I was iffy on the idea of a father-son pardon. President Biden, however, made a persuasive argument. The pardon, more than anything, lifts a burden from a troubled soul that was imposed because of his father's position. ⚖️
Having succumbed to addiction in my teens and early twenties, I know that road to the subsequent forty-plus years has been paved by the love, forgiveness, and support of others, particularly loved ones. ❤️
Compassion is the highest form of leadership; mercy the crowning human virtue. Thank you, both Heathers and President Biden. 😇
I'm with you. I was also initially not feeling it but his statement makes very clear that he has understood all along that what was happening to Hunter had very little to do with the actual offenses but that he thought it best to allow the justice system to work unimpeded. It was hard for a father to sit by while his son was persecuted and a brave thing for a president to pardon a man who was subjected to unrelenting pain because of him.
Ned and others, I was glad when Biden refused earlier to pardon his son and equally glad when he did so this weekend because Hunter is in the bull's eye of the revenge team. MAGAs, of course, are criticizing this decision showing them to be the hypocrites and kiss ups that they are.
Yes, I agree Ned. Furthermore, trump is going to pardon the January 6th bunch, republicans can’t afford to open their mouths However, you know they will and so will the media. If I were not a lady, I tell the Hippocrates were to go. Take a look back at the fine people trump pardoned.
President Biden: “I hereby pardon every American registered as a Democrat as of this date in the history of our Lord, December 1, 2024 with the exception of former Senator Manendez of New Jersey. And I hereby pardon Leonard Peltier for being falsely accused of aiding and abetting the murder of 2 FBI agents on the Jumping Bull Ranch at the Pine Ridge Reservation.”
It is hard to imagine a greater example of an unjust imprisonment, than that of Leonard Peltier. One of the many disappointments of the Clinton Presidency is that he pardoned fugitive financiers Marc Rich, and his own brother, but not Peltier.
Susan, I just read an essay yesterday about the misogyny in this country. I keep reading too on threads about women being very worried about their safely. They should be because basically a lot of what came out after the election is basically rape culture.
Yes, I sure wish we would finally ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Though a conservative by temperament, I have supported that amendment since I was a teen.
I no longer use the term "Republican" to refer to the political party that Trump heads. It is MAGA and sometimes MAGA/KKK. Let's face it, the KKK has gained control. It's something that the oligarchs engineered with their disinformation campaigns (the TV networks, radio, newspapers and more.)
Now can we get the Joint Chiefs of Staff to temporarily suspend the constitution and take over the government and remove all MAGAs from government service and install the Easter Bunny as president and Santa Claus as Vice president for life.
With the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus running the Country, there would be a lot more love than hate being spread. Bunny/Claus 2025!! Make America Loving Again!!
Having bought and read your book about the vanity tantrums of you-know-who, I admire your dedication to the cause of justice for all. Thank you for the song to free Leonard Peltier.
Thank you, Katharine, you made my day. Strange that after that ride down the escalator for the first press conference I after the election, in which the media was screaming at Trump about certain unmentionables that may have taken place in a Moscow hotel with street hookers, I wrote my first story subtitled, “The Golden Shower Caper.”
( And no, I didn’t ask Katharine to say that in case someone was thinking I did. I intend to add Part II in my next edition. I put my cat manuscript aside to write it.)
I AM SURE YOU ARE JOKING HERE BUT NO! THAT IS ABSURD AND AN ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE SOLUTION TO AN SERIOUS NATIONAL PROBLEM!
If Biden does that, the United States will be no better than Syria or Hungary or Venezuela, just a tin pot dictatorship run by Democrats which is absolutely no better than one run by MAGAts like Trump. Bill, you should be ashamed of even suggesting such a non- democratic idea of you are even slightly serious.
The proper solution is NOT to pardon JUST your friends as your pardon suggests, but to pardon every citizen of the United States regardless of who they are or what they have done, essentially wiping the slate completely clean and giving Trump a "new America" to govern. Offering the pardon to ALL Americans, even those like Menendez as well as those like Flynn and Roger Stone and Hunter Biden demonstrates non partisanship and a desire to put ALL of our "troubles" behind us. Biden should NEVER have chosen to single out his own son with a selective pardon for which he will get appropriate criticism, but should have included him under a blanket pardon offered to all.
A wide net pardon including both innocent Americans as well as probably guilty ones would show great statesmanship and a true understanding of where this country has run aground. Remove the possibility of Trump going after his "enemies" legally and you handcuff him into having to actually prove he can govern rather than simply seek recriminations.
Our country is going to go to s*** because of the ignorant people persuaded by Trump and the MAGA Republicans to vote Trump in as dictator-president. It is scary as h*** to me and others. All our systems will break down, and HCR has foreseen much of what will happen. We older people will die off without our meds/health insurance, lose money in out banks no longer backed by the FDIC, etc. So much for leaving a better world to the younger generation.
I understand your sentiment here, Jon. A military coup may occur, but not in the form that Bill suggests. An insightful essay from 2016 by conservative intellectual, Mr Jamie Kirchick.
The senior officers and a sufficient number of troops would stand by their oaths to the Constitution -- a worthy and timely example for Trump -- and belay orders clearly against the Constitution.
That is a big "ask". You can get court martialed for refusing to obey an order and the burden is on YOU to prove it was unlawful.
Few military officers (let alone enlisted folks) have the training to be able to accurately distinguish a lawful order from an unlawful one. In most cases they will simply go along because no one gets court martialed for going along. It is difficult to be the whistle-blower and it can be costly. So I have little faith that the military will resist following orders in most cases.
Your statement covers releasing all...WTWF! FROM THE SKILLET TO THE FIRE...REALLY. Neither is acceptable. However, President Biden's son should not be sacrificed to placate MAGA; he shouldn't even be a criminal in their eyes seeing as trump's back taxes are not an issue to them.
My complaint with Biden's singular pardon of Hunter Biden is that it is a selective personal pardon doing something Biden swore he would never do which is to favor his own son.
I have sympathy for Hunter but also I have sympathy for anyone who has been incarcerated unfairly something I doubt Trump will do anything about, and sympathy for the many hundreds or thousands of people who have labored in the service of our country and who may find themselves in Trump's crosshairs.
I even have sympathy for many of the MAGA who have blindly followed Trump down a dark alley where he has let them swing in the wind without ever paying his own price because he had the resources to fight while they don't.
And finally I have great sympathy for this country of ours which will suffer greatly if Trump is allowed free reign to hunt down who ever he wants.
A blanket pardon is probably the best we can do to fend off that possibility and while it isn't a perfect solution, ït is the best I can come up with that will be within our current laws and possibly effective.
I do not want to see a war in the streets which none of us will win on either side.
To merit a pardon, doesn't one first have to have been convicted of something?
I don't think one can be pardoned for conduct not yet adjudicated as being in violation of law. A prosecutor could give immunity from prosecution (usually in exchange for truthful testimony).
Although prior conviction is usually the reason for a pardon the answer to your question is absolutely not.
Two examples: Richard Nixon was preemptively pardoned by Gerald Ford for "all crimes he committed or may have committed" during his term in office. Nixon was never charged with any crime, before or after the pardon, although obviously suspected of committing crimes. Jimmy Carter's blanket pardon for all draft resisters (an estimated 70,000 people) didn't even name the people and most who were subject had not yet been charged although some had. This established the idea that a group of people could be pardoned even if the specifics of the potentially charged crimes were not yet established and the details not known. The pardon went to the idea that the b subject matter clearly enough defined who might be eligible.
A pardon of all citizens for any crimes they may have committed is pretty broad but the constitution has no specific limits, only granting the President the right to make those decisions.
"may have" refers to the disputed accounts between the F.B.I. and Mr Peltier. F.B.I. Director, Christopher Wray, is a fine public servant; he believes that Mr Peltier should not be pardoned.
Thank you Ned for sharing your story. Our oldest suffers with SUD but refuses to get the help he needs. This disease is crippling and has NO cure unless the afflicted seek the help they so badly need. President Biden did the right thing as a Dad and as OUR President, compassion is a virtue we need more of.
Rich, your news is saddening. 💔 Prayer your way via FedEx. 🙏 Please know that I heard all of the "hectoring" from loved ones that I pushed back on. ❤️ Done with the love you display, your advice will inform your son as to whom he can approach when he is ready. 🤞 G-D bless him; G-D bless y'all. 🤝
P.S., of course, Rich, if I can do something to help, perhaps talk with your son about my story and the way out, I will be happy to do so. I am sixty-seven years old, so I may not be all that relatable for him. Your call, my duty.
I extend my heartfelt empathy. As a parent of a child with addiction I know how painful the disease is and how it affects everyone else in the family. I would not be here today if it weren't for my years in Al-Anon.
Compassion should be for the country and everyone in our, not just for his own son. I am absolutely opposed to this pardon as it just shows Biden to be no better than Trump as he exits office. A blanket pardon for ALL citizens of the United States (including Hunter Biden) regardless of who they are or what they might have done would stand with the statesmanship of Presidents like Lincoln rather than demonstrating personal bias in favor of just your own family and friends.
But such an action would REQUIRE a statesman which Biden has proven repeatedly he is not. He is just another politician and it greatly saddens me to say that. I had hoped for so much better.
Sad to think we will no longer be a democracy after 1/20/25. Half of America does not care if they live under a dictator or not - why not have it be a competent statesmen who will preserve the rule of law? Yes, it has come to that. We are living in an oligarchic society where the kleptocrats are about to take over and never leave.
It's not a bad as you might think. There are roughly 150,000 federal prisoners today. MOST are incarcerated for drug crimes or white collar crimes (taxes, fraud, etc). Most would not account for any serious danger to anyone. Not ideal but not terrible either.
There are roughly 10,000 violent federal criminals. Some are not citizens and wouldn't be eligible. I estimate about 7,000 violent criminals would go free. Not ideal either but in a country of 300 million people, it's not huge either. Barely .002% of the population.
Most violent criminals are imprisoned in state prisons and some pardoned violent federal prisoners would be subject to state trials also.
So overall, not ideal but not as awful as it might seem. And the benefit is a very simple action that is almost invulnerable to scrutiny from the courts whereas a more selective action might be found wanting.
Ned, your honest, sincere words come as close to poetry as anything I’ve read in this Comments section. And, it’s a section which has distinguished itself by having high expectations of its contributors without ever insisting on it.
If he had just referenced a father son pardon, I’d understand, but he threw the Justice Department under the bus. The Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor just like it did to investigate Trump and Hunter Biden is Guilty. Biden just fueled the justification for dismantling the Justice Department.
Paul. I wonder, though, if the DOJ would have brought the same level of charges against anyone without the last name of Biden. Was Hunter used as an example to show the independence of the judiciary? I think he was. And was certainly treated more unjustly than the convicted felon, who was allowed to evade justice in the classified docs and Jan 6 cases by a DOJ that delayed an investigation into those issues which were MUCH more serious than tax evasion or gun possession by a druggie.
It was a dilemma. Attorney General Garland might, perhaps should, have acted faster, but that likely would have run into stiffer push-back, even violence, for "weaponization of the justice system." I suspect that A.G. Garland calculated that Trump would not be re-elected.
Well not exactly. It was actually Biden and Garland's own (stupid IMHO) decision to delay the appointment of a special prosecutor (Jack Smith) for almost 2 years after Jan 6 2021. They could easily have appointed one on Feb 1 2021 to start the investigation but they held off. They waited until the House committee investigation was completed before proceeding. By that time there was less than 2 years left to proceed. Then and ONLY then was the Supreme Court able to put its hands on the scales of justice with delays that resulted in the debacle we face now.
So yes the Supreme Court bears some responsibility but the principal one is on Biden and Garland themselves.
Yes, the Hunter debacle was blown all out of proportion to serve DonOLD and the REPUBLICAN'TS conspiracy theories. Justice has been served. Maybe Joe will still use his presidential immunity and throw DonOLD, Matt, Roger Stone and other criminals in jail where they belong.
