Party is white nationalist and is steeped in pseudo-religious hypocrisy.
People who still support Trump after his daily display of ignorance and incompetence at the expense of working families, after his aggressive incomprehensible acts destroying ties with our true allies on behalf of Russia, after his self-admitted abuse of women, after ripping children from the arms of their mothers… these people are obsessed with Trump's explicit racism and bigotry and have abandoned the word of the Bible in search of political power. The lyrics of “The Devil Made Me Do It “ apply, not divinity.
How long is the Republican Party going to allow Trump, their mad dog mascot, to humiliate the United States before the world? Are these GOP cowards afraid to upset the Trump racist base who are now the primary source of their voting power? Have these traitorous Republicans no shame whatsoever? They must all be taught a lesson at the polls in every election going forward!
14
Pardoning an individual is an act of clemency grace and forgiveness, or a correction of injustice.
If a person is wrongfully convicted the pardon may cut red tape to correct a wrong. If someone committed a crime and has gone through a profound change then a pardon may benefit society. In the latter case redemption must be proceeded by an acknowledgement of ones own actions. The individual must both understand what they did was wrong and be seeking to right that wrong. That does not exist here. Arpaio and the ranchers neither acknowledge their actions as being wrong or are they apologetic in any way What POTUS is dong is undermining democracy and the judicial branch of government. These criminals were found guilty by their peers in a court of law. The people said their actions were unacceptable in a democratic jury, through the court system. Rump snubs his nose to both. The message is clear and it is a present danger. The simplest way to read this is if you are with me you are above the law, (like me). If I don't like you I will use me executive powers for wanton cruelty. Its about as un-American as you can get. The remedy first resides in checking the presidents power, put his own party is feasting on the malfeasance to profit. It thus comes back to the people. Is this acceptable? That is the prime question in 2018 and 2020.
20/20 is hind sight. How many people then will see the light
2
"This country is on the verge of becoming a fascist theocracy." - Frank Zappa (said during the Reagan Administration).
6
What frightened those of the Enlightenment was the autocratic junta of the sort led by Barack Obama.
Where Trump sticks closely to the Constitutional separation of powers and the rule of law, Obama piccked and chose which laws he would never carry out, which ideas he would run immigration with unil the courts stopped him, and - worst of all - rewrote the PPACA fifty times on the fly without so much as a by-your-leave from the legislative body.
Trump leaves Inspectors General alone as most presidents did. but they were Obama's FIRST targets because many important Democrats in the government had run afoul of the IGs over financial misdeeds, and Obama wanted them to escape removal or censure.
The Enlightenment figures would have fainted at the use of the IRS, DoJ, NSA, and CIA as political operations carrying out purely partisan hackery and you skould have admitted it long ago.
2
Those who have openly displayed their racism in comments regarding immigrants and people of color have no credibility when criticizing Obama. Its just another form of Trump's Birtherism which is racial hatred personified.
44
Times's description: "In ... using the Bible to justify family separation, the president ..."
Armitage: "When Attorney General Jeff Sessions cites Paul’s epistle to the Romans to justify family separation, ..."
Sessions quoted the Bible, not Trump. Did anyone at the Times actually read the OpEd before writing the description?
Armitage: "Impeachable offenses — high crimes and misdemeanors, carried out in the exercise of official duties — are literally unpardonable. King Charles lost his head for claiming a divine prerogative; a president can lose only his job."
Armitage needs to read ALL of the US Constitution to understand how the pieces fit together.
A President who has lost "his job" can still be prosecuted for crimes:
"Judgment in Cases of Impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from Office, ... but the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law." (Article I, Section 3)
Professor Armitage rules.
3
Actually, it is the Devil's Last Stand!
1
Oh, please. You left out your references to the antichrist. Trump won the election. Get over it. We messed up when we ran Hillary as our candidate. Every president has a constitutional right of pardon. Whether you admire its use - as with Lincoln - or you despise its use - as with Trump - the president has the right to pardon.
1
Your hope is that reason will save us, but reason is exactly what has drawn us into this snake pit.
Impeachment requires a non-complicit GOP.
5
Armitage: "The pardoning power is absolute and unmitigated."
Wrong. The US Constitution restricts the President's power of pardon to "Offences against the United States". (Article II, Section 2)
Armitage later quotes that, but he doesn't seem to recognize that, under the US Constitution, the "United States" is a distinct entity from "the several States". For example:
"The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, ..." (Article I, Section 3)
Thus, the President cannot grant pardons for State crimes.
Divine intervention is what we need now.
This is exactly what to fear from Kavanaugh -- and why he was nominated. To claim, as Kavanaugh has, that to call to account a President would fetter his ability to govern, is nonsense. ANY elected official put above the laws which bind all people undermines our republic, already fragile, and gives green light to more corruption and abuse. Ironic it should come from the "law and order" party.
Despite the brilliance of forethought in our Constitution, no human document or system of governance can forever stand up to the creativity, cunning and ingenuity of men in the pursuit of their desires. Dangerous of all are those who would undertake to subvert the very system that gave them their power, while at the same time declaring their support and protection of same.
Tragically, 9/11 was the gift that still gives. It provided ideal cover to distract voters, the perfect values to invoke and great straw dogs to fear. Cynical? Really? Where have those color-coded terror alerts led us? (Two costly unnecessary wars, great recession, a nation in fight, corruption by dark money, religious intrusion into private lives, a generation with little future . . . )
It has brought us to now, where we have elected an unhinged charlatan who would usurp our democracy (what of it we have) by "divine right," while those who brought us here sit back and happily let him play public fool and wreck things, so long as he gives cover to their pursuits.
1
The Electoral College is composed of political hacks from the party winning their state's popular vote for president. It is strictly a pro-forma ritual signifying no thought whatsoever.
The projection of a human personality onto nature is the most presumptuous and specious lie in this nation of piled-on falsehoods and hyper-indulged psychopaths.
Not only is Trump exactly the sort of ruler that Enlightenment thinkers feared, he is also exactly the sort of President that the electoral college was supposed to protect us from. This government is a fraud in every way. Not only was his election illegitimate, having been facilitated by Trumps friend Vladimir, but also the will of the people, who overwhelmingly voted for his opponent, was trampled due to an archaic institution which was expressly designed to stop the election of an evil tyrant. The Republican party, and through it Republican voters, are eagerly and happily allowing the government to do evil in the name of all of us. November cannot come soon enough, so we can begin the process of beating back this immoral minority to the shadows where they belong.
2
Thank you for writing this piece. It is just the sort of thoughtful, philosophical, and historical context for understanding Mr. Trump's abuses of power.
Only a morally backward king, unfettered by the rule of law and lacking the intention of true clemency, could pardon criminals while punishing children.
All I can say is- no one ever expects the Spanish inquisition...
Vote Democratic on November 6th.
Every seat, every office.
Changing Congress is our best hope.
Vote.
1
Refusal to support family planning is no way to limit the collision of population growth with climate change.
1
Don't you want to see King Donald J. Trump's tax returns? I do. Trump and his enablers are destroying America's credibility.
