Friday, December 06, 2024

Preemptive Pardons

As Trump’s inauguration draws closer, the dread about what he intends to do is growing among many in government, media and political circles. Trump’s repeated vows to extract “revenge” against his perceived political enemies, have been echoed loudly by his choice for FBI director, Kash Patel.

Patel is an incompetent, right-wing extremist hack. He is a rabid Trump loyalist who is obsessed with the imaginary “deep state,” and has listed the names of the people he thinks inhabit this fictional entity.

A psychiatrist might well label him delusional, yet he is Trump’s choice to run the most powerful law-enforcement agency in the country.

All of this is relevant in the context of what I and other have been warning may be a slide into an authoritarian state under Trump, and I’ll explain why.

Democracy depends not only on a set of constitutional laws and procedures; it also relies on an agreed-upon set of norms as to how to implement those laws and procedures. The genteel process of certifying the electoral votes of the states is one example of those norms — and the one Trump actively tried to subvert in 2020, leading to the January 6th riot.

Other norms involve the perceived and real independence of the Justice Department and the FBI from Presidential interference, which are now threatened by Trump’s nominations, including Patel.

Another set of norms is involved with Presidential pardons. That brings us to Joe Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter, which has led to widespread criticism by both Republicans and Democrats.

Biden’s excuse for violating his previous promise that he would not pardon Hunter is that his criminal cases have been so poisoned by the politicization of his transgressions by Trump’s MAGA minions that a pardon was the only way to end the subversion of justice in this matter.

Now, with Patel’s nomination raising alarm bells about revenge investigations likely to be brought against the likes of Adam Schiff, Liz Cheney, Jamie Raskin and other prominent Trump critics, there is growing pressure on Biden to preemptively pardoning them before Trump’s team can open investigations and possible prosecutions against them next year.

Such a broad-based use of the presidential pardon power by Biden would be unprecedented and would definitely violate the spirit of the pardon authority granted to the chief executive. That power has traditionally been more related to notions of clemency and redemption than prophylactic political expediency.

One can understand the fear of Democrats given the threats made by Trump/Patel, and it seems likely that Biden may act in response. However, if he does so, this will be a critical weakening of democratic norms by a Democrat, albeit indirectly, in response to the existential threat posed by Trump.

That’s how it goes on the slide toward authoritarianism. It can happen here, and this is one of the ways how.

***

Meanwhile, it has been amusing, in a twisted sort of way, to follow the Pete Hegseth drinking saga. There have been numerous reports of him getting inebriated and behaving badly, especially with unwanted sexual advances toward women. His own mother castigated him for this, although she now insists he’s a “new” man.

How “new” he may be is up for debate. If, as some have suggested, he is on the road to sobriety now, it is worth noting that a central tenet of AA and other substance abuse programs is that the recovering addict should start small in taking on new relationships or responsibilities during the initial stages of their recovery.

In Hegseth’s case, assuming he is committed to remaining sober going forward, he would ideally start by accepting a lesser position at a small non-profit organization, say, and work his way gradually up to a huge job like Secretary of Defense as he refrains from drinking over time.

Hegseth has reportedly blown his chances to manage two small non-profits in the recent past, largely due to his drinking problem. In a case like his, no competent alcohol-abuse counselor helping him would advise that he take the Pentagon job cold-turkey.

That would be a recipe for disaster.

Then again, Hegseth himself has thrown the sobriety scenario under the bus by his statement that he would be willing to “give up drinking” in return for Senate approval of his nomination.

Oh no! It would seem that Pete hasn't;t even stopped yet and therefore hasn't even gotten on the 12-step treadmill, folks. He’s apparently not ready yet to even admit that he is powerless in controlling the beast.

For a man with a drinking problem, that’s not a good sign.

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