I follow you and even step forward to applaud Biden's action. This is an offense against Trump who uses intimidation as his weapon but is not prepared to respond when he is intimidated. Biden should continue his offense against Trump. How about requiring him to submit professional report on his health and the list of donors for the transition, all required by law.
Those have been requested and ignored. This America that we are about to have thrown upon us is no longer one we will recognize. I only wish that there would be more President Biden could do to help save us all. But afraid the MAGAs have "screwed that pooch".
I completely believe that when trump takes the Oath of Office-& pledge he has no intentions of fulfilling - & puts into action his revengeful & dictator ways his supporters will by nature start to fall away..In their whole life they have known nothing more then being free..free to choose..free to speak..free to believe & simply free to become who they r..Project 20 25 will be too difficult to live by if u do not believe in it & it affects u..The actual process of taking away any freedom will break those rose colored glasses right off their faces & the light of reality will shine thru & then the take back will happen..maybe not over night but it will happen - truth always wins at the end - truth & for the betterment of the whole & we will be given once again the opportunity to do right for all according to the founding fathers dream - Constitution & all that comes with it - NO one will ever be left out & pushed aside again because of who they r..It is the teachings of not just the Christians faith but many faiths..
Would that this were true. You have more faith in the compassion of the "haters" than I . He has told them all along of his intentions and they cheered for and elected him. The biggest part that will affect them is money( the price and scarcity of food and supplies).
Pamela, i believe that if Trump has his way, any potential candidates for office who oppose him or MAGA in 2026 or 2028 (Dems and Reps alike) will find themselves threatened in one form or another and will choose not to run. The coup will then be complete.
B.L.U.F. (bottom-line up-front): President Biden should give the blanket pardon as proposed by Jon.
"Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error."
--Marcus Aurelius.
Jon's immediate blanket pardon is beginning to make sense. I would rather commute the sentences of violent criminals and those convicted of other crimes prone to recidivism -- maybe 10% of those incarcerated per Jon's analysis -- and place them on a tight parole.
One possible problem is that such "statesmanship" might be contested by the Supreme Court since the great majority of the pardons would no t address any guilt by something like 99% of the population and the political disengagement of something like one hundred, fifty million Americans. That is to say: the pardon-all degenerates into pardon none.
The other concern, I would harbour is that the pardon would not cover the state of supposedly illegal actions continuing into the future. For example, would COL Vindman still be guilty of treason -- per the Trump play-book -- were he ever to criticize the United States? Or would candidates be open to harassment anyways as observed by Doug?
This is why I have repeatedly said Biden needs to offer a universal pardon rather than just a specific one to his son or to any other selected individuals. Stand like a statesman and forgive ALL, not just a few who are related to you or who have befriended you and leave behind everyone else. What good is being the President if you can't exercise your power in a way that forgives and redeems all rather than appears just to protect a few.
It would also serve as a shot across the bow that this is actually not a great thing for society and might lead to bi partisan changes in the pardon power granted under the Constitution to the President, so that no one in the future including Trump could pull off unethical pardons to benefit their own.
A former federal judge and former federal prosecutor have approved the pardon, recognizing that in Trump’s “Justice” Department, the persecution of Biden’s son would continue. I wish commentators would leave the Bidens in peace. When you think of the tragedies in both lives, understanding should be increased.
There is no requirement or need or legal procedure for anyone to "approve" a pardon. And please note I am not opposed to Hunter Biden being pardoned, under my blanket pardon concept, he would be pardoned along with everyone else. My objection is purely that Biden's singling out of his son is totally opposite of what he initially promised, i.e. to stay out of it but now he has reversed himself and it just shows everyone how he is still the politician he always was.
A blanket nationwide pardon would resolve this issue and at the same time do a politically skillful thing, ie eliminate a major "tool" Trump thinks he now holds, i.e. the ability to go after his political "enemies". His obsession with that is what concerns me and a blanket nationwide pardon nearly solves the major problem.
Good point and, as always, nice to hear from you, Jon. 🤝 Start by commuting the sentences in jail for federal drug felonies related to substances subsequently de-criminalized. ⚖️ The President could then pardon such convictions on people's records to remove them. 🔍 He could finally recommend that clemency be extended to people convicted of similar state laws. 🙏
Agreed, selective (under laws no longer considered criminal such as minor weed offenses), and not blanketed( releasing the crazies like Reagon did in Cali back in the 80s, can you spell T H E H O M L E S S situation today).
That IS a great idea. I think he should do that on Jan 19 after issuing a blanket pardon to ALL American citizens except himself and then Kamala should issue the pardon for Joe himself. Self pardons are the one thing that has never been validated by the Supreme Court and this would kill two birds with one stone. Having Kamala sworn in as President (#47!!!) for one day would make all the investment in #47 memorabilia for Trump moot (ROTFLMAO!) as he would now be #48 AND it would absolutely validate his own pardon by Harris.
It would apply massive handcuffs to any Trump effort to exploit his own witch hunt against Democrats including Biden. A brilliant double whammy!
Yes he does have some time left and that is why I will keep repeating everywhere until it is picked up and repeated by the media that he should issue a blanket pardon to the entire country (or at least all citizens of this country) as a redemptive act rather than a selective exoneration of just his friends and family (something done by almost every President before him).
Such a wide reaching act would be hugely important in many ways. It would provide shelter for those who Trump might selectively decide to use as examples of his retribution (such as politicians like Pelosi or Schumer) and it would provide redemption for people like Peltier who need to be exonerated.
Would it also let some free who might not deserve it? Yes but that is the price of offering redemption.
Offer it only to a few and you prove its inequality.
Offer it to all and hopefully some good will come out of it.
Are you saying pardon every conviction of a federal crime? Would that lead to millions of crimes being re-litigated on the state level. That would overwhelm an already sclerotic law enforcement system.
Obviously I can't predict the future and my proposal had never been attempted before but I think it has merit. I do not think it would lead to massive relitigation for a number of reasons, mostly because the statute of limitations would have run on most prior crimes in state courts. And many of those crimes would not be subject to state criminal charges anyway.
Would some guilty go free who shouldn't? Sure but we are trying for redemption here, not perfection.
And of course the old saying "better 1000 guilty go free than one innocent person be sent to prison" applies here as well. Heck it would apply to all the Jan 6 people most of whom are in fact truly guilty, but what a magnanimous act it would be! This may overstate the case but I think it would go down as equal to Lincoln's emancipation proclamation, which had never been done before either. And far wider teaching than Carter's pardon of all draft dodgers in 1977 (issued on his first day on office).
The Democrats are so blindly addicted to the institutions of this Democracy they will not raise one hand to stop someone from destroying those very institutions. And the Republicans know this. The irony is sickening.
No you are wrong here. The institutions of democracy are the ones that protect us. To quote Franklin, if we sacrifice a little freedom for security, we will have neither freedom nor security. Trump was legally elected. We can all hate that but it is not right to refuse to abide by the election. That is why I focus not on trying to keep him out but in looking for ways to preempt the destruction he can inflict. That is why I keep on advocating for Biden to issue a blanket pardon or amnesty if you wish of all Americans. It would tie Trump's hands legally and I think it would take most of his term to litigate it (and I think he would lose).
Agreed, Jon. I have grieved the loss by Vice President Harris. Nevertheless, Trump won the election. Additionally, the Democrats have repaired the many of the guard-rails. They need to make sure people vote in 2026.
I don't think so. But I could be wrong. You seemed to be arguing that we aren't willing to take extra legal actions to protect our democracy. I think we sacrifice democracy if we do that. And there are ways to fight back which do not require giving up on our institutions. You may disagree but I think it is an important point. Happy to learn more from you if I am mistaken.
Hiro: the ill gotten president-elect has attempted to steal compassion and hope from the American people. Alas what happens when public sentiment turns on him should he go through with any of his promises? That is where all his lies will meet the road and truth will arise like the phoenix waiting to take flight globally? Frey not. Human consciousness is turning toward a very bright light of justice for all no matter what he and his yes men attempt 🇺🇸🗽🥁🕯️🕊️🩷🌻
Biden needs to preemptively pardon, his entire cabinet, every general that is loyal to the Constitution and not Trump, the current Joint Chiefs, Liz Cheney and Adam Kizinger and all associated with the January 6th commission especially the witnesses like Hutchison. And anyone else on his "enemies list." He's pretty much laid out who they are in his rambling often incoherent campaign speeches and late night "tweets."
This is a terrible idea. It just PROVES the MAGA view that we are elitist. That is precisely why I think a pardon should be global. Everyone can benefit including the country. Yes, there will be some who don't deserve it who week be at free, but hey look at Lincoln's pardon of the Southern soldiers. Sometimes benevolence is better than retribution (and that comes from an atheist like me!)
Of course my real intent is to try to avoid collateral attacks on such a move. I could see a selective pardon being scrutinized by the courts and it wouldn't be simple to implement. People might get missed or overlooked. It would be horrible to exonerate for instance Senator Schumer but then have Trump go after his aides because "hey, we forgot to include them, ".
I know it sounds outrageous but I do ask that you all remember what Lincoln did at the end of the Civil War to try to bring back some level of national unity.
"With malice towards none, with charity for all. "
Trump will find another Bill Barr to do his bidding and worse.
Trump pardoned 237 criminals on his last day in office.
Biden should even pardon himself and his entire family. I don't give a shit if it is elitist or not. And the non-elitists aren't paying attention anyway, otherwise Trump wouldn't have won.
But doesn't a conviction make someone eligible for a Presidential Pardon? Liz Cheney, Adam Kitzenger, and all Americans have not been convicted of anything!
Yup preemptive pardons have absolutely been held legal. And mass pardons have as well (Carter pardoned 70,000 alleged draft dodgers after the Vietnam War ) this would just combine two precedents into one.
The only thing that is barred by a Supreme Court decision is a "prospective" pardon. You can't pardon someone for future acts, only past ones. Which is why a pardon like this can't protect illegal immigrants as they will still be in violation of the immigration laws on Jan 21st after Trump is in office.
Jon, that makes me wonder if Biden could pardon all of the DACAs for instance. Of course there are likely to be criminals among them, but maybe exempt those currently under indictment or recently convicted.
Gary, once again I state that the proper course of action, the true STATESMAN thing to do is to preemptively pardon ALL Americans as we have all played a role in this drama regardless of our impact. A blanket pardon of all US citizens for any and all crimes which may have been committed prior to Jan 20, 2025 (which must be issued on that date not before as prospective future pardons have always been ruled illegal) would immediately put an end to any serious attempts by Trump at targeted recriminations including investigation, arrest and trial of his "enemies".
It may seem like overkill but it avoids any sense of self dealing by Biden which is how I view his specific pardon of Hunter. The AFSFA pardon idea ("A Fresh Start For America") would be a true statesmanlike act by Biden and would blunt any attempt by Trump to use his autocracy in a legal way to bring down those he hates.
Will it eliminate the possibility of Trump still going after people? Probably not and we'd see appeals galore by the likes of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel as they stumble around trying to figure out what to do next, but it would definitely throw a monkey wrench into the works and the results might even be great for the country.
It's really not a bad as it sounds. There are about 150,000 federal prisoners. Most are there for drug crimes or white collar crimes (tax evasion, fraud etc, stuff like Trump should be in there for). Federal prisons do hold some serious violent felons but I believe it is less than 10,000. In a country of 330 million its a drop in the proverbial bucket. Most violent felons (many hundreds of thousands) are imprisoned in state prisons and would not be subject to this massive pardon (or amnesty if that word works better).
Trying to be selective is risky as people might be overlooked and Trump will be furious if this happens. He will go after anyone he can.
A countrywide blanket pardon doesn't leave him much if any room to exact a serious toll.
When you think about it, Trump is totally opposed to prosecuting rape which is a crime of violence not passion. But, it's mostly prosecuted by the state courts, or rather it isn't prosecuted since there's less than a 5% chance of someone that actually impregnates someone being convicted of rape in TX and other forced birth states.
Maybe the Biden administration is working on this already.
Yes only federal crimes. State crimes are not subject to federal pardons. Nor are civil actions so defamation suits can still be filed ( like the judgment against guiliani in Georgia). Corporate crimes are not pardonable with respect to the corporation but any employee or officer who might be charged is pardoned under a blanket pardon.