A legal system that allows for no exceptions, no forgiveness, no pardon, may be pure in theory but is inevitably harsh - even grotesque - in practice. The gift of pardon, like the quality of mercy, "falleth as the gentle dew from Heaven." It need not be logical or even rational, any more than is the impetus to mercy. It is the humanizing quality residing in the executive branch. As such it can not be restrained by rules and regulations. A government at large cannot "forgive." It can only follow its laws. A judge has some discretionary power, as does a state or federal prosecutor, in how those laws are applied but they cannot ignore the law entirely and forgive. Only the executive can do that. Since this power, though legal, essentially stands outside the law and overrides it, it can only be an expression of the personal will of the individual occupying the executive chair. That it may sometimes be used inappropriately does not obviate the fact that a system devoid of any expression of mercy is one that must endorse cruelty and oppression with no hope of relief.
Unfortunately, this sound very close to the call to "abolish ICE." The main point of Trump abusing the unlimited authority of pardon as a personal perk rather than judiciously, is lost in this rancor for his botched dealing with illegal immigrants who bring children. They are distinct issues.
Representative Jerold Nadler has drafted legislation that would restructure how asylum cases with children are handled that's on his website. It will allow those who have the wealth to hire lawyers a better chance of gaining admission, but the "wretched poor" will still have a low chance.
There is a harsh reality that over a billion people would gladly take the most extreme risks to live in this country, which includes counterfeit documents of children who can facilitate this. Trump did flaunt is ruthlessness, but that does not erase that such separations also occurred under Obama, who was known as the "Deporter in Chief"
His misuse of the pardon authority can only be address by his own Republicans. He is not breaching the Constitution or any law, only the vision and trust of our founders of the standards that one in his position would uphold. Eventually, his treating this revered honored position as a personal fiefdom will either be rejected by the American people, or if not, we deserve no better fate than what he will lead us to .
Our experiment in a democratic republic will have run its course.
The US is too profoundly incapable of facing up to any of its profound flaws and bottomless insults to intelligence to fix any of them.
1
Separating kids from their parents at the border is not justice. Many of those people were legitimate asylum seekers, who were not allowed a hearing. The separation happened at speed, supported by lies, and in many cases those who rapidly transported the kids far away were not aware of what they were doing. Now they're trying to coerce the parents into confessions before they can get their children back.
None of this is legal.
13
No one is above the law, you say, and it sounds right; now go tell Trump about it, who is abusing the power of the presidency to trample on whomsoever he pleases...and to pardon criminals at will, as an exercise when his turn comes, for the dreaded and absurd notion of self-pardon. And it will. Why is it that otherwise honorable men, and women, will look the other way, as long as Trump's barbarous insults and awful acts do not affect them personally? Don't they realize that, come tomorrow, Trump may come after them too...but nobody left to defend them? Cowardice and hypocrisy are known to bite back! As they should!
9
Trumplandia is mocking you right this minute. They do not care. We are irrelevant. They enjoy our dismay, our anxiety.
1
King Donald the First wants to consolidate his power, and make it absolute. Will we allow that? So far, we have; Congress will not act in any meaningful way, they defer to him. What will stop His Majesty? The Supreme Court? Seriously? ...nothing, then. Get ready to swear allegiance, or go to jail.
10
King Donald knows that his people want a King. And so he gives them one. King Donald is not the problem. The people who so desperately need a King, out of unabashed ignorance, are the problem.
23
Yes, these sadly deluded people do seem to believe their own thoughts in language are God talking to them. It is really weird.
This is merry history alongside a fantasy. The President has nothing to fear in the impeachment clause, from a Congress wholly throttled by the gerrymandered protection of his lunatic 32 percent base, a gift of the Supreme Court. It's insulting to be entertained by delusions of poetic justice in this transparently real world.
5
The decorative side of the cufflink is worn away from the palm.
4
Unless it’s double-sided, which would make sense in this case. The more gold tone surfaces, the merrier...
There will always be " a power above the law defined by the Constitution " which is, of course God. Just because the teachings of the Bible are often misused and taken out of context to make an argument, does not diminish the almighty God. When Job was questioning God in Chapter 38 of that book, God puts Job in his place by saying " Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?"
1
Too many people think god is their ego or the voices in their heads. Hence Jeff Sessions and Scott Pruitt who wrote a revolting letter to Trump that was all worship, while he robbed us blind and left earth itself in bad shape.
12
One can try suing someone and getting the Supreme court to rule on one's case.
'There will always be " a power above the law defined by the Constitution " which is, of course God.'
The word "ordain" in the Preamble to the US Constitution manifests the principle that power resides in the people:
"We the People of the United States, ... do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
See "For the People: What the Constitution Really Says About Your Rights" by Akhil Reed Amar, Alan R. Hirsch.
The people have the same right they had in 2016 when they elected Trump in the first place. Elections have consequences, and when you lose this badly the other side can pretty much do what they want.
2
How badly did the Dems lose? They won the popular vote for President and lost the electoral college because they lost 3 states, at least one of which notoriously suppressed the vote.
And in lots of states they carried the popular vote for the House but did not get the majority of the representatives due to gerrymandering. See VA, for example.
1
Well, yes, Trump lost badly. But the possibly-fatal flaw in the Constitution has installed a beast of a creature and bestowed nearly monarchical power on an obscenity.
1
The Dems lost the Presidency, Senate, and the House
That is a clean sweep and the Republicans are now calling the shots.
While I do not like Trump, I'm going to argue against many of the comments. The main objections voiced here seem to me to be against the person who is currently issuing pardons. Having said that, Presidential Pardons are a chance for the President who is presumably above the fray, to correct a miscarriage of justice caused by local passions. If the people commenting here do not like the way pardons are being issued, they have a chance to change that in 2020. Although I have to say, given the general lethargy of the Democratic Party, that looks unlikely to happen.
2
For better and worse, the duties of impeachment (i.e. indictment) and trial are held by Congress.
What recourse do we, the people, have when Congress refuses to do its duty?
15
"What recourse do we, the people, have when Congress refuses to do its duty?"
Congress is a political body representing "the people".
If you don't like what your representatives are doing, you should do *your duty* as a citizen and complain to them ... or elect different representatives.
You can find your members of Congress here: congress.gov/members
6
Thanks for answering the question. I'm still working on my rhetorical skills.
As we watch our democracy crumble before our very eyes, it has become increasingly apparent that our Constitution is not the sturdy bulwark we were taught to believe. It is in fact a highly flawed document and one unlikely to sustain the assault it is currently under.
26
If the president wants to use the power of pardon, he should pardon all those who we entered the USA without documents. Those who present themselves at the border seeking asylum, are not in need of pardon, as they have commited no offense. To incarcerate the asylum seekers and to rip children away from their parents ia a cruelty beyond decency and morality - an unpardonable offense.
7
We have devolved into a nation Thomas Paine had feared; the government led by the aristocracy. The oligarch administration of putin or that of trump, is all the same.
