Not having done enough to attempt to ruin a sitting President of the United States with their malicious words and actions, another member of Congress is now weighing in on exactly how President Bush should use his pardon power:

A departing president probably can’t help thinking about the judgment of history. At the end of eight years, President Bush likely isn’t any different. With the nation’s attention focused on his successor, it may seem as if there is little opportunity left for the current president to affect how he will be viewed. But there is one power left — the power of the pardon — that could, if it’s abused, create a controversy that both the president and the public could live without.

The power of the pardon is close to absolute. Short of interfering with their own impeachment, presidents can pardon whomever they choose. At the end of his term, however, this president should think twice before issuing pardons that call his judgment, and the integrity of the rule of law, into question.

If President Bush were to pardon key individuals involved in the misdeeds of his administration, from warrantless wiretapping to torture to the firing of U.S. attorneys for political reasons, the courts would be unable to address criminality, or pass judgment on the legality of some of the president’s worst abuses. Issuing such pardons now would be particularly egregious, since voters just issued such a strong condemnation of the Bush administration at the ballot box. There is nothing to prevent President Bush from using the pardon in such a short-sighted and self-serving manner — except, perhaps, public pressure that may itself be a window on the judgment of history. Everyone who can exert that pressure, from members of Congress to the press and the public, should express their views on whether it would be appropriate for President Bush to use his pardon power in this way.

I have exactly two words for you Senator Feingold..Marc Rich.

*Update: One other thing..you know that rumor that Eric Holder is in contention for the Attorney General position? Not only was he instrumental in the Marc Rich pardon but also this:

In 1999, over the objections of the FBI, the Bureau of Prisons, and prosecuting attorneys, Holder supported Clinton’s commutation of the sentences of 16 FALN conspirators. These pardons — of terrorists who even Holder has conceded had not expressed any remorse — were issued in the months after al-Qaeda’s 1998 U.S. embassy bombings, when the Clinton administration was pretending to be the scourge of terrorism. The commutations were nakedly political, obviously designed by Clinton to assist his wife’s impending Senate campaign by appealing to New York’s substantial Puerto Rican vote.

The past has a way of coming back to haunt you when you throw too many stones. The Democrats and some Republicans have thrown their fair share at President Bush. We’ll see exactly where it lands them (and us) in the coming four years.

Written by Sue

One Response to “Be Careful With Those Pardons Mr. President….Updated”

1. ~J~ says:

   November 20, 2008 at 1:06 pm

   He should pardon Compeon and Ramos, Libby so he can earn a living again, Cheney from his supposed war crimes and himself from his supposed war crimes.

   Otherwise people who want revenge for the president doing what he thought was in our best interest, and that is the main job of the president, will be after him for years to stand trial here and in The Hague. We should not become a part of the World Court. This man has been through enough and needs to have peace.

   Compeon and Ramos were doing their jobs and are serving 11 and 12 years for firing at a now convicted drug smuggler. He was smuggling even then, but the mother in Mexico of the offender contacted the mother of another agent and he squealed on them and had them arrested. They need a full pardon and reinstatement of their jobs. They were the victims of an overzealous prosecutor.

   Libby needs his name cleared. It’s proven he wasn’t the leaker in the Plame case but he was the fall guy. A pardon would allow him to get his law license back so he can raise his family and make a future for them.

   Reply