Microblog Memes

So, ostensibly, pardons are meant to be a way to override the Justice system where it has failed to provide justice. If the law is unjust or it's application was unjust, a pardon can correct that. And ideally it is used sparingly and by a President that that can be trusted to be an arbiter of wisdom and morality. So there's just about no limitations on the power. And the other branches are meant to give consequences for unethical applications of it, like quid pro quo pardons/bribery. But obviously that is not how it works in practice.

The theoretical argument is that any justice system no matter how well thought out and well intentioned, will eventually result in edge cases where justice fails to be done. Especially when implemented on a large scale. There are already appeals, and those can fail too. Plenty of examples of people actually being railroaded.

You can just accept that , or you turn to democracy to try alleviate the most egregious cases. Thats what the pardon is for - no process, no more appeals. Just the president, the people's highest representative, and a pen.

It sometimes works (as in, is probably a net benefit) when the person wielding this power fears the people and will pay (at least) a political price for misusing it. Pardoning someone he knows is a complete of the power. Enriching himself by essentially selling pardons throws the whole thing into the world of comedy. Any talk of the theoretical merits of it is laughable.

You can argue that this was inevitable. Maybe you're right. But that was the intent, and it's failure is another symptom of the American democracy degenerating towards failure. Trump won't pay a price for this. Even on conservative forums where they hangwring about "not getting why he's doing this" (as they stare straight at the naked corruption), none of them will change their votes. Nobody is interested in holding him accountable.

This democratic failure has widespread consequences. The open corruption of the pardons process is actually one of the smaller symptoms of it.

I go rob a bank

What? There's nothing in a bank worth robbing nowadays.

If you want to be pardoned you have to think big and make sure something goes to a Trump.

We have tyranny and no rule of law anyway, so yeah might as well.

Punisher soundtrack intensifies

Its Luigi Time!

There's a weird reverse ethical principle about it, as if it's somehow more honest this way.

It must suck to be a conspiracy theorist when The Powers That Be don't even bother hiding anything

Looks like it. So that guy just made a profit of 3.4 million (1 mil for the bribe out of 4.4 mil he had to pay back).

It's a dangerous game tho.
It can very well invalidate the life of the pardoned as well, if one of the aggrieved party has nothing left to lose because of that wage theft.
I wonder how long Donvict can continue before he gets stopped for good.

Creed always said it best, but he undersold them.

"You don't go by Monopoly, man. That game is nuts. Nobody just picks up Get Out of Jail Free cards. Those things cost thousands." - Creed

"If the president does it it's not illegal. - Richard M. Nixon" - The Supreme Court

It is, they just don't care

Get out of jail and out of paying $4.4 million for $1 million. So it's a "get out of jail and here take this $3.4 million" card.

Probably already illegally detained and shipped off to a torture prison in one of americas vassal states