8
Dozens of writers have parsed this "president's" words and actions ad infinitum this past year, and yet they continue to ignore the source of Trump's power - his voters.
If Trump's voters had walked away from him, impeachment proceedings would have begun months ago. But Republicans are terrified of Trump voters, who will keep him in power no matter what he does. These people will never change. They are still in lockstep with him - even after he ordered infants to be put in cages.
When we speak of "divine right", this means, in the context of the Trump presidency, that half this nation has deliberately installed him as a dictator, and they will do whatever it takes to see that he stays there. He will not go quietly.
Dictators or absolute rulers of any kind have no use for such pedestrian notions as elections. Those are for the "little people". Now that Trump has been installed as the totalitarian leader of this country, he will stay as long as he wants to, and not a day less. His supporters will take any action, up to and including using their arsenal of weapons against the rest of us, if they have to. We have seen our last national election for some time. Trump knows he is only limited by his imagination and the laws of physics. His supporters will stop at nothing to keep him in power.
Our fear of a king or dictator is misplaced. We should really fear Trump voters. They are the ones driving this train, and they need to be stopped if we are to return to a democracy.
17
Voters need to be stopped???
Now that's a really scary suggestion.
This will be the last election
Thank you, Professor Armitage.
"NO ONE IS ABOVE THE LAW"
Let's engrave it in stone and place it on the lawn below the Oval Office, as a constant reminder.
We don't elect monarchs.
8
The question that needs to be put to Prof. Armitage and his ilk is "Where were you when Bill Clinton pardoned Marc Rich?"
A strong case can be against the pardon power -- but it is not a Democratic case or a Republican case. By making the case against the pardon power for nakedly partisan purposes as here, Armitage undercuts his own case.
2
I have supported abolishing the president pardon since Clinton pardoned Marc Rich while his ex wife was raising money for his library. The president has very few totally unchecked powers and this is one which he clearly doesn’t need to do his job. But I don’t see it as going back to royal privilege. Just a power the framers gave the presidency which they saw as a relatively weak position with the real power in the Congress. But as the power of the executive as greatly expanded over the years a power like to pardon devoid of checks and balances should be abolished. It is a shame that until the elite has a president they despise they never noticed it was a problem.
2
Two or three hundred years of enlightenment is hardly enough time to set anything in stone. We need to keep an open mind in all of this. There are fads and there’s eternity. Does the world’s closet really want to keep every one of yesterday’s passing fashions? At my house my wife has it in the Goodwill bag the next day.
Mr. Sanger, it is very interesting to know that legal theorists long ago understood the abuse potential of unrestrained presidential power.
But now that we are experiencing Trump's march to omnipotence, what are we to do about it? You warn in the conclusion that Trump should beware. Of what exactly? Being convicted for crimes? Losing his job? Losing his wealth?
He certainly seems to be aware of all those possibilities, and is aggressively compromising the checks and balances built into the system to eliminate the risks. He already has the backup of a slavish Republican Congress, and he is soon going to fix the Supreme Court in a way that will never oppose his excesses.
He is thumbing his nose at us all in the process: refusing to turn over his tax returns, refusing to cooperate with the Mueller investigation, firing pesky investigators in the Justice Department, ordering illegal tariffs on our allies, refusing to implement Congressionally-mandated sanctions on the Russians, and more galling, more brash than anything, preparing for a secret off the record meeting with his idol, Vladimir Putin.
One takeaway from your piece: Americans have to beware. The law has to change. Another Trump cannot be allowed to happen.
8
that Donald Trump, man. he's one in a million.
in a country of around 350 million, I don't like the odds.
Most of us are repulsed by this type of governance yet I wonder if Trump has succeeded at bringing down our national dialog and belief in our government to such a low, that it won’t recover for a generation.
3
America needs a new Enightenment.
We see it doesn't matter what are 'true Christian values and morality' that are professed in our politics. For many years the GOP has used religious fundamentalism, allied with wealthy corporate donor money to accumulate votes, power and profit.
Enter Trump.
The US may be proud of the explicit church/state separation in our founding documents, but still we let religion influence politics too much for a secular democracy with many religious groups.
European democracies, more secular now, did have explicit state religions that America's founders rejected. Yet they don't let religion into their politics like the US does.
For many, the Constitution or the Bible can mean whatever they want them to mean---for the powers that be.
The corrupt Scott Pruitt’s resignation letter to Trump:
“My desire in service to you has always been to bless you as you make important decisions for the American people. I believe you are serving as President because of God’s providence. I pray as I have served you that I have blessed you and enabled you to effectively lead the American people.”
It’s like a letter to a monarch from a courtier.
21
To somehow believe Donald Trump is not suspect in his use of pardoning is to deny reality. The pardons he has given, with the exception of the African-American boxer, Jack Johnson, have been granted to please his base and nothing more. They are nakedly political decisions. Were a Democrat to be jailed or imprisoned for an identical offense, he/she would still be behind bars.
If any pardon will improve his standing with his base, he will make it. It won't be long before he starts pardoning people before they are even tried (think Ford-Nixon). He'll proclaim they are all innocent victims of a witch hunt.
8
That “Divine Right of Kings” stuff isn’t medieval; it dates from the 1500s and 1600s. Kings in medieval Europe were a lot less secure; check out the story of King John and the Magna Carta, for example. But King Charles I (1600-1649), by claiming the divine right of absolutist kings, lost not only his crown but also his head. (Charles also wasn’t particularly bright, and he rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.) Less than 40 years later, the Glorious Revolution effectively ended the absolute power of British kings.
Moral of the story: the exercise of absolute power has a limited shelf life. It makes other people very, very angry, and they will take steps to end it. I had to look at a lot of this divine-right and absolute-power stuff in my dissertation; I never thought that there would be a contemporary application for it. Of course, I never anticipated a president like Donald Trump, who makes Charles I look like a political genius.
12
Most crime is committed without a thought of discovery and punishment. We come under law by consent. If the law is just and fair, we submit, or should. If not, we argue with the law or act against it. The honorable criminal, law-breaker, submits to punishment, in some cases like Gandhi or Mandela, when discovery and punishment are manifest and the "criminal" seeks the remedy as an act of justice. A pardon robs the crime of its meaning.
Trump frequently cites and relishes his judgement of what is unfair. The samples are multiple. I would guess he thought his pardons were "fair". He divides the judgment of others simply by his measure like a child that wants its way when its parent lays before it what is right and what is wrong. Sadly, he has never learned those lessons. The law means nothing to him. He denies his consent. He relies on us to only submit.
"Only crime and the criminal, it is true, confront us with the perplexity of radical evil; but only the hypocrite is really rotten to the core."
Hannah Arendt
2
On one hand, Presidential pardon power has occasionally done some good. On the other hand ... well Trump. Maybe each President should be limited to a certain number of pardons per term - say four - which works out to one per year? Then we could limit the damage a corrupt President can do, but still provide a less corrupt President an opportunity to do good.