The Hunter Biden pardon is permissible, perhaps even praiseworthy on moral grounds. The problematic behavior was committed by one clamped in the deadly vise of addiction. Anyone so perfect as to not have suffered from that or some equivalent trap should be congratulated and asked to check their sanctimony at the door. Furthermore, Hunter Biden, to the best of my knowledge, is not a violent criminal nor a traitor. If a “life virtuously lived” test was given to him and Trump’s Cabinet selections, there are very few of those who would not have to cede a position closer to the front to Biden.
As for group pardons, pre-emptive pardons, self-pardons account me out. The concept is patently ludicrous - nobody could do it fairly and the Democrats would be stained hugely for generations to come. Let Trump be Trump - the more he acts in delivering misery to others, the more misery he will endure. Let it come without trying to put up boulders to block it - Trump’s greatest moment of triumph is going to lead to his disgrace and ruin.
I hope you are right but I doubt it. That's why I believe a Fresh Start pardon for ALL would be in the interests of justice just as Lincoln planned to give pardons to almost everyone in the south after the Civil War before his assassination.
It was not a razor thin majority, it was a thin plurality. More people of voting age did not vote than voted for trump or VP Harris. The whole premise that trump has a mandate is misguided at best. trump has not been pardoned, just made illegible for prosecution. Maybe trump's next round of criminality will stimulate a response from Republicans who might, somewhere, have a shred of honesty left.
Talk about razer thin, Wayne, I've mentioned this b4 but the update as of this am w 1% of the ballots still being counted is: the Harris DJT vote totals today on NYT are
49.9% Trump; 50.1% not Trump
48.3% Harris
1.6% Other;
Less than half of voters voted for Trump, so how is that a "mandate" to wreck the republic?!
Sadly, with the results being what they are, I believe it will be even harder to encourage people to vote moving forward. Great efforts were made to engage people who hadn't voted before for this election, beyond what I've seen in my voting years, and the idea that "it won't matter anyway" was given more weight in light of being told on repeat about said (false) "mandate".
Sadly, 1/3 to 1/2 of the electorate don't vote, been that way since before i was a kid in the 50s. ALL Presidents have been elected by pluralities. Australia it's a legal requirement to vote, though they push hot dogs at the voting booths, not punitive measures.
It will if trump's policies start hitting their pocketbooks, as it will with tariffs, job loss and economic downturn. I would not be surprised if trump and company cause a depression. After all, they do not care about the folks who vote for them.
If any addict, in my position of being fortunate enough to fall down completely after only a few years, states that (s)he was never like Mr Biden, please dismiss that trite tripe roundly, s.v.p. 🙏 In my case, had I abused substances for thirty or forty years, you can bet I would have done some really nasty things. 😯
Nahh. I suspect the smug bastards will congratulate themselves on a job well done in smearing a fine man and effective President through excoriating his son publicly. 🤬
I agree. Meanwhile it appears that the Biden Administration is acting like business as usual. I can't believe President Biden headed out to Africa. We are living in the middle of a successful coup and Hakeem Jeffries is still acting mellow, the Democratic leadership is MIA and people are complaining about Biden?! This whole scene is surreal.
I’m just dumbfounded, that everybody is calling it a free and fair election and are reluctant to object. I certainly think they cheated
In more ways than any suspect. It has been on going and widespread. Often right under our noses. But Dems lack that ruthless gene that Repubs have in every cell. The suspicions should have been raised throughout. But they thought women would make up for the buying votes, lying, slander, and religious bullschittery.
Go to my site (free) by clicking on the word beside my name. I talk more about this topic. I am a lifelong Democrat coming from generations of Democrats. My loyalty is endless. Now. I am so disgusted by what I am seeing in the Democratic Party right now.
You absolutely CAN pardon anyone for "any and all crimes which MAY have been committed" against the United States. My wording may be SLIGHTLY off but that is roughly the wording used in Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon, after Watergate. Nixon hadn't been charged with any crimes at that point (impeachment was on the table) but Ford feared that prosecutors might try to do so (how quaint in retrospect, that Ford didn't think to just fire the prosecutors, right?) and he felt that the country had been through enough (can you imagine what he would have thought today?!)
His pardon was a political stroke of genius although it ultimately failed in the election of 76 which Jimmy Carter won at least partially because of outrage against the pardon of Nixon.
But that "blanket" pardon was upheld and Nixon skated.
Carter then went on to issue the OTHER pardon that would be used here by Biden, the blanket pardon of all people who resisted the draft during the Vietnam War. No specific people were named in that pardon but it was clear from court decisions that it applied to anyone who was charged with violating the draft laws during the war.
So it is clear that you can issue a wide ranging pardon to an individual like Nixon without actually naming what you are pardoning him for, and you can issue a wide ranging pardon of a group of people without naming them. So there is nothing to suggest that combining both ideas into an single pardon would be any less appropriate. The Constitution only says that the President has this relatively wide power and provides minimal restrictions.
I am very confident that AFSFA (A Fresh Start For America) pardons would be totally legal.
I remember Ford's pardon of Nixon.... I almost threw my shoe at the television. However, they had evidence that Nixon broke the law. Liz, Adam, and Cassidy didn't break any laws.
But that's irrelevant. The pardon "trumps" (pardon that word lol) any other potential legal action. But only for past acts. Pardons for future events are barred.
Heather Coon, when you look at the charges and prior prosecutions using that law, they have only been advanced when the addict let Ed about their addiction in order to obtain a firearm to use in the commission of another felony.
Old story, Daniel. It's time to move on. Trump was elected like it or not. Recounts won't change that. Even if Russian interference played a part, there is no way to prove in court which votes were legal and which were "influenced". And keep in mind he won ALL seven swing states he lost in 2020, and it is really hard to imagine a WIDE spread conspiracy that would have affected vote counts in ALL of those states given that each had such a different way of counting votes. I could see the argument if we were down to just one state affecting the election (like Florida in 2000 Bush v Gore) but all seven states in question went for Trump.
Lol well that's good for refusal to acknowledge either history or the actual writing of our Constitution. Whether you like it or not the electoral college is written into the constitution as the ONLY way to elect a president and VP. There is NO right to or mention of a popular vote for those two offices in our Constitution.
There is by contrast quite specificity a mention of popular voting for Senators in amendment 20.
For President and VP, each state is given the right to decide how to select their electors for President and all states have chosen a popular vote but that is not required.
So while you may think of it as a scam, it is definitely the only Constitutional way to elect the top two leaders of our country. Your opinion, while highly interesting, had no bearing on the legality or correctness of how it is done and how it has been done for almost 240 years.
Before making comments like that, you might want to study some history as it was taught in high school.
Nice to hear from the great northern voice, Frank. 🤝 What is unpardonable to me is the utter lack of charity displayed by the whining weenies on the House Oversight and 'Weaponization' Committees. 🤢
Agreed. "What about Hunter's computer?" What about it? He was not an elected official and what they found on it had nothing to do with anything of significance. Ridiculous waist of time.
The pardon won't stop Trumplon. Or should it be Trusk? A kangaroo court won't let innocence stop them from doing their best to bring down people they view as enemies - Hunter, Alexander Vindman, Liz Cheney. I'm sure they have a long list. All the more reason to resist. All the more reason not to obey in advance. It makes me wonder whether Jack Smith was obeying in advance to withdraw the charges against Trump in the two most important cases of J6 and the stolen documents. Or maybe it was a strategic move and the charges can be relaid later on. Sure hope so.
Now i'm losing touch with reality and I'm running out of dough.
I am in total agreement with the pardon, Heather. What would Trump have done under a similar circumstance? What would any father have done under a similar circumstance?
My current struggle is this: How can I befriend fascist family members, cousins, friends, acquaintances? Millions have died fighting in opposition to what they promote, either knowingly or stupidly.
Yes, wealthy elites shouldn’t have to pay millions in taxes even though they come after us for a couple hundred if we file improperly. And who shouldn’t be allowed to hire illegal prostitutes and fly them across country for sex filled crack parties? We need more people like Hunter tossing guns into dumpsters near schools and getting diamonds from the Chinese for selling access to daddy and American secrets. Yay Hunter, keep up the good work, 10 years free and clear to behave how ever you like.
I could be wrong, but I think if Kamala Harris had been elected, Biden would not have pardoned his son - he was supportive of the rule of law. But after he saw who might be running the DOJ and the FBI next year, I think he questioned Hunter's safety in a prison setting. Without any guardrails or scruples in the power system, why would I risk NOT pardoning my son?
Totally agree. MAGA has declared war on us. We will need to do whatever it takes to survive. Trump is about to make the "Godfather" look like Santa Claus.
Honestly, I think Trump must be watching the Sopranos in preparation for the gang war he is about to wage. Come to think of it, I would have preferred Tony over Donald. He had a better wife and family.
The only way to prevent disaster, is to counter it up front. Do unto them, what we know damn well they are intending for the rest of us. Fools play nice when confronted with what we are seeing. Our country has stood up for democracy across the world, yet we are not willing to do it for ourselves? The Greatest Generation must be rolling over in their graves.
I agree war has been declared on us, but MAGA is just a front. The ones that are more dangerous are Putin, Elon, Traitor, those who created Project 2025, and The Supreme Farce (at least until Traitor makes them irrelevant, which they are too arrogant to think will occur).
For those of you that utilize the New York Times or as many Americans call them now the new York slime who is so left leaning that they’ve lost readership just like the post that has lost $77 million this past year.
Try spreading your reading ship around find a conservative website maybe Newsmax or somewhere else and balance what you read from the times with that I will now read your link
A very interesting meandering article essentially going nowhere.
A name I didn’t think would appear was Bob Woodward anybody taking Bob Woodward’s advice is a lost cause.
Non-proliferation will never happen. countries like Iran, and others will attempt to get the bomb. Hopefully they will be stopped. So far the balance of power has been a deterrent
You are a gas lighter, and supporter of authoritarianism, plain and simple.
Here is what we know about the incoming president:
The Hollywood access tape caught him live boasting about sexually abusing and assaulting women. The E. Jean Carrol verdict found him guilty of abuse and the judge called it rape. He was found guilty of paying off a porn star to interfere with the 2016 election. He invited Russia to interfere in the same election. That same year he verbally abused and physically mocked a handicapped journalist, while he incited to violence against the press and hecklers at his rallies as well. He joked about “second amendment people” taking care of Hilary Clinton. He has cheated vendors who provided services to him in his building and casino projects. He indulged in both-siderism at a Nazi rally in Charlottesville where a protestor was killed when a car ploughed into a crowd of counter-protestors. He sided with Putin over our own intelligence services. He malignantly threw paper towels deriding hurricane victims in Puerto Rico. He withheld funds from states that didn’t support him during natural disasters. He shoved aside physically the leader of Montenegro for a photo-op at a G-20 summit. He created an atmosphere such that mass shooters at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and El Paso credit him with their inspiration for the murders they committed. He presided over a pandemic in which his son-in-law advised him to do nothing since it would hit states worse that didn’t vote for him. He pursued a cruel policy of family separation at the border while wasting billions on a useless wall project on the border as well. He furthered wealth inequality by a huge transfer of wealth from the lower and middle class to the uber-wealthy. He took a meeting with the dictator of North Korea, one of the most brutal regimes on Earth. He presided over the illegal assassination of an Iranian general and exited a nuclear deal with Iran that helped prevent further nuclear proliferation. He negotiated the deal with the Taliban that resulted in a catastrophe for both the US and Afghanistan. He misrepresented the direction of a hurricane and hurricane preparation for the people of the Gulf. He pulled out of the Paris climate deal, our best chance to avoid the worst results of climate change. He has encouraged the destruction of Gaza encouraging the Israelis to “finish the job”. He strong-armed a US ally, Ukraine, to get dope on his political opponents or face withdrawal of US support against a dangerous US adversary. He incited violence against the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, resulting in the attempted murder of her husband in their own home with a hammer. He illegally and violently dispersed legal protestors in Washington DC. He profited illegally from his office, corruptly strong-arming various branches of the government and foreign governments to use his properties for which his company received the earnings. He refused to allow any officials save a US interpreter be present at meetings with himself and Putin and refused to allow the interpreter to divulge the nature of his discussions. He repeatedly lied about the results of the 2020 election. He sought to overturn that election by inciting a mob to storm the Capitol, during which he did nothing to stop it. He wanted to but was prevented from leading said mob. He incited the mob to attempt to lynch Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi. He has thrown a match on the militia movement in this country which has sought to disrupt legislative sessions in a number of states, intimidate peaceful protestors, and kidnap the governor of Michigan. He refused to hand over classified documents he took from the White House upon leaving – after which dozens of human assets were liquidated in China alone. He repeatedly lied about stripping women of their right to access to health care and women have died of it or been forced to give birth to their rapists children now. During this past campaign he rambled about Hannibal Lector, obsessed about crowd size, fellated a microphone, used foul language repeatedly, and held a Nazi style rally reminiscent of the 1930s in Madison Square Garden. He has refused to release health records and tax returns. He lied so many times about so many things one does not know where to start. He faced 91 felony counts in 4 districts and was able to escape them only by virtue of his wealth and position. He has faced the opposition of the military, legal, and scientific community. He has repeatedly threatened the media. He has promised to be dictator. He has called our soldiers and veterans and war dead and POWs suckers and losers. He wants to install a series of concentration camps for mass deportation. He has put in place a Supreme Court that has resulted in the imposition of an ideology that has seen women bleed out in parking lots to their deaths. As I write, he is choosing a cabinet full of corrupt degenerates that would be the envy of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Is there more? Absolutely - remember with whom and what we are dealing. Bannon put it out there for all to see and Hannah Arendt told us decades ago how it works: Flood the zone with s••t and gaslight until your opposition is exhausted, indifferent, numb, or questioning their own sanity. He is this bad, this depraved, this unqualified. And the people who voted for him – people like you - have a choice. Either you are profoundly stupid, profoundly cruel, or morally bankrupt. That or a combination of all three, and none are good.
So yes, you are that bad. But you are right when you boast it is a historic win, just not in the way you – now little more than part of a mob of braying jackals whose chief is a thuggish simian - would like to think.
And remember what support of him is about: stripping and gutting a much-needed social safety net. Not feeding hungry children. Not paying the working poor a living wage. Breaking our alliances. An economic revanchism that could cripple our economy. Hatred of people of color, Jews, and women. The further degradation of an already degraded climate and planetary environment. Coddling dictators. Strangling democracy. Imposing religion. Limiting the rights of others. Shoveling the resources of the lower and middle classes to billionaires. They want to strip everyone of everything – this is the hill you – and this administration, its supporters, the guy next door with the MAGA hat because he can’t wear a white hood - wish to die on, and the fact that a depraved, mentally ill, morally degenerate, intellectually bereft old man is leading the way means nothing to you. You have no honor, zero compassion, and people with a sense of history like Heather Cox Richardson are objects of derision to you.
We on the other hand? We want to ensure the rights of everyone. We want a robust economy and free market but one that is regulated to stop vulture capitalism from degrading further our planet or taking advantage of people. We want access to health care and education for all. We want living wages and protection of workers’ rights. We want more equitable wealth distribution because letting megalomaniacs accrue billions is dangerous for democracy and the planet. We want and need our children taken care of, well fed, living in healthy families that can spend time together without working two or three jobs around the clock. In short, we want to ensure that the blessings of economic prosperity, democracy, and human dignity are shared by everyone, not to make them happy, but to give them the choice and freedom to pursue it. We respect the work of everyone from the waitress to the researcher, from the teacher to the construction worker, from the doctor and lawyer to the mothers whose labor is unpaid and unappreciated. You do not, despite your protests and concern trolling. Your side is simply selfish, mean, petty, and stupid. You run on fear, not hope, selfishness not generosity, ignorance not wisdom, cruelty not compassion, exclusion not inclusion, violence not peace.
Rapprochement? Hell no. Because as Paul asked nearly two thousand years ago, “What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?”
By the way, I could refute almost every ridiculous myopic charges that you would like to throw at Trump up above, but I’d be wasting my time. Much of what you say is untrue and the other is meaningless as I said. You don’t even understand detente. Sad. Like I said if you continue to hate, it’s gonna affect your health long-term. I would suggest changing the channel and watching an alternative point of view and see what other American see where you have no idea.
I’m done dealing with you not because I don’t have an answer to every single solitary misguided comment above but because nothing I will say can open your mind to other possibilities and other realities. I wish you luck in the future. And happiness and success in America.
...and one has to wonder if this iteration of SCOTUS will say it's OK for him to stay in office indefinitely even if he has dementia. (And we KNOW he'll never allow any diagnosis of this to be voiced.
As many have stated there should be real fear that Trump is going to "weaponize" the government against many of its citizens. This is why I am not thrilled about the Hunter Biden pardon which is selective and personal but instead advocate for a "global" pardon of all US citizens regardless of political party or imagined past actions against the US.
A Fresh Start For America.
Forgive all not only Democrats but MAGAts as well. Hunter Biden and Roger Stone alike. A Fresh Start For all.
Yes, the long game of the American fascism/authoritarianism movement is winning. The wreckage is going to be quite hard to rebuild, much less witness happening. In my little world of primary care and health I aim to follow organizations like American Academy of Family Physicians, evidence-based authorities like Cochrane Database and US Preventive Services Task Force, and physician/scientist thought leaders behind rebel lines on Bluesky and Substack.
I think we need to defend our own backyards, areas of expertise, and communities - as taking on any of this big picture stuff is too big for the individual.
I won’t bend truth to power when I counsel patients about vaccines, public health tools, ongoing pandemics and new ones to come. I’ll keep posting here, though I could garner lots more attention playing the angry physician contrarian, cozy with anti-vax and pandemic revisionism.
Staying strong individually is a precondition to staying strong collectively.
Hope you continue to let us know some of the challenges being thrown at your profession and your practices to engage & encourage all to build healthier lifestyles as the tensions & acrimony of the coming era appear and cross over the threshold of our democratic bastions of personal safety and healing. Be well.
I urge you to keep using that term fascism, etc.. It’s one of the main reasons that Trump won because of this rhetoric of isms and ists and references to folks like Hitler
Anyone who makes that reference is totally ignorant of history.
No, it’s appropriate to call something what it is, by definition. HCR used educational information from the early 20th Century that was then, and is now, intended to raise awareness of this threat.
While I was supportive when Harris responded to Anderson Cooper that she believed Trump was a fascist, I think she might have been more successful if she had broken it down. But let's be clear, even his first wife, Ivana, said he kept a copy of Mein Kompf in the bedroom. Not someone I'd want to go to bed with much less call my president.
Well, perhaps you’d like to accompany me to Auschwitz let’s lie down in the ovens and see all the skeletons of the dead and the hundreds of thousands of pairs of eyeglasses and boots worn by the prisoners and then related to anybody alive today. Yikes. That’s history.
It didn’t start in the ovens, Rick. It started with “Germany for pure Germans,” and “Jews were poisoning the blood of the country” (Sound familiar?) Even the phrase “America First” was lifted off of 20th Century pro-fascists.
And this is how naïve your side is everybody on the right welcomes immigration. As I said earlier, my wife and her family and other family members had to wait six or seven years to be able to come into this country and still have to wait for their citizenship. My wife was in a group when she went for her citizenship induction 104 languages were spoken.
All that is fine you’re so mixed up. It has to be legal immigration. That’s it plain and simple. Get it through your head. If you’re trying to compare this country and Trump with Germany, you’ve got a disease in your head and the story
Of course, if things go too far sideways, there may not be any 2026 elections, but there is only so much Republicans including Trump can do and get away with it at the polls in each state.
We need to focus on getting the Federal minimum wage passed and point out that Trump, the Republicans and the oligarchs are all keeping our wages down. If you raise the wages of service workers to $15/hour minimum and force the larger companies to provide health care benefits, it raises the wage bar for everyone.
By the way, while it’s great that service workers make more money when prices are low like they were under Trump’s administration businesses could’ve afforded to pay higher wages
If you wanna know about minimum wage, take a look at California businesses that used to earn say 10 to 15% to the bottom line or now earning 4% to the bottom line and many have gone out of business large national chain because of the cost of doing business mainly because of labor. You obviously don’t know any business owners in California, especially in the food industry.
What is a living wage and why do people make an only living wage?
I owned 40 restaurants at one time and when I looked at the stats I believe at that time it was 75 to 80% of people earning a living wage it was their first job and the majority of them were under 21. Everybody’s gotta start somewhere which as I’m sure the same way you did and most of us did.
One of my board members owned several restaurants and one of his big expenses was employee theft. When you own several restaurants or a retail business that's what happens that's what happens, especially when you are too cheap to pay your employees.
I started up a consulting business and built it from 2 employees to 150 consultants working for companies in 37 states and 4 foreign countries. In the first 5 years our turnover rate was 0%. In our 6th year, two people left the company. Turnover is a profit killer especially in tech.
The year we sold the company our lowest paid employee was paid $15 an hour plus benefits including 4 weeks paid vacation and that was in 1999.
It was your choice to own multiple restaurants. If you're not willing to pay your employees, then you're part of the problem. I don't care what you're bottom line is.
When you’re going to write a number of restaurants, whether it’s two or 50 you’re going to have theft, but that’s why you have specific controls and paperwork that can pinpoint the theft if you were at all a organized owner. You may even have a department that owns in on that, but when you have detailed paperwork that you analyze on a timely basis and aren’t an absentee owner, you minimize the theft. You can also do that by offering other incentives, such as healthcare or such as retirement plans. I happen to have retirement plans for my entire company and yet even in the fast food industry where that’s unheard of my turnover was like you say extremely minimal. I had people working for me in a fast food restaurant for 15 years. One of my managers worked for me for nine years and left with $40,000 in retirement money. Unheard of in the industry my restaurants were all in California, which was paying twice the national minimum wage. 12 years after retirement I still have employees calling me and thanking me for the time they spent.
Well, the restaurant business is a little bit more delicate when it comes to wages because the wages immediately affect Menu pricing and if your prices get too high sales start to wane and that’s why you’re seeing Burger King and McDonald’s starting to fight a five dollar war they haven’t had in 10 years or more. In California a friend of mine just paid $7.59 for an egg McMuffin. That’s what happens when you have $20 an hour minimum wage.
I too, live in the healthcare world as a labor nurse and clinical instructor and it is dispiriting to say the least to see what is going on around us. Trying to guide and cultivate the next generation of nurses with evidenced-based medicine, and right the wrongs that patients and their families find on social media is an uphill task. But they do see us as trusted professionals and I will use that platform every chance I get to counter the lies and distortion. Thanks for posting and it is good to know that I am not alone!
Thank you for your Excellent guidance as we clearly stumble into a new unknown, yet possibly too well understood by those of us older and weary of the societal chains restraining our youthful months, years of ‘freedoms’ with No Choice.
I honor your clear-thinking and hopeful promise of following your professional path. We are in this together! And every way we can offer honesty and kindness to one another, the more strength we will have to share in every challenge to our professional lives.
Sleep time here ~ For refreshing dreams and peaceful awakening as the cold of December has dropped out of the chill of the clouds at the end of this day. House is getting very cold. Hope you are somewhere asleep & warm. Be well. Be good to Yourself !!
Taking on any of this big picture stuff is too big for the individual - so true, it’s beyond overwhelming. Defend our own backyards, stand tall in our world…
Thank you, Doc, for your thoughtful approach. I am especially thankful for your closing sentence and intend to share it as widely as possible. You are a very wise man, indeed!
Agree. I'm taking the same approach, do what I can in my universe.
I'm listening to David Pepper's "Trump Project 2025: Up Close and Personal" podcast and using these stories to develop my own survival strategy for what I hope is only 4 years. 🙏
Alexander Vindman is Demonstrating some of the Best Qualities of the American Military... Integrity, and Courage... If DJT, aka Cadet 'Bone Spurs', does indeed attempt to become an Orange Musolini, and tries to Corrupt OUR MILITARY... True Patriots Like Alexander Vindman Will Resist, And Help Save Our Freedoms...