1
It's King Mitch who's the real problem. A man well into flabby rigor mortis, he nevertheless wields power over the entire polity simply through manipulation of the senate. He has subverted democracy recklessly and maliciously and sneered at the constitution as of no weight to him whatsoever. Our constitution has failed us. Many of the types of hobbling and manipulation that hamstring our democracy now stem directly from efforts to preserve slavery. Trump is truculent and stupid, Sessions malevolent and stupid; but King Mitch is malevolent and sly. It is he who pulled the last card from the feeble house of cards of American democracy.
10
What is astonishing to Democrats is that Trump is pardoning at this time in his presidency, rather than working in the dark of night in exchange for cash, like Bill Clinton did.
Or Obama, who waited to pardon a terrorist unwilling to disavow the use of violence to overthrow government. Can't have too many of those on the streets.
1
No, what is astonishing is how blatantly Trump panders to his base and how partisan his pardons are. What is not astonishing is how accepting and hypocritical his followers are with all of it. Especially if he makes money on it.
Such as his latest pardons. Arsonists that willingly destroyed Gov. property, put lives at risk, and threatened witnesses. As they attempted to cover up their previous crimes of poaching. Which they had been convicted of previously also. These same welfare cowboys, living off the tax payers dime, while harming the local commons, encouraged and enabled Insurrectionists to occupy, and destroy gov., ie.The Peoples property, and attempt murder of local and fed. law enforcement.
Pardoning white terrorists, who USED violence to attempt to overthrow gov. and hide crimes. IOKIYAR Right?!
With regard to the founders and the constitution, we now have proof that they and it were exceedingly fallible, human follies. The proof is named Trump.
12
As long as one or both houses of Congress are controlled by feckless GOP sycophants, King Donald's powers may as well be absolute. There is presently no check or balance. Never in US history, till now, have we had a King. Don't bet that the next election won't be rigged either. Kings don't go down easy.
12
Should we reevaluate the pardon now that criminal Justice is (supposed to be) about rehabilitation rather than punishment?
Mercy, when handed down by a man of good character is makes me think of a wise man like King Solomon.
But, mercy handed down by a man who is himself under criminal investigation, makes me think of a mob-boss like the Corleone.
King Solomon's mercy is praiseworthy. The Corleone's is abuse of power. It is making mockery of the virtue of mercy.
12
The problem with raising the spectre of impeachment - a regular refrain in the NYT - is that as things stand it’s not going to happen. The best thing the Democrats and their supporters can do is start to create a compelling, alternative vision and agenda and beat Trump at the ballot box. Sadly, right now that doesn’t look likely either.
3
First they came for the Great Society, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not on welfare.
Then they came for the New Deal, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not a union member.
Then they came for the Progressive movement, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not an environmentalist.
Then they came for the Enlightenment—
and there was no one left to speak ...
But wait! We are millions upon millions! And we must speak out, and rise up against the Dark Ages.
30
It is laughable to hear the author claim there’s “a cautionary moral for the president” in resorting to pardons. As if the president cared about morals, or was prone to caution. The author goes to great lengths to cite history, law and philosophy - factors that mean nothing to Trump. Trump fears three things: losing wealth, being ignored and being found out for the fraud that he is. If the author could put his warnings against pardons in those terms, Trump might listen. Otherwise this erudite essay is a waste of pixels.
5
Indeed. Our republic vests authority partly in the people and partly in the Constitution. But rule in the name of God can only be tyranny, not democracy. Biblical or divine authority can be cited to justify just about anything. In America, belief in God means you are an obedient subject of what is effectively imagined as a divinely authorized absolute monarchy. As this is the dominant way talk of religion in politics is framed, even non-evangelicals get sucked into it. The reference to God is contradictory, though, because if God has a place in the state, then he must exercise power through it, and in secular terms. But secular claims can be examined and debated.
Use of religious discourse is one of the biggest problems of American society politically. There really are just two broad religious principles that have weight in our political culture: The prophetic one that a society should care for and be just to its citizens and residents, and one I would call the authoritarian moralism of the enforcement of normality and property, usually serving patriarchal familialism. The latter is the dominant religious strain in our country's social and political life. This is the religious right, which has power in this society unlike any other outside the Muslim world. It is not Christian, for where in it is the gospel of love? These people just believe in a set of moral rules to be enforced. But this is the place of secular law.
13
And the religious right, in this country, has shown it has absolutely no claim to virtue of any sort, in supporting Donald Trump.
11
Happily, quite a few heads of state who believed they had a divine right to rule wound up a head short. This won't end well for Trump. Right now he's like a drunk teenager behind the wheel of a powerful car and he's enjoying his joyride. The world will catch up with him.
Unfortunately for the population of the United States, we are passengers in the car.
7
It is a sad sad statement on how fitting the use of the word right is here. The American 'Political Right' has been shamed though they cannot or will not see with what extremism is doing to the idea that the right wing is divine. It ain't a sin when I do it or do it to you.
8
Thoughts on your conclusion ...
I vaguely recall that Charles I was executed for “high treason.” I could be wrong, but I think it still is a capital offense in the here and now. It remains to be seen just how far the similarity goes.
5
'I vaguely recall that Charles I was executed for “high treason.”'
The Articles of Impeachment and the Death Warrant are online. Here are pertinent quotes:
* "By all which it appeareth that the said Charles Stuart hath been, and is the occasioner, author, and continuer of the said unnatural, cruel, and bloody Wars, and therein guilty of all the treasons, murders, rapines, burnings, spoils, desolations, damages, and mischiefs, to this nation, acted and committed in the said Wars, or occasioned thereby." (Articles of Impeachment of King Charles I)
* "Whereas Charles Steuart Kinge of England is and standeth convicted attaynted and condemned of High Treason and other high Crymes ..." (Death warrant of King Charles I)
Source: wikisource.org
Whatever wisdom there is in the bible, is from humans and not some invisible man floating in the sky.
Everything else, is either contradictions, or just plain gibberish.
History was written by the victors, which explains much of what's in the bible.
13
"Family separation shows justice without mercy." Perhaps the good professor will explain the 'justice' part of this grotesque, illegal act?
Armitage seems to be driven by the rhetorical need to be able to write "mercy in the name of justice" in the next sentence. Some individuals who were more focused on reality than rhetoric included this clause in our founding document: "nor shall any person ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law." How about we require that our justice-driven leaders faithfully execute that injunction?
2
If Trump was presented with a situation, that Pontius Pilate has to deal with: pardon a known murderer, criminal and insurgent; or, pardon a man who preached peace, forgiveness and love?
Trump, has already chosen the route of Herod (punish children to show absolute authority; he killed every male child, under two in Bethlehem). That is, punish the innocent. Trump is certainly working on being Pilate, by pardoning criminals. One has to wonder who the sacrificial lamb is going to be?
Pardons, like executive orders, were meant to be used sparingly and for limited purposes. Like pardoning rebels from the Civil War; a great example. Others time, for true injustice done because the courts failed to do their job correctly.