One would hope. But he’s trying to replace all the principled military with his own stooges and the low-integrity ones like the war criminal Gallagher whom Trump’s DOF nominee helped pardon. If those at the top of the chain of command flaunt the traditional oaths and commitments, the lesser ranked military will find it hard not to comply. And there will be no such thing as whistleblower immunity.
Watching the news from other countries I see large numbers of military/police personnel in riot gear chasing and beating protesters and anyone near them. Sometimes live fire into the crowds. And I think, would American rank and file suit up and do the same to American citizens? Not just a few fanatics among the military but widespread obedience to orders to suppress protest with extreme prejudice.
I suspect we shall see the answer next year. Unless the D’s wake up and decide to defend freedom by arresting those who have subverted the miseducated masses with lies, distortions and propaganda. Not impressed so far.
Will there be any officers left with the competency let alone a desire to hold true to the Constitution and her people? Many of the white males enlisted seem to come from a background contrary.
I wonder if they are taking aim at Alexander Vindman because his brother, Eugene, won his race in Virginia against a Republican. Possibly Musk is playing the usual bully card of intimidation and instilling fear to use as leverage to silence an opponent, Eugene in this case.
Wait a few months -- there will be trouble in the White House. Some reports are emerging that more than a few voters who supported Trump thought they were voting for President Harris's positions. If that be true, there is hope for 2026, after all.
No, because the amount of intimidation, propaganda and dark money will be in the hands of the dictator. No checks and balances and a farce of a midterm or 2028 election. President Biden needs to take decisive measures to expose and declare enemies from within, now, with what powers he has.
The problem with billionaires is they think their infallible and they logic of thinking is to governing this country from a business perspective to serve their wealth. But it takes more then that. Not a single one has experience in these high rank positions of leadership. It's appalling and frightening. This country is the largest super power in the world. When Trump becomes president in 2025 , all it would take is one massive screw up by him and his cabinet to wake the American people who voted for him to wake up and rebel along with us. We need the cooperation of Democrats and moderate Republicans from congress and the military who swore an oath to the constitution against our adversaries. Not to get involved politically. I hope their will be a silver lining before it's too late.
Congratulations to President Biden for pardoning his son! Let the Republicans stamp their feet and scream till they turn blue in the face! Too bad. Trump is making a mockery of the presidency and is the very last person to call foul! I'm just grateful Hunter Biden will be safe to go on with his life and I wish him and his family well.
Sadly I disagree. This will absolutely be thrown in Biden's face and it deserves to be as it is selective family/ friend pardon regardless of whether HB deserves it or not (and personally I don't care). What Biden should have done (and still can do) is issue a wide reaching blanket pardon of all Americans for all crimes real or not which may have been taken against the US prior to Jan 19 2025.
I call it "A Fresh Start For America". It wipes the slate clean for everyone (like a brand new day) Democrats, Republicans, MAGAts and all. It would have been (and can be) non partisan, giving everyone a "fresh start".
It also incidentally leaves the Trump administration with little to do to wreak havoc on their "enemies".
I agree we should spend on problems at home. But here are a few things of the 100s of things Trump already did. Saying it was fine for him to grab women by the p---y because if you were famous, "they let you do it." Crowing over credit for getting rid of reproductive freedom, so we can read about more young women bleeding to death with miscarriages in parking lots outside hospitals every month because doctors are afraid to treat them for fear of decades-long sentences. His inaction on Covid that cost hundreds of thousands of lives, which readers here have already referred you to. The sadistic separation of children from parents entering the United States, some of whose children were "lost" in the system and never reappeared. The list could go on for pages.
Now we’ll talk about Covid and his inaction on Covid so please tell us in your estimable vast medical knowledge on once a century new viruses that are global in nature how would you have handled the Covid pandemic differently? I’ll wait for an answer. And by the way as many people died on Trump’s watch , it was Barack Obama, who first put children in cages first
You loved the Supreme Court when they affirmed Roe v. Wade. You then hated the Supreme Court when they overturned Roe v. Wade. Now it’s in the hands of the voters that you hate and there is a 98% chance that not much
Will change at all. So would you rather have the government make the laws or the vote voters make the laws being that we’re a democratic nation.
That same president allegedly paid Paula Jones $850,000 on a non- disclosure. Sounds familiar.? But worst of all then he had sex in the White House with an employee while president and married, and then lied about it under oath. Did he see a courtroom for that? These were very good presidents and I didn’t hear any Democrats complain when they went to the polls and voted for them anyway. Couple more responses
I hate revisiting this topic but I believe one of the best presidents in history was John F. Kennedy. And you know what his history was with women. Then another president had a 10 year affair which was disclosed a couple weeks before the election and he won anyway obviously with Democratic votes.
And i don't reply to ad hominem attacks so don't waste your time. I am trying to talk to you instead of dismissing you as a bot. but if you want to talk like a bot, good night.
Good for President Biden in pardoning his son. It was a compassionate response. Hunter Biden is not a danger to anyone, and has paid his back taxes, plus interest, and fines. He’s been in rehab for 5 years. Let the Biden’s get on with life, for heaven sakes.
I, for one, am very happy Biden pardoned his son. The miscarriage of Justice by the Republicans went on far too long to unreasonable conclusions. It was totally political.
A most painful realistic read tonight. God, whomever or whatever he/she may be help our country fight back against such evil in power and money. Sleepless nights are mounting.
Yes. Resist we will. We are at a very dangerous crossroads. If anyone here does not know that they are not educating themselves. I prefer to continually do just that and not on social media.
Michael lived by the sword, die by the sword. Everything will be fine. Don’t be such a pessimist. Even Stephanie rule said don’t panic stop the histrionics 80% of what you think is gonna happen never does.
Or does happen. Its happened before elsewhere, and the guardrails that have prevented it from achieving supremacy in the USA are no longer in play here as of 1/20/25.
It happened in baby democracies. Not in matured democracies. Mussolini couldn't become Hitler because Italians do not obey. Period. We live in San Francisco, and Rome. I am typing this from our home in Rome. Do NOT obey. No qualifier.
Why would you wanna shut down free speech that’s my question? I don’t really wanna be here, but there is certainly a need for opposing views. Just like in a courtroom, you have to hear both sides of the story otherwise you may come to the incorrect judgment. I actually would prefer if you didn’t respond, but if you’d like to respond and I believe there’s a reason for a response from me, I will do so.
If you don’t like free speech, there are many countries who don’t allow it. In fact if you didn’t like free speech, you wouldn’t be able to say what you’re saying here.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Well then please share with me what I’ve lied about. And these are not deliberate provocations if they are provoking is because they countradict what you think you know, but you don’t seem know the whole story in my opinion and the pushback here confirms that
Ok. Your patronizing statements to me that 'you loved the Supreme Court when it did x" and 'you love x when it did y." That is actually a lie because it is such nonsense. You don't know me and you cannot make any statements about what I loved or didn't love.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Well, you’re certainly not happy about this circumstances today are you? That the voters will choose. What do you imagine? Will change about women’s right to an abortion? And not to inflate the two but it’s OK to kill over 1 million fetuses in the United States but it’s not OK to kill a massive murderer ? Let’s keep them alive on the taxpayer dime. Sad
What I don’t understand is why liberals are so darn pessimistic, fatalistic, and negative in advance? Most of the stores are also sold out of crystal balls and Ouija boards. You should have a more positive approach look what’s happening even since he’s been elected. Or maybe your media isn’t telling you.
Mr. Sender. I respectfully submit that the real impact of what’s coming is much more than you’re anticipating. Placing unqualified people in key positions in our government is a sure sign of failing, weak leadership. It’s a short-term tactic that lacks a strong strategic foundation for long-term success. When chaos ensues, weak, unqualified leaders with no strong strategic foundation will result in disastrous outcomes. I sincerely hope you’re prepared for the coming consequences.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
See this is why you continue to lose. Your fabricate stories you make things up that have been proven incorrect and if you keep it up, you’ll keep losing.
And I have to keep asking the question why are you so negative Trump was already president. And if not for Covid, he’d be the one leaving office today.
"And if not for Covid"...400,000 Americans would not be dead, Iranians would not be weeks away form the ability to launch nukes, NATO would not have needed rebuilding, there would have been no total surrender to the Taliban, there would have not been an insurrection in our capitol. As they say in your country Вы тролль.
I would increase that number of COVID deaths. The illness was allowed to get a foothold and mutate enough that when Biden took office the Country was already afire with it, so deaths under Biden’s watch were still a direct result of Trump’s carelessness.
I am going to be the Contrarian here. Attacking Trump and/or defending Biden on COVID is a real waste of energy. Covid was an unexpected pandemic with no real defense available at the time. Trump made mistakes to be sure (his normal approach to anything makes that virtually assured) but I don't think ANY president would necessarily have done better. Biden walked in and took advantage of what had already been done under Dr. Fauci and when the first round of vaccinations helped millions and slowed the spread of Covid, he was heralded, but to be fair, he just got lucky. And then when Covid continued to come back over and over again (and is still coming back even now) people got bored and just turned away.
It is a sad and tragic thing that happened to all of us and I think it is b somewhat unfair b to blame it all on Trump and give Biden medals.
The reality is that it was a horrible thing we had to all go through, no one (not even the esteemed Fauci) really knew how to solve it except to try to get a vaccine out quickly which they did in record time and in the end a lot fewer people died later on, but it didn't end the crisis.
I think it is unfair to blame all the deaths on Trump (as it could just as easily have been a Democrat in charge when things went south and no one knew the best things to do) and to give Biden accolades for "solving" it which he really didn't, he was just in the right place at the right time.
That said, Biden did help reduce the fear by governing with a more steady hand whereas Trump had done little to help much.
But it still feels like an imbalance to blame all the death and destruction on Trump and give all the rewards to Biden.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Mr. Sender. There is one person involved in this discussion who is a proven liar. If we’re being honest with ourselves, we both know who that is. The long-term dishonesty of the former president is, without question, one of the primary reasons he be will viewed as the worst president in America’s history.
Well, I’m sorry you see it that way Joel the sad part is once Trump is done with this second term and things turn out totally differently than you anticipate 25 years from now he will be revered as one of the top four or five presidents in history because what he went through because of the hoaxes, the lawfare , the attempted assassinations and the success at the end.
Time will tell, but apparently the people here don’t have the patience to wait
By the way by the lied about pardoning Hunter in public
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Had Kamala Harris been elected, I believe Joe Biden would have trusted the justice system to provide a reasonable conclusion to the prosecution of Hunter Biden. I believe Hunter was subject to extraordinary prosecution because Republicans insisted that he not be given any quarter in the charges against him, and a judge who did not like the way a plea agreement was written decreed that Hunter had to stand trial, instead of rewriting the agreement.
No father would look at the new administration about to take office and leave his son at such risk, if that father had the powerto protect that son. The Trump administration would have come down on Hunter like a ton of sh*t, if given the chance. On balance,I am totally comfortale with what Joe Biden just did.
It’s not retribution if anything happens it’s called equal justice for those who lied and created hoax for the last eight years. And that’s why they’re scared because they know they did wrong like the 51 liars about the Hunter at about the Russian hoax, including Robert Mueller everything will be OK. egbok
It’s all been substantiated TROLL. The bipartisan Senate committee on the 2016 election has a nice detailing of collusion with Russia in its report. Mueller was instructed by AG Barr not to pursue the material he discovered that would lead to indictments of a sitting president because of the Justice Dept memo prohibiting such indictments. Four Grand Juries indicted the ex-Pres and one Jury from trial found him guilty. That record holds despite the ‘justice delayed justice denied’ tactic he used.
Don’t you wanna hear from both sides of the story? You have the right to ignore it. You have the right to dismiss it. You have the right to trash it but if you don’t hear it, then you’re gonna believe all the propaganda from one side only. Common sense. That’s how it works in a courtroom assemble of American justice.