Trump, continues to abuse both the pardon, and executive orders. He has crossed the line, a few times, executive orders that can be interpreted as "ruling by decree". Separation of children, from illegal immigrant parents, is a perfect example.
The US works because of "rule of law", and "checks and balances". Trump, a segment of his party, as wells as some groups, in this country, want a more authoritarian, and autocratic, state. They are even pushing for a constitutional convention (meant fro balanced budget requirements), that could revoke various parts of the constitution.
This is no time to be complacent. rump is pushing these limits of the power of his office.
Absolute power, corrupts absolutely.
30
I do not worry the power if the presidency will corrupt Trump absolutely.
he was corrupt and phony as a three dollar bill for decades before he even ran. he entered office already corrupt. then, he spread his corruption around like a contagion to others who were weak or predisposed to infection.
1
Prof. Armitage correctly describes the views of Enlightenment figures who criticized the institution of pardons. He is in error in describing British constitutional law. British sovereigns retained the right to pardon criminals into the 19th century, if not up to the present. (I don't know the current law.) V. A. C. Gatrel's book The Hanging Tree describes the wide use of the royal pardon in the years 1770-1868. British judges often were required to sentence felons to death, even for minor property crimes. One important way to mitigate the rigidity and harshness of the system was the royal pardon.
4
It is seemingly impossible for Trump to understand compassion, mercy, or any of the real strength that comes from a balanced head and heart.
8
I rather liked Charles I,
certainly more than Cromwell.
As for Parliament ruling England, well give me
Elizabeth II anyday.
However, Louis XVI ruled France it was better than
the French Revolution.
[ Lost several Great, Great, Great, Great Grandparents and
Uncles and Aunts to the "National Razor Blade."]
Does anyone doubt that modern day Legislatures
serve no one but the rich and powerful ?
Our votes mean next to nothing.
As for Divine Right -
is that not what the Supreme Court has ?
I am growing fonder of King George III
every day,
even in his period of madness,
he was saner than what we have now.
16
July 12, an appropriate day to write on divine right of kings. A successor of Charles I was the last Stuart king of that dynasty, James II. In a swirl of alliances, Scots with French in the Auld Alliance, Irish lords with Scots and European Catholics, the battle of the Three Kings was fought at the Boyne in Ireland. A coalition of English parliamentary troops, Dutch troops of the new king William, aka King Billy, aka William of orange, and papal troops beat a combined army of Stuart soldiers, Irish hopefuls, and bewildered French. That was the end of the absolute monarchy in England, With overhanging debt, it helped to pave the way for the French Revolution.
7
Umm. Erudite, but...I got lost with the last line. I think there was a 100 year gap between the Boyne and the French Revolution.
I would like to thank you for your knowledgeable and insightful article. I agree with you that the separation of children from their parents is cruel and that no one should HAVE this type of power to pardon or maim. Whether the individual is the President or the person with the most influential position. It is incredible how damaging and harmful is has been to those immigrants who have been separated from their families without any consideration or empathy of any KIND. I feel this is not the way it should be...the power should always belong to the people and not the other way around. My opinion. Thank you for sharing.
11
According to Professor Armitage, Nixon was lucky he resigned before being impeached, so he could be pardoned. Otherwise the impeachable offense couldn't be.
I don't know what to make of the two examples being used to set forth the authors premise--child separations and pardons of folks like Arpaio--except to say this: the justification for these actions by Trump and Sessions are both suspect.
Trump may want to be a king, but he's far from divine. And Sessions may think he's just implementing the law, but his God is supposed to be merciful.
Two sources of authority, both totally inaccurate for the actions taken given the corrupt and cruel goals they're really trying to achieve.
26
Armitage: "The administration cites the biblical injunction to obey the powers that be as one explanation for their zero-tolerance policy on immigration."
As Armitage clearly knows, Sessions quoted the Bible, not "the administration". Vagueness is not a virtue in a historian.
3
Sessions was speaking in his official capacity as the Attorney General. The attorney general is a cabinet position. It is therefore perfectly reasonable and proper to refer to his official announcements as being the administration's position.
14
He was quoting the biblical injunction in his role as Attorney General, not as a private citizen.
6
Sertorius: "... in his role as Attorney General ..."
Exactly, and Armitage should have said so: "The _Attorney General_ cites the biblical injunction ..."
Trump certainly doesn't quote the Bible, and it is very unlikely that he ordered Sessions to do so.
Mark Kessinger: You are committing the fallacy of composition, which asserts that what is true of a part is true of the whole.
1
The pardoning power can also provide a magic grease to unstick the gears when they become so gummed up that the machinery cannot work. Impeachment is easy to talk about but very hard to do because the mandated Senate super-majority effectively requires bipartisan cooperation at a time of great divisive stress. Richard Nixon agreed to depart quietly because he cut a deal with his successor, Gerald Ford, to receive a pardon after he resigned.
Regardless of either the facts unearthed by Mueller's team or a big Democratic win in the November midterms, no impeachment of Trump can occur without the support of at least a substantial minority of Republican senators. So impeachment in actuality seems unlikely to happen under all plausible scenarios -- meaning Trump stays in office at least until January, 2021, unless he resigns earlier. Only a Nixon-style agreement with Pence for a post-resignation pardon can grease the wheels to make an earlier departure possible.
7
you fail to take into account President Trump appears to have steadily gained weight since inauguration day. he leads a sressful and unhealthy lifestyle and enjoys a terrible diet.
actuaries?
1
Reread the Constitution and your history. The House impeaches, the Senate convicts.
Jackson and Clinton were impeached and legally remained in office.
1
Enlightenment? Thinkers? Trump? The first two words go together, but they don't relate to the third one.
PS: If asked point blank, I'd love to hear Trump's answer to "What was the Enlightenment?" An easier one might be, "When did the Enlightenment occur?" He is a genius, so he probably knows (just kidding).
18
Indeed, but slight modification. Trump is a "stable genius"
2
President Ford has been dead for a long time, he can't be opposed to anything.
1
The fact that governments, at all levels, act against with will of the governed and in their own interests and those who pay to play demonstrates that we are far afield from representative democracy. We have, instead, an entrenched semi-oligarchy. How else does one explain rampant corporate welfare, bitter refusal to provide healthcare, extortionate drug prices, and the cowardice of legislators who push off societal issues, i.e., abortion to the un-elected judges rather than pass a law. Donald J. Trump is only an extreme example of ignorance, the cowardice of a bully and a bottomless amorality. He's the true picture of what is currently wrong with the USA.
48
Donald Trump is a narcissist. That is the generally accepted view among both laypeople and clinicians. His self-focus, braggadocio and need for adulation all point in that direction.
But there's another concept that may shed some light on his behavior. That concept is 'puer aeternus,' or 'eternal boy.' It is defined in Wikipedia as follows:
"'Puer aeternus' (sometimes shortened to 'puer'), Latin for 'eternal boy,' in mythology is a child-god who is forever young. In psychology it is an older person whose emotional life has remained at an adolescent level. The 'puer' typically leads a provisional life due to the fear of being caught in a situation from which it might not be possible to escape. He covets independence and freedom, opposes boundaries and limits, and tends to find any restriction intolerable." http://tinyurl.com/y7y9gn8v
The limits and restrictions of the liberal mind, and the liberal world order, Trump finds intolerable. So, he takes every opportunity to attack, disrupt and dismember them. Of course, there's a good measure of spite in his attacks, as well, which explains why he revels in them.
This concept of 'puer aeternus' is not mutually exclusive with narcissism. Personality disorders can blend, as any clinician will tell you. Nor is it necessarily a clinical tool. It is an ancient concept, one that can help us to understand the mind of Trump. In that respect, it serves a teaching rather than a clinical function. Why 'King Donald?' 'Puer' may explain it.
27
I seem to remember some member of his cabinet using the Bible, not the president. And I don't see his use of the pardon power to be excessive, he just is using it as he goes rather than waiting for the last minute to do so. All the pardons have been justified by at least a perception that the judge did not deliver justice, which is what the pardon power is for. Others have used it to get their supporters out of real crimes. I bet you were fine with that person from Memphis getting relief.
4
A perception of justice?
Arpaio was rightly convicted after years of breaking the law and getting away with it.
Dinesh D'Souza pleaded guilty. D'Souza admitted his own guilt, yet was pardoned. And a pardon is only supposed to those who show remorse. D'Souza tweeted an obscenity.
The ranchers got the minimum mandatory sentence after being convicted; the same thing that puts thousands of people behind bars for much longer as the result of smaller crimes.
Trump claimed that he was about law and order. This is showing little respect for either.
5
The pardon of Joe Arpaio had no connection whatsoever with him “not receiving justice” and everything to do with rewarding a follower and reinforcing the anti immigrant sentiment. Pardoning the Hammonds is a bid to rescue Republican Greg Walden, who is deeply unpopular in parts of his district. The Hammond pardon is an effort to rile up “the base” and save a wobbly seat in the House. By the way, arson is a real crime. So is poaching. Hammonds were convicted of both. Given the destruction, loss of life, and astronomical costs of fighting an out of control wildfire, the Hammonds were lucky to only have a five year sentence. If they commit arson again, they should serve ten times that sentence.
What about pardoning the locked-up children? Wouldn't that be justified? Certainly they didn't defy a judge, or take over government property? Certainly those recently pardoned by trump are innocent right? Good news he can't pardon himself, that's for certain.
This curious conflation of a president’s obligation under the Constitution to enforce the laws, including our immigration laws, and the plenipotentiary power a president holds to pardon is … curious. I can only assume that the author really wanted to flog two pet peeves, only had one op-ed in which to satisfy his itches, and thus was born the conflation. Possibly a privilege typically granted Harvard professors.
But the dominant theme is that of the pardon; so I’ll stick to that, if only to directly address that entertaining hand emerging from the clouds, as if God (or any of his more important archangels – I suppose it’s possible that Lucifer did, before he was cast from Heaven) ever wore White House cufflinks.
We need to separate the power of the pardon from the president (and governors considering clemency for state crimes) exercising the power. Prof. Armitage can argue the gravitas, even the justification, of Trump’s pardons, as one can argue the self-serving nature of Bill Clinton’s pardon of Marc Rich; and I’d probably agree that the use to which either president put the power in some cases makes me uncomfortable; but the power itself is not a “divine right”.
Our laws are not divine dicta but artifacts of man, made and enforced by men and women. This means that both in their wisdom as well as their enforcement they are vulnerable to error. Our form of government seeks to apportion power among institutional actors charged in part with keeping an eye on …
4
… such potential errors; and the president, as well with the courts and Congress, acts by that charge. The means used by a president to exercise the constitutional power relevant to this issue, his by virtue of having won an election, is the pardon, which in its purest form is an internal check on executive enforcement errors that by his judgment were made in error. The quality of his judgment is largely in the eye and body of ideological convictions of the beholder, but that ceased to matter once the election was settled on a president, since the power is absolute. Just as we pay respect to the office of the president before we consider the person occupying it for a time, the power stands apart from the person exercising it.
Jeremy Bentham indeed. I suspect he “maximized” the threat of the pardon to the exercise of an ordered representative government made up of flawed human beings who make mistakes.
2
Well, we used to respect the office of the president and I'm trying to continue.
But if the incumbent has no respect for it, let alone anything else, what effect does that have on the office? This is new.
2
Bruce, unless you reply to ypourself, the sarcasm won't be understood.
Totalitarian fascists will use any excuse they can to wield their power. Citing Biblical passages in just one example. Whatever they think they can get away with is what they will use. And that's the problem.
Trump has the freedom to do whatever he wants not because the law doesn't restrict him, but because he has the Republican Congress in his pocket. I would say "held hostage" but that would imply that they don't want to go along with him. They most certainly do.
The Enlightenment thinkers were correct in their concerns about giving monarchial powers to the Executive. However the founders never considered that the elected representatives would sell out this nation for political power. They thought we would all ultimately work together for the common good, putting politics aside when things got rough. They were wrong. Politics rules. The thirst for power rules. Money always rules.
Our experiment in republican democracy is coming to a close. I really believe that. It wont happen overnight, but it is happening with the election of Trump. If the Republicans are not voted out of power in Nov. and God forbid, Trump is reelected, it's over. We will be well on our way to totalitarianism for the rich, by the rich and of the rich, all put in place by working class people who voted them the power.
110
Coming form you Richard, I'll take that as a verification of my argument.
5
The idea that the we are on the road to totalitarianism is outlandish and simply not supported by facts The left in this country is unable to come to terms with the 2016 election results and has collectively lost their minds. There is nothing totalitarian that Trump has done This supposedly devious despot has not even fired the people investigating him in the Mueller
witchhunt which is lawfully within his power to do. You do not have to like Trump and can despise him as you wish He is however not a despot or totalitarian and has not behaved that way by any reasonable analysis A good suggestion might be for the left to promote ideas and candidates that actually appeal to the American people and vote him out of office
1
“So this is how liberty dies . . . with thunderous applause.” In this case the supposed freedom loving Republicans are standing and cheering.
1
Eighteenth Century French royalty was, at least, actual royalty. Trump has power only to the degree that the Congress gives it to him. This GOP, it’s congressmen and it’s people, want a king, and even more astounding and deplorable, a king like Trump.
32
Inspired by his love for Enlightenment philosophers, especially John Locke, Jefferson's frequent comments on tyrants speak directly to the Trump-style marriage of executive power unrestricted by legislative action, and relentless propaganda deluding a large share of the nation. He warned of "death to the public liberty" in the same letter he also said that "the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots & tyrants." Let's hope he was wrong, but it's not looking good.
11
Divine right with an empty head?
A combination that brings dread
Add ego inflated
And all non-whites hated
I'll take Genghis Khan instead.
56
No, you wouldn't take Genghis Khan instead.
There are a lot of ironies to Trump that reflect on the theme of this article. The founders were people of the enlightenment, who rejected the "divine right of Kings" that the Catholic and Anglican churches promoted (if not by dogma, by common preaching and belief), and who also despite giving power 'to the people' also put checks and balances against a demagogue like Trump getting elected and taking that kind of power. The electoral college was supposed to be there to keep a demagogue from being elected, if the majority elected someone not fit to be president, but what we ended up with was because of the inherent non democratic nature of the electoral college, a demagogue was elected by minority vote. The same founders put in impeachment to allow congress to remove a president for high crimes and misdemeanors, but because of the system the founders created, where voting is controlled by the states, gerrymandering has given them control of congress, along with the 2 senator/ state rule, so we have the same people who support Trump controlling the congress as well. I doubt very much the founders would find much to be happy about Trump or the Republicans at this point, about the only people from that era who would would be British loyalists to the crown.
24
Back in medieval times, the Catholic Church would hand out pardons to rich sinners who paid for an "indulgence" from the Church.
It was the sale of indulgences that fired up a young Catholic monk named Martin Luther to begin the long period of religious war between Christians that we now call the Reformation.
Evangelicals are selling indulgences to Trump now. Go ahead, break any Commandments you feel like breaking. Don't confess and ask for pardon. We'll pardon you, as long as you help the economy.
74
"help the economy" = save us from the predations we project onto the non white, the poor, the non Christian... our overwhelming delusions of dangers and the need for a savior.
"only I alone can do it."
2
The hypocrisy in America on the right is truly of biblical proportions. Justifying ripping children from their parents by citing scripture is cynical to a level not seen in the history of the world. Ever. Period. Christians believing trump is sent by god to rule over them is INSANE. Why wasn't Bill Clinton sent by god or Barrack Obama? And pardons are supposed to be acts of mercy, not gifts for extremists that condone violence, and SURPRISE, lawlessness! How does that fit with your bastardization of the bible AG? If there was a god, Fire and Fury would destroy these people for their careless and cruel misuse of the word of god.
126
Ah....the power of the pardon. Thank-you for the context of (gasp!) history that is so lacking in our discourse today. The gop should remember: live by the pardon, die by the pardon. After the Goo criminalizes abortion and prosecutes doctors, nurses, scared victims of rape, the compassionate friend who drove her to the illegal provider, and everyone else associated with the privacy of a woman's body, any given liberal president could with one stroke of HER pen pardon them all. Supreme court nominees--impotent to stop it. Please understand, I believe by my faith that abortion is wrong, but i believe by my patriotism that a woman should have freedom to choose--i hope she chooses no, but who am I to take away her choice? What I can do...what We The People can do is provide the system of support that doesn't stigmatize having an unwanted baby but rather ensures that unwanted baby is wanted and will be nurtured by hers/his countrymen/women. It is not ideal (from the GOP perspective) but We live in the world, with all of its glorious imperfections, indescretions and human fallibility.
21
RDR,
Unless Abortion becomes a Federal Crime,
which seems somewhat unlikely, it will be up
to the States to pass laws concerning abortion.
As such, no President can pardon someone for
a "State Crime" only "Federal Crimes".
1
"After the Goo criminalizes abortion ..."
If you are referring to Trump, he is not a dictator. Under the US Constitution, Congress passes bills, which the President signs or vetoes:
"Every Bill which shall have passed the House of Representatives and the Senate, shall, before it become a Law, be presented to the President of the United States; If he approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, with his Objections to that House in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the Objections at large on their Journal, and proceed to reconsider it." (Article I, Section 7)
https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/constitution-transcript
Is there any chance that anyone in this administration understands nuance in discussions or arguments like this one? Trump surely does not and likely there is not one person willing (if they are able) to have this discussion with him.
31
To me people who use "nuance" or talk about it are just making things that are pretty simple look complex. Nuance is for say paintings, or poetry, not politics or most common things. Now string theory has some nuance, it is actually complex.
1
What they're doing to those children is obscene. If I was still catholic I'd say it's a mortal sin. But most catholics nowadays are cheering Trump on, which is one reason I'm not catholic anymore.
66
Instructive, I think, that Pope Francis has been a vocal critic of Trump’s despicable policies. I’m now an atheist, but Francis gets me thinking that not all is lost in the world of religion.
3
Reminds me of how Bill Clinton pardoned such upstanding individuals as Marc Rich, who gave millions to the Clinton Library.
10
And Mr. Clinton made an egregious, unconscionable error in doing so...which me and LOTS of other people said and wrote about at the time.
But it is deflection and 'whataboutism' at their worst to try and compare these two circumstances.
6
People who make 'what about' comments like this never realize that they are in essence arguing that Trump is as reprehensible and venal as whoever they are accusing of the same behavior.
5
Clinton's pardoning of Rich was bad; Trump's pardoning of Arpaio and the ranchers was much worse. Rich was a common crook. Arpaio was untrusted to uphold the law and contemptuously disobeyed a court order to stop violating the rights of his constituents. The ranchers set fires on federal lands which they had no right to do in a direct protest against public ownership of the land. But crimes were political attacks on the rule of law.
7
The trouble with the checks and balances as imagined by Enlightenment thinkers, is that people would behave rationally (in true Enlightenment fashion). If this premise remains true, then the system should be failsafe. Yet if people do not act rationally - and of course they often do not - then all bets are off. Self-interest, the basis of the presumed rationality, is trumped by emotion, fear chief among them. By deftly playing to these emotions, the rational basis of self-correction is eliminated, and we can - and have - end up with every branch of government under coordinated control. There is no check nor balance, no threat of impeachment, thus disproving the noble idea that no one is above the law. The system has failed, the law is broken.
17
Great illustration with one critique: the Trump hand should be emerging from the bottom of the panel. A very different kind of divinity.
13
If they want to use the Bible, then "render unto Caesar what is Caesar's" should be the rule. In this argument, the president should make public his tax returns, pay up anything owed and stop using any loop hole available. Also, any other person should pay who seeks to dodge the taxes "Caesar" requires. And it would then extend to any religious organizations, currently tax exempt. But, no, we don't like the Bible when it says that, do we? We only like to quote the Bible when it supports what we want. And we only pardon those who have done things we wish we had done ourselves.
45
So America , are you really no better than Trump & his swamp creature abettors ? If so why isn`t there a million person march every weekend in DC shaking the gates of the WH off their hinges & visiting the offices of his cabinet & the GOP ? WHY ?
159
" If so why isn`t there a million person march every weekend in DC shaking the gates of the WH off their hinges & visiting the offices of his cabinet & the GOP ? WHY ?"
Don't know about Canada, but here, in the US, we've got work to do. Our country is struggling and needs our work badly.
There's a HUGE underclass here, who eat,breed, and are cared for while contributing nothing.
Not much time for marches.
1
I feel the same way. I also don’t know how half of American voters adore the man.
But as Masha Gessen points out, outrage is exhausting and enervating. Some people I know will show up with signs to local protests, write letters to officials, and send money to campaigns and organizations fighting this national nightmare. But most shake their head and go about their daily lives. They don’t even want to know the latest news, except if delivered by a late night comedy host.
I used to wonder how so many Germans and other Europeans could embrace or ignore the rise of fascism during the 1930’s. Now I know how easy it is.
I have wondered the same thing repeatedly. I think back on the women's march right after Trump was inaugurated. A wonderful event, but things are SO much worse now. Where are the people in the streets?
4
Many American voters believe in angels. Many trust an imaginary God to help their lives. Trust in trump is their mantra. If self serving tribalists believe in supernatural beings to assist them then the deranged and godless trump is their hero, saint, and “god of misrule”.
27
"Fortunately, the founders did not leave the people powerless. Impeachable offenses — high crimes and misdemeanors, carried out in the exercise of official duties — are literally unpardonable."
There are MILLIONS of us who disagree. Without an honest congress, we are LOST
"No one is above the law, not even the wielder of the pardoning power himself."
Better check that out with Kavanaugh, hmmm?
48
Highly recommend that one read Sam Kean's 'The Tale of the Dueling Neurosurgeons'. Especially chapter 10: "Honest Lying".
1
To hear Trump and the Bible mentioned in the same sentence is an oxymoron.
85
"To hear Trump and the Bible mentioned in the same sentence is an oxymoron."
Which is why this atheist voted for him once and will do so again.
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It's his favorite book!
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@Carl Ian Schwartz
Actually the bible with precious few exceptions (golden rule, beatitudes,...)is a completely nasty piece of work, not unlike trump and his deplorable fake evangelical supporters.
Have you ever read the old testament? The new testament is not measurably better either.
SBC (Southern Baptist Convention) preachers were on the winning side of the theological argument supporting slavery for instance.
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Trump uses the power of the pardon the way Medieval and Renaissance Popes used indulgences. Popes sold indulgences for money. Trump trades pardons for the cheap approval of his deplorable base. What is going on in this nation is shameful, and it has the blessing of the entire Republican Party and the spineless acquiescence of most of the rest of the American people. Such a shame.
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“Impeachable offenses...are literally unpardonable.”
If true, wouldn’t that preclude Trump from pardoning himself for his high crimes and misdemeanors? Or preclude Pence from pardoning him if Trump resigned?
Please cite your reference, which I hope exists!
Which also raises the question: Why was Ford allowed to pardon Nixon for HIS high crimes and misdemeanors?
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Nixon resigned before he was impeached. And Trump, unfortunately, has not yet been impeached, let alone indicted for high crimes and misdemeanors, for which Pence could pardon Trump, just as Ford did Nixon.
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A pardon can be issued for any crimes not prosecuted, if I recall the wording of Ford's pardon it said something like it pardoned Nixon for any crimes committed or may have committed and as president he had that authority.
The irony is that Ford was villified for it, but he is diametrically opposed to what Trump is doing. Ford pardoned Nixon to save the office of the presidency, not to save Nixon, had we gone through criminal trials and dragged all the dirty laundry into the open, it would further erode trust in the office of the president (and mind you, I am no die hard conservative or even conservative), as it was it took a long time before people had any kind of trust in the executive. It was a brave act, one that needed to be done.
Trump on the other hand has no concept of the office of the president or how that is what needs protecting, he has turned the office into himself (not surprisingly), and his use of pardons is likely to further hurt the image of the office, that in many ways never fully recovered from Nixon. In his narcissism he doesn't understand that and nor do his supporters.
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What’s your opinion of a general pardon, as under Carter or Reagan?
Methinks the 'prez' manifests something akin to Korsakoff's Syndrome. Investigate what that is and determine for yourself if he exhibits such symptoms.
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A quick guide to presidential pardons under Donald Trump-
1) Stephen Miller draws up a list of Trump supporters whose crimes e.g.- arson, contempt of court, campaign finance malfeasance etc. can be easily explained as “government is the problem” convictions, (particularly if said offense occurred under Obama imperial presidency.) and submits to his boss.
2) Donald Trump feels his ego flagging between rallies, choses from list, issues pardon(s), and then feels better.
3)Sarah Huckabee Sanders explains without a trace of irony that in fact said offenses were “fake crimes” and never really occurred.
Rinse, repeat, rinse, repeat for two more years.
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"A quick guide to presidential pardons under Donald Trump-"
The Obama guide was far quicker:
1. Does it feel good to me (first), Michelle (second), and my party friends (third)? A yes to all three = pardon.
So, I'm with Trump on this.
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Absolutely false. The Obama administration took advice from the Justice Department after a thorough multilevel vetting process of possible candidates for pardons.
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The pardon power will not absolve from civil process, though. We are waiting for the civil actions against Shefiff Joe, and HIS claims of privilege.
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The power to pardon can be a useful tool of reconciliation as the founders intended. It apparently was used well by Washington with the Whisky rebellion, to avoid a dangerous rift, and by Lincoln, to heal the deep wounds of the Civil War. It is ironic that the pardon by Lincoln has been used to justify the current veneration of Confederate figures. What gets forgotten is that a pardon is not an acquittal or finding of innocence. It is a deferment of punishment and retribution, for a larger purpose, often noble. But guilty is still guilty. The offense was committed. President Trumps recent pardons have nothing to do with a nobler purpose. They serve only to express his whims and as such need to bring a political cost.
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Yes, Trump's express a political will.
Indeed, it is not an acquittal or finding of innocence. And if you accept a pardon, you are formally admitting your guilt (which is what can make you liable civilly with no recourse to an excuse like "I was pardoned so it didn't happen".)
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"And if you accept a pardon, you are formally admitting your guilt..."
Not any more than serving your punishment is admitting your guilt.
There is nothing divine about the pardoning power. The framers surely included this power in Article II because they recognized the flawed nature of human justice. Criminal justice statutes sometimes reflect political considerations or the passions of the moment, exemplified by the draconian punishments required under the law passed under President Clinton in the 1990s.
The pardoning power can compensate for the all-too-human tendency to confuse revenge with justice. The fact that Trump has largely abused this authority does not invalidate the important role it plays in making our deeply flawed criminal justice system a little more humane.
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The Times' approach to handling the problems before us seems to make parochialism its first priority. Of course I appreciate the professor's viewpoint, but we can just add this to the stack of parochial diagnoses we're getting. Which is to say, this tells us what we know already, again. And as for dire warnings, one more will not change a thing.
Does the paper understand that Trump, the Trump GOP, and the Trump base all dismiss The Times? "Fake news" isn't the damning verdict. The real dismissal that you're feeble.
"King Donald should beware"? Not really. He has nothing to beware from another opinion from another elite academic drawing an historical parallel that the Trump base would tear into pieces and use in their outhouses.
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One more "contributing opinion writer" who doesn't like Don Trump. What a surprise! How many hundreds of times do NYT editors, columnists, and guest columnists have to point out President Trump's pretty obvious faults? It is a short list. I estimate that the NYT can keep this up for about 30 more months. No, Don T is not going to be impeached. There is an election in 2020. Hopefully he will be defeated then and go back to his TV show where his act belongs.
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