Thank you, Dr Richardson for reporting trump's attempts to destroy America. L:et us hope there are a few Republican Senator's with sufficient courage and patriotism to stand up for America and our Constitution.
Kudos to President Biden for pardoning Hunter Biden unequivocally for crimes that deserved a slap on the wrist.
Biden is not the first President to pardon a family member. He is the first to pardon a family member who only needed a pardon because he was a family member.
Like Trump's pardon of Jared Kushner's father CHARLES KUSHNER who Trump II has appointed to be the Ambassador of France. French: nepotisme. Not joking.
Imagine your local mayor appointing a known pyromaniac as be the fire chief whose mission is to start fires, not to put them out, with the mayor’s political enemies being the targets.
This seems to be the equivalent of many of Trump’s appointments.
Yeah, his father did a great job on Hunter. Yikes. If you were a father, would you rather say I’m proud of Trump’s children or I’m proud of Joe’s children ?
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Joes all the way to what. And by the way, as I said in my post, I’m not surprised that he pardoned Hunter. I knew it all along and that’s why I bought that shirt. Get your pardon pen ready. The worst part is that Hunter disgraced the Biden family. That’s very sad.
Sorry, I misread your earlier post. I thought you were referring Ring to Trump’s potential health problem.
You obviously also missed Joe Biden on the Senate floor holding up a quarter saying if anyone possesses this much crack cocaine they go to prison for five years no judge no parole. Ooops.
And you don’t call in an illness when he parades around in a diaper with a crack pipe in his mouth sleeping with women after woman after woman after woman and raise his money dubiously from a foreign government/entity
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
I am very real and he’s not even in office yet. How is he robbing the government? Yikes. Here’s a good axiom for you janice
You don’t need to be aware or fear the billionaire entering politics like you weren’t in fear of Bloomberg for example what you should fear is the average citizen entering politics and earning a government salary becoming a multimillionaire
And it’s pretty ripe for you to talk about Donald’s potential or possible health issues when Joe Biden should’ve never run in the first place
And they hid it from the public, which made it worse he was a semi cadaver at the Hollywood elite race $25 million for him only to kick him under the bus two weeks later.
And as long as you keep using the word, Russian with any context of Donald Trump, it’s only gonna get worse for you and your party I am an independent voter for the last 40 years one of my favorite president who I voted for twice is none other than Bill Clinton despite his wandering PP
Chronic disease does not post your actions or illegal or illicit activities online. It does not drop off your computer so that the evidence that you have is missing. It was an embarrassment to the Biden family, so please spare us the addiction as a chronic disease which we all know it is. And what was Joe Biden doing while all this was going on?
No contest. Trump’s have no integrity whatsoever and are just business and charity frauds and grifters like their padrone. And really, Don Jr using crack cocaine at a rocket launch? The thrills never end.
Well, you ought to check your own fat checkers like snopes who says it never happened with Don so whatever you go on posting nonsense Yeah, i do you believe Hunter was he wearing a diaper and illustrating how he was having sex with variety of women? With a crack pipe in his mouth.
Donald Trump went bankrupt many times as many of you have tried to point out without looking at the other people that have been bankrupt and came back Here’s a short list. Abraham Lincoln, PT, Barnum, H.J. Heinz, Henry Ford. Milton Hershey and your favorite. Walt Disney. And in the meantime.
Donald Trump and his family owned hotels and golf courses all around the world with their name on them employee 22,000 people and now have a social media website that’s worth over 10 billion. Oh and will be president of the United States twice. What a failure.
Money is not a reason someone should be president. Ditto for owning golf courses and hotels all over the world. Or stiffing contractors right and left. Or making fun on national TV of a reporter's disability. Or urging crowds to beat up protestors at a rally. Or bragging about grabbing women by the p--sy. Or being fined over and over for fraud. Or inciting a crowd to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after you lost the election. What a failure, indeed.
Mr. Sender. Perhaps the more salient question would be which children should be most proud of their father? Again, honesty clearly indicates the truthful answer.
Well Joe Biden was an average politician who has no substantial legislation to his credit. Yet he is becoming a multimillionaire on a government salary.
And yet he lied to the public about pardoning his son
Trump on the other hand has been elected to the presidency twice
He has a hotel chain and golf courses all over the world with 22,000 employees he also now has a social media site that’s worth over 10 billion
Now that Joe has pardoned Hunter all the way back to 2014 will never know how Joe became a multimillionaire or his brothers or his family but we do know about Perma and his father being the big guy or the 10% recipient
I believe you’re possibly speaking about the Biden clan. Again as an independent, just pulling for America. If you keep this type of rhetoric alive, Russia fascist all the isms all the ists. You will continue to lose election elections. And I think it’s good for the balance of power that each election brings change and hopefully a balance to the middle, which has been long forgotten here.
Good on ya’ Joe. This pardon will have ZERO impact on trump’s future conduct. The hand-wringing from certain Dems is why the Dems have been outplayed. Hoping Joe issues prospective pardons to everyone on trump’s enemies (within) list, including dozens of generals.
Can’t find your comment, but it was a short one about somebody doing their job or not doing their job. The reality is that the president is specifically called and named the commander and chief and in the military, which I don’t know if you’ve been Joel, either you follow orders or you either lose your rank get court marshalled , etc. Unless the order you’ve was against the law
I’m glad Biden pardoned his son so the new administration can’t grind him under their heel. You know they want to.
I was iffy on the idea of a father-son pardon. President Biden, however, made a persuasive argument. The pardon, more than anything, lifts a burden from a troubled soul that was imposed because of his father's position. ⚖️
Having succumbed to addiction in my teens and early twenties, I know that road to the subsequent forty-plus years has been paved by the love, forgiveness, and support of others, particularly loved ones. ❤️
Compassion is the highest form of leadership; mercy the crowning human virtue. Thank you, both Heathers and President Biden. 😇
I'm with you. I was also initially not feeling it but his statement makes very clear that he has understood all along that what was happening to Hunter had very little to do with the actual offenses but that he thought it best to allow the justice system to work unimpeded. It was hard for a father to sit by while his son was persecuted and a brave thing for a president to pardon a man who was subjected to unrelenting pain because of him.
Ned and others, I was glad when Biden refused earlier to pardon his son and equally glad when he did so this weekend because Hunter is in the bull's eye of the revenge team. MAGAs, of course, are criticizing this decision showing them to be the hypocrites and kiss ups that they are.
I was very glad he pardoned his son. He will be criticized by MAGAs , Trump, the Corporate media and even some Dems. Sad to see.
Heck, President Biden will criticized no matter what he does.
Yes, I agree Ned. Furthermore, trump is going to pardon the January 6th bunch, republicans can’t afford to open their mouths However, you know they will and so will the media. If I were not a lady, I tell the Hippocrates were to go. Take a look back at the fine people trump pardoned.
The vipers had him at the top of their revenge list.
I absolutely agree with pardoning Hunter.
Marjorie Toilet Greene can keep running out the batteries on her vibrator looking at all those pictures..........
President Biden: “I hereby pardon every American registered as a Democrat as of this date in the history of our Lord, December 1, 2024 with the exception of former Senator Manendez of New Jersey. And I hereby pardon Leonard Peltier for being falsely accused of aiding and abetting the murder of 2 FBI agents on the Jumping Bull Ranch at the Pine Ridge Reservation.”
There fixed it for all time.
It is hard to imagine a greater example of an unjust imprisonment, than that of Leonard Peltier. One of the many disappointments of the Clinton Presidency is that he pardoned fugitive financiers Marc Rich, and his own brother, but not Peltier.
Obama failed to pardon him as well.
Dare we hope that Biden will do so?
Oh, yes, please--make it so!
And passed the ERA!
Susan, I just read an essay yesterday about the misogyny in this country. I keep reading too on threads about women being very worried about their safely. They should be because basically a lot of what came out after the election is basically rape culture.
Agree
Yes, I sure wish we would finally ratify the Equal Rights Amendment. Though a conservative by temperament, I have supported that amendment since I was a teen.
There's nothing necessarily wrong with being a "conservative". There is everything wrong with being a Trump republican!
I no longer use the term "Republican" to refer to the political party that Trump heads. It is MAGA and sometimes MAGA/KKK. Let's face it, the KKK has gained control. It's something that the oligarchs engineered with their disinformation campaigns (the TV networks, radio, newspapers and more.)
Now can we get the Joint Chiefs of Staff to temporarily suspend the constitution and take over the government and remove all MAGAs from government service and install the Easter Bunny as president and Santa Claus as Vice president for life.
With the Easter Bunny and Santa Claus running the Country, there would be a lot more love than hate being spread. Bunny/Claus 2025!! Make America Loving Again!!
Having bought and read your book about the vanity tantrums of you-know-who, I admire your dedication to the cause of justice for all. Thank you for the song to free Leonard Peltier.
Thank you, Katharine, you made my day. Strange that after that ride down the escalator for the first press conference I after the election, in which the media was screaming at Trump about certain unmentionables that may have taken place in a Moscow hotel with street hookers, I wrote my first story subtitled, “The Golden Shower Caper.”
( And no, I didn’t ask Katharine to say that in case someone was thinking I did. I intend to add Part II in my next edition. I put my cat manuscript aside to write it.)
Bill, what is the title of your book? I would consider reading it.
I AM SURE YOU ARE JOKING HERE BUT NO! THAT IS ABSURD AND AN ABSOLUTELY UNACCEPTABLE SOLUTION TO AN SERIOUS NATIONAL PROBLEM!
If Biden does that, the United States will be no better than Syria or Hungary or Venezuela, just a tin pot dictatorship run by Democrats which is absolutely no better than one run by MAGAts like Trump. Bill, you should be ashamed of even suggesting such a non- democratic idea of you are even slightly serious.
The proper solution is NOT to pardon JUST your friends as your pardon suggests, but to pardon every citizen of the United States regardless of who they are or what they have done, essentially wiping the slate completely clean and giving Trump a "new America" to govern. Offering the pardon to ALL Americans, even those like Menendez as well as those like Flynn and Roger Stone and Hunter Biden demonstrates non partisanship and a desire to put ALL of our "troubles" behind us. Biden should NEVER have chosen to single out his own son with a selective pardon for which he will get appropriate criticism, but should have included him under a blanket pardon offered to all.
A wide net pardon including both innocent Americans as well as probably guilty ones would show great statesmanship and a true understanding of where this country has run aground. Remove the possibility of Trump going after his "enemies" legally and you handcuff him into having to actually prove he can govern rather than simply seek recriminations.
Jon ~ Donald Trump has been elected President AGAIN. America is no better than Syria, Venezuela or Hungary. It’s all in Project 2025. 😢
You got that right Maureen💪
Get a grip!!!
Our country is going to go to s*** because of the ignorant people persuaded by Trump and the MAGA Republicans to vote Trump in as dictator-president. It is scary as h*** to me and others. All our systems will break down, and HCR has foreseen much of what will happen. We older people will die off without our meds/health insurance, lose money in out banks no longer backed by the FDIC, etc. So much for leaving a better world to the younger generation.
Our Country is already gone to shit.
I understand your sentiment here, Jon. A military coup may occur, but not in the form that Bill suggests. An insightful essay from 2016 by conservative intellectual, Mr Jamie Kirchick.
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-kirchick-trump-coup-20160719-snap-story.html
The senior officers and a sufficient number of troops would stand by their oaths to the Constitution -- a worthy and timely example for Trump -- and belay orders clearly against the Constitution.
That is a big "ask". You can get court martialed for refusing to obey an order and the burden is on YOU to prove it was unlawful.
Few military officers (let alone enlisted folks) have the training to be able to accurately distinguish a lawful order from an unlawful one. In most cases they will simply go along because no one gets court martialed for going along. It is difficult to be the whistle-blower and it can be costly. So I have little faith that the military will resist following orders in most cases.
How many assasination attempst were made on Hitler??? Just wondering.
Your statement covers releasing all...WTWF! FROM THE SKILLET TO THE FIRE...REALLY. Neither is acceptable. However, President Biden's son should not be sacrificed to placate MAGA; he shouldn't even be a criminal in their eyes seeing as trump's back taxes are not an issue to them.
My complaint with Biden's singular pardon of Hunter Biden is that it is a selective personal pardon doing something Biden swore he would never do which is to favor his own son.
I have sympathy for Hunter but also I have sympathy for anyone who has been incarcerated unfairly something I doubt Trump will do anything about, and sympathy for the many hundreds or thousands of people who have labored in the service of our country and who may find themselves in Trump's crosshairs.
I even have sympathy for many of the MAGA who have blindly followed Trump down a dark alley where he has let them swing in the wind without ever paying his own price because he had the resources to fight while they don't.
And finally I have great sympathy for this country of ours which will suffer greatly if Trump is allowed free reign to hunt down who ever he wants.
A blanket pardon is probably the best we can do to fend off that possibility and while it isn't a perfect solution, ït is the best I can come up with that will be within our current laws and possibly effective.
I do not want to see a war in the streets which none of us will win on either side.
What, installing the Easter Bunny? That mythical figure for children would do better than what is about to take place.
Oh… I read further and I agree. A blanket pardon. I’m borrowing that idea to write my next story.
I am a would be satirist. I need to use humor because there is honestly, nothing left. We have elected the greatest monster in our history.
To merit a pardon, doesn't one first have to have been convicted of something?
I don't think one can be pardoned for conduct not yet adjudicated as being in violation of law. A prosecutor could give immunity from prosecution (usually in exchange for truthful testimony).
Although prior conviction is usually the reason for a pardon the answer to your question is absolutely not.
Two examples: Richard Nixon was preemptively pardoned by Gerald Ford for "all crimes he committed or may have committed" during his term in office. Nixon was never charged with any crime, before or after the pardon, although obviously suspected of committing crimes. Jimmy Carter's blanket pardon for all draft resisters (an estimated 70,000 people) didn't even name the people and most who were subject had not yet been charged although some had. This established the idea that a group of people could be pardoned even if the specifics of the potentially charged crimes were not yet established and the details not known. The pardon went to the idea that the b subject matter clearly enough defined who might be eligible.
A pardon of all citizens for any crimes they may have committed is pretty broad but the constitution has no specific limits, only granting the President the right to make those decisions.
No, I do not think so. Though most who are pardoned have been convicted or are obviously about to be.
Hahahayes
Having just finished the memoir, "Black Elk Speaks", yesterday, Mr Peltier's sentence ought to be commuted as an immediate parole.
https://www.npr.org/2024/07/02/nx-s1-5026755/leonard-peltier-denied-parole
He was defending his native land yet he may have shot F.B.I. agents down and wounded, an act for which he should not be pardoned. ⚖️🙏
"May have"? You shouldn't get life for "may have". It has to be "beyond a reasonable doubt". "May have" is 50/50 doubt. That's not "reasonable".
"may have" refers to the disputed accounts between the F.B.I. and Mr Peltier. F.B.I. Director, Christopher Wray, is a fine public servant; he believes that Mr Peltier should not be pardoned.
Thank you Ned for sharing your story. Our oldest suffers with SUD but refuses to get the help he needs. This disease is crippling and has NO cure unless the afflicted seek the help they so badly need. President Biden did the right thing as a Dad and as OUR President, compassion is a virtue we need more of.
Good luck Rich with oldest son. Addiction is truly a scourge. It may take a "bottom" if he's to find a way out.
It may take many bottoms. Hang in there Rich.
I fully second the good Mr Loomer's opinion.
Rich, your news is saddening. 💔 Prayer your way via FedEx. 🙏 Please know that I heard all of the "hectoring" from loved ones that I pushed back on. ❤️ Done with the love you display, your advice will inform your son as to whom he can approach when he is ready. 🤞 G-D bless him; G-D bless y'all. 🤝
P.S., of course, Rich, if I can do something to help, perhaps talk with your son about my story and the way out, I will be happy to do so. I am sixty-seven years old, so I may not be all that relatable for him. Your call, my duty.
I extend my heartfelt empathy. As a parent of a child with addiction I know how painful the disease is and how it affects everyone else in the family. I would not be here today if it weren't for my years in Al-Anon.
Compassion IS the highest form of leadership.
Compassion should be for the country and everyone in our, not just for his own son. I am absolutely opposed to this pardon as it just shows Biden to be no better than Trump as he exits office. A blanket pardon for ALL citizens of the United States (including Hunter Biden) regardless of who they are or what they might have done would stand with the statesmanship of Presidents like Lincoln rather than demonstrating personal bias in favor of just your own family and friends.
But such an action would REQUIRE a statesman which Biden has proven repeatedly he is not. He is just another politician and it greatly saddens me to say that. I had hoped for so much better.
Sad to think we will no longer be a democracy after 1/20/25. Half of America does not care if they live under a dictator or not - why not have it be a competent statesmen who will preserve the rule of law? Yes, it has come to that. We are living in an oligarchic society where the kleptocrats are about to take over and never leave.
Those who voted for trump do care. They are just stupid.
Those who voted for Kammy do not care. They are also enhanced stupid.
Sad? How about terrified?
In the words of the band, Supertramp:
"Hide in your Shell"
I left my own comment, without judging Biden, earlier. I'm more aligned with other commentators, sadly so.
Jon, seriously, a blanket pardon would open all the federal prisons in this nation.hello.
It's not a bad as you might think. There are roughly 150,000 federal prisoners today. MOST are incarcerated for drug crimes or white collar crimes (taxes, fraud, etc). Most would not account for any serious danger to anyone. Not ideal but not terrible either.
There are roughly 10,000 violent federal criminals. Some are not citizens and wouldn't be eligible. I estimate about 7,000 violent criminals would go free. Not ideal either but in a country of 300 million people, it's not huge either. Barely .002% of the population.
Most violent criminals are imprisoned in state prisons and some pardoned violent federal prisoners would be subject to state trials also.
So overall, not ideal but not as awful as it might seem. And the benefit is a very simple action that is almost invulnerable to scrutiny from the courts whereas a more selective action might be found wanting.
Good points.
OTHER DATA BACKING JON's ASSERTIONs
As of November 21, 2024, there were 158,005 people in federal prisons. This includes:
143,817 people in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP)
14,188 people in other types of facilities
Here are some other statistics about federal prison populations:
In 2022, 5% of the federal prison population had prior military service
24,078 non-U.S. citizens were in federal prison in 2022
41% of people in federal prison in 2022 had a child age 20 or younger
70% of people in federal prison in 2022 had a high school diploma or equivalent
In the United States, 12% of incarcerated people are in federal prisons, 59% are in state prisons, and 29% are in local jails.
FROM GOOGLE's A.I.-generated search results.
Did Biden ever visit East Palestine, OH????
"Compassion is the highest form of leadership" ✅
Ned, your honest, sincere words come as close to poetry as anything I’ve read in this Comments section. And, it’s a section which has distinguished itself by having high expectations of its contributors without ever insisting on it.
Thanks!
Aww. So many thanks for your kindness, Alan. My sole distinction is that, when it comes to substance abuse: been there done me.
If he had just referenced a father son pardon, I’d understand, but he threw the Justice Department under the bus. The Justice Department appointed a special prosecutor just like it did to investigate Trump and Hunter Biden is Guilty. Biden just fueled the justification for dismantling the Justice Department.
Paul. I wonder, though, if the DOJ would have brought the same level of charges against anyone without the last name of Biden. Was Hunter used as an example to show the independence of the judiciary? I think he was. And was certainly treated more unjustly than the convicted felon, who was allowed to evade justice in the classified docs and Jan 6 cases by a DOJ that delayed an investigation into those issues which were MUCH more serious than tax evasion or gun possession by a druggie.
Totally agree but remember this was BIDEN'S DoJ not Trump's that miserably failed America with the delays.
Jon -- Absolutely correct.
It was a dilemma. Attorney General Garland might, perhaps should, have acted faster, but that likely would have run into stiffer push-back, even violence, for "weaponization of the justice system." I suspect that A.G. Garland calculated that Trump would not be re-elected.
Yeah probably. A very bad miscalculation in hindsight.
Trump's supreme court/judges allowed for all the delays
Well not exactly. It was actually Biden and Garland's own (stupid IMHO) decision to delay the appointment of a special prosecutor (Jack Smith) for almost 2 years after Jan 6 2021. They could easily have appointed one on Feb 1 2021 to start the investigation but they held off. They waited until the House committee investigation was completed before proceeding. By that time there was less than 2 years left to proceed. Then and ONLY then was the Supreme Court able to put its hands on the scales of justice with delays that resulted in the debacle we face now.
So yes the Supreme Court bears some responsibility but the principal one is on Biden and Garland themselves.
I disagree. Accepting a pardon admits to wrong-doing. Hunter Biden has been clean for five years.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4834551/user-clip-interesting-historical-tid-bit
Give the guy a break. He is not Al Capone and should not be hung out to dry for a relatively frequent and low-level offense.
I fear for Hunter's safety in a Trump run prison
About now I'm wondering will it matter?
Paul. They were going to dismantle everything anyway. Their justification if the Project 2025 mandates.
Yes, the Hunter debacle was blown all out of proportion to serve DonOLD and the REPUBLICAN'TS conspiracy theories. Justice has been served. Maybe Joe will still use his presidential immunity and throw DonOLD, Matt, Roger Stone and other criminals in jail where they belong.
Thank you, Ned! And thank you, Heather.
You are welcome, Sam.
Amen🙏 Yes sir🇺🇸
Beautiful response Ned
Many thanks, Helen, for your gracious compliment. 🤝
I follow you and even step forward to applaud Biden's action. This is an offense against Trump who uses intimidation as his weapon but is not prepared to respond when he is intimidated. Biden should continue his offense against Trump. How about requiring him to submit professional report on his health and the list of donors for the transition, all required by law.
Those have been requested and ignored. This America that we are about to have thrown upon us is no longer one we will recognize. I only wish that there would be more President Biden could do to help save us all. But afraid the MAGAs have "screwed that pooch".
I completely believe that when trump takes the Oath of Office-& pledge he has no intentions of fulfilling - & puts into action his revengeful & dictator ways his supporters will by nature start to fall away..In their whole life they have known nothing more then being free..free to choose..free to speak..free to believe & simply free to become who they r..Project 20 25 will be too difficult to live by if u do not believe in it & it affects u..The actual process of taking away any freedom will break those rose colored glasses right off their faces & the light of reality will shine thru & then the take back will happen..maybe not over night but it will happen - truth always wins at the end - truth & for the betterment of the whole & we will be given once again the opportunity to do right for all according to the founding fathers dream - Constitution & all that comes with it - NO one will ever be left out & pushed aside again because of who they r..It is the teachings of not just the Christians faith but many faiths..
Would that this were true. You have more faith in the compassion of the "haters" than I . He has told them all along of his intentions and they cheered for and elected him. The biggest part that will affect them is money( the price and scarcity of food and supplies).
Pamela, i believe that if Trump has his way, any potential candidates for office who oppose him or MAGA in 2026 or 2028 (Dems and Reps alike) will find themselves threatened in one form or another and will choose not to run. The coup will then be complete.
B.L.U.F. (bottom-line up-front): President Biden should give the blanket pardon as proposed by Jon.
"Remember that to change thy opinion and to follow him who corrects thy error is as consistent with freedom as it is to persist in thy error."
--Marcus Aurelius.
Jon's immediate blanket pardon is beginning to make sense. I would rather commute the sentences of violent criminals and those convicted of other crimes prone to recidivism -- maybe 10% of those incarcerated per Jon's analysis -- and place them on a tight parole.
https://en.as.com/latest_news/can-hunter-bidens-pardon-be-overturned-this-is-what-the-law-says-n/
One possible problem is that such "statesmanship" might be contested by the Supreme Court since the great majority of the pardons would no t address any guilt by something like 99% of the population and the political disengagement of something like one hundred, fifty million Americans. That is to say: the pardon-all degenerates into pardon none.
The other concern, I would harbour is that the pardon would not cover the state of supposedly illegal actions continuing into the future. For example, would COL Vindman still be guilty of treason -- per the Trump play-book -- were he ever to criticize the United States? Or would candidates be open to harassment anyways as observed by Doug?
If you free up the prisons, Trump will use them for immigrants
Future pardons are not permissible (
.
This is why I have repeatedly said Biden needs to offer a universal pardon rather than just a specific one to his son or to any other selected individuals. Stand like a statesman and forgive ALL, not just a few who are related to you or who have befriended you and leave behind everyone else. What good is being the President if you can't exercise your power in a way that forgives and redeems all rather than appears just to protect a few.
It would also serve as a shot across the bow that this is actually not a great thing for society and might lead to bi partisan changes in the pardon power granted under the Constitution to the President, so that no one in the future including Trump could pull off unethical pardons to benefit their own.
A former federal judge and former federal prosecutor have approved the pardon, recognizing that in Trump’s “Justice” Department, the persecution of Biden’s son would continue. I wish commentators would leave the Bidens in peace. When you think of the tragedies in both lives, understanding should be increased.
There is no requirement or need or legal procedure for anyone to "approve" a pardon. And please note I am not opposed to Hunter Biden being pardoned, under my blanket pardon concept, he would be pardoned along with everyone else. My objection is purely that Biden's singling out of his son is totally opposite of what he initially promised, i.e. to stay out of it but now he has reversed himself and it just shows everyone how he is still the politician he always was.
A blanket nationwide pardon would resolve this issue and at the same time do a politically skillful thing, ie eliminate a major "tool" Trump thinks he now holds, i.e. the ability to go after his political "enemies". His obsession with that is what concerns me and a blanket nationwide pardon nearly solves the major problem.
Good point and, as always, nice to hear from you, Jon. 🤝 Start by commuting the sentences in jail for federal drug felonies related to substances subsequently de-criminalized. ⚖️ The President could then pardon such convictions on people's records to remove them. 🔍 He could finally recommend that clemency be extended to people convicted of similar state laws. 🙏
There is no time for a piecemeal approach. That is why I advocate for a wide reaching blanket pardon.
Agreed, selective (under laws no longer considered criminal such as minor weed offenses), and not blanketed( releasing the crazies like Reagon did in Cali back in the 80s, can you spell T H E H O M L E S S situation today).
You are assuming that we will have elections in the future. Not if Heritage Society has a sat
(say)
Screwed the pooch? Oh no now he is trying to frick dogs? Of course he is and has take a look at some of them.
He should resign making Kamala the next President. And skip the inauguration. That would infuriate Trump and make history.
That IS a great idea. I think he should do that on Jan 19 after issuing a blanket pardon to ALL American citizens except himself and then Kamala should issue the pardon for Joe himself. Self pardons are the one thing that has never been validated by the Supreme Court and this would kill two birds with one stone. Having Kamala sworn in as President (#47!!!) for one day would make all the investment in #47 memorabilia for Trump moot (ROTFLMAO!) as he would now be #48 AND it would absolutely validate his own pardon by Harris.
It would apply massive handcuffs to any Trump effort to exploit his own witch hunt against Democrats including Biden. A brilliant double whammy!
I’m in. President Kamala Harris.
Agreed with Jon -- I second the commotion!
Absolutely!!!!!!!
I think there will be more pardons to come. President Biden still has some time left in office.
Yes he does have some time left and that is why I will keep repeating everywhere until it is picked up and repeated by the media that he should issue a blanket pardon to the entire country (or at least all citizens of this country) as a redemptive act rather than a selective exoneration of just his friends and family (something done by almost every President before him).
Such a wide reaching act would be hugely important in many ways. It would provide shelter for those who Trump might selectively decide to use as examples of his retribution (such as politicians like Pelosi or Schumer) and it would provide redemption for people like Peltier who need to be exonerated.
Would it also let some free who might not deserve it? Yes but that is the price of offering redemption.
Offer it only to a few and you prove its inequality.
Offer it to all and hopefully some good will come out of it.
Are you saying pardon every conviction of a federal crime? Would that lead to millions of crimes being re-litigated on the state level. That would overwhelm an already sclerotic law enforcement system.
Obviously I can't predict the future and my proposal had never been attempted before but I think it has merit. I do not think it would lead to massive relitigation for a number of reasons, mostly because the statute of limitations would have run on most prior crimes in state courts. And many of those crimes would not be subject to state criminal charges anyway.
Would some guilty go free who shouldn't? Sure but we are trying for redemption here, not perfection.
And of course the old saying "better 1000 guilty go free than one innocent person be sent to prison" applies here as well. Heck it would apply to all the Jan 6 people most of whom are in fact truly guilty, but what a magnanimous act it would be! This may overstate the case but I think it would go down as equal to Lincoln's emancipation proclamation, which had never been done before either. And far wider teaching than Carter's pardon of all draft dodgers in 1977 (issued on his first day on office).
While I still disagree, Jon, I really cherish your charity.
So Trump et al are just going to walk into the White House, the Agencies, without proper clearance. No consequences for defiance of the law?
Yes, he is Frank. Know why?
The Democrats are so blindly addicted to the institutions of this Democracy they will not raise one hand to stop someone from destroying those very institutions. And the Republicans know this. The irony is sickening.
No you are wrong here. The institutions of democracy are the ones that protect us. To quote Franklin, if we sacrifice a little freedom for security, we will have neither freedom nor security. Trump was legally elected. We can all hate that but it is not right to refuse to abide by the election. That is why I focus not on trying to keep him out but in looking for ways to preempt the destruction he can inflict. That is why I keep on advocating for Biden to issue a blanket pardon or amnesty if you wish of all Americans. It would tie Trump's hands legally and I think it would take most of his term to litigate it (and I think he would lose).
Agreed, Jon. I have grieved the loss by Vice President Harris. Nevertheless, Trump won the election. Additionally, the Democrats have repaired the many of the guard-rails. They need to make sure people vote in 2026.
Trump was legally elected.
We dont know that until a forensic audit is done
Elon Musk stole it.
Not clear what that means. The only audit required that i know of is the counting of the electoral votes by the congress.
You missed my larger point by a mile.
I don't think so. But I could be wrong. You seemed to be arguing that we aren't willing to take extra legal actions to protect our democracy. I think we sacrifice democracy if we do that. And there are ways to fight back which do not require giving up on our institutions. You may disagree but I think it is an important point. Happy to learn more from you if I am mistaken.
And he will lie when he agrees to “protect and defend” the Constitution.
So, from the Guardian.... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/nov/26/trump-transition-team-fbi-security-clearances-background-checks
UGGGGly.
I don’t think so.
The Republicans know Biden would rather go off to Africa and play Presidential than stay home and get his institutionalist hands dirty.
???
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/world/africa/biden-africa-trip-angola-cape-verde.html#:~:text=Biden%20Opens%20the%20Only%20Trip%20of%20His%20Presidency%20to%20Sub%2DSaharan%20Africa
Biden Opens the Only Trip of His Presidency to Sub-Saharan Africa
Agreed 111%, Hiro. Thank you for putting passion back into compassion. 🤝
Hiro: the ill gotten president-elect has attempted to steal compassion and hope from the American people. Alas what happens when public sentiment turns on him should he go through with any of his promises? That is where all his lies will meet the road and truth will arise like the phoenix waiting to take flight globally? Frey not. Human consciousness is turning toward a very bright light of justice for all no matter what he and his yes men attempt 🇺🇸🗽🥁🕯️🕊️🩷🌻
Biden should pardon Leonard Peltier as well. Please President Biden free Peltier, he won't get another chance.
Biden needs to preemptively pardon, his entire cabinet, every general that is loyal to the Constitution and not Trump, the current Joint Chiefs, Liz Cheney and Adam Kizinger and all associated with the January 6th commission especially the witnesses like Hutchison. And anyone else on his "enemies list." He's pretty much laid out who they are in his rambling often incoherent campaign speeches and late night "tweets."
Gary, that is a much more sensible idea than Mr. Rosen's Oprah approach: "YOU get a pardon!!! And YOU get a pardon!!!"
Let's save them for the brave folks who used their voices to warn of the dangers of a Trump repeat.
This is a terrible idea. It just PROVES the MAGA view that we are elitist. That is precisely why I think a pardon should be global. Everyone can benefit including the country. Yes, there will be some who don't deserve it who week be at free, but hey look at Lincoln's pardon of the Southern soldiers. Sometimes benevolence is better than retribution (and that comes from an atheist like me!)
Of course my real intent is to try to avoid collateral attacks on such a move. I could see a selective pardon being scrutinized by the courts and it wouldn't be simple to implement. People might get missed or overlooked. It would be horrible to exonerate for instance Senator Schumer but then have Trump go after his aides because "hey, we forgot to include them, ".
I know it sounds outrageous but I do ask that you all remember what Lincoln did at the end of the Civil War to try to bring back some level of national unity.
"With malice towards none, with charity for all. "
Words to remember when you think about this idea.
Trump will find another Bill Barr to do his bidding and worse.
Trump pardoned 237 criminals on his last day in office.
Biden should even pardon himself and his entire family. I don't give a shit if it is elitist or not. And the non-elitists aren't paying attention anyway, otherwise Trump wouldn't have won.
But doesn't a conviction make someone eligible for a Presidential Pardon? Liz Cheney, Adam Kitzenger, and all Americans have not been convicted of anything!
There is such a thing as a preemptive pardon. Nixon got one, for example. Bush Sr. preemptively pardoned several Cabinet secretaries for Iran Contra.
Yup preemptive pardons have absolutely been held legal. And mass pardons have as well (Carter pardoned 70,000 alleged draft dodgers after the Vietnam War ) this would just combine two precedents into one.
The only thing that is barred by a Supreme Court decision is a "prospective" pardon. You can't pardon someone for future acts, only past ones. Which is why a pardon like this can't protect illegal immigrants as they will still be in violation of the immigration laws on Jan 21st after Trump is in office.
Jon, that makes me wonder if Biden could pardon all of the DACAs for instance. Of course there are likely to be criminals among them, but maybe exempt those currently under indictment or recently convicted.
Gary, once again I state that the proper course of action, the true STATESMAN thing to do is to preemptively pardon ALL Americans as we have all played a role in this drama regardless of our impact. A blanket pardon of all US citizens for any and all crimes which may have been committed prior to Jan 20, 2025 (which must be issued on that date not before as prospective future pardons have always been ruled illegal) would immediately put an end to any serious attempts by Trump at targeted recriminations including investigation, arrest and trial of his "enemies".
It may seem like overkill but it avoids any sense of self dealing by Biden which is how I view his specific pardon of Hunter. The AFSFA pardon idea ("A Fresh Start For America") would be a true statesmanlike act by Biden and would blunt any attempt by Trump to use his autocracy in a legal way to bring down those he hates.
Will it eliminate the possibility of Trump still going after people? Probably not and we'd see appeals galore by the likes of Pam Bondi and Kash Patel as they stumble around trying to figure out what to do next, but it would definitely throw a monkey wrench into the works and the results might even be great for the country.
So, just empty out the prisons. What the hell?
It's really not a bad as it sounds. There are about 150,000 federal prisoners. Most are there for drug crimes or white collar crimes (tax evasion, fraud etc, stuff like Trump should be in there for). Federal prisons do hold some serious violent felons but I believe it is less than 10,000. In a country of 330 million its a drop in the proverbial bucket. Most violent felons (many hundreds of thousands) are imprisoned in state prisons and would not be subject to this massive pardon (or amnesty if that word works better).
Trying to be selective is risky as people might be overlooked and Trump will be furious if this happens. He will go after anyone he can.
A countrywide blanket pardon doesn't leave him much if any room to exact a serious toll.
Tell that to the victims and families of those "just" 10,000 violent criminals when they kill again.
When you think about it, Trump is totally opposed to prosecuting rape which is a crime of violence not passion. But, it's mostly prosecuted by the state courts, or rather it isn't prosecuted since there's less than a 5% chance of someone that actually impregnates someone being convicted of rape in TX and other forced birth states.
Maybe the Biden administration is working on this already.
This would only be for Federally indicted criminal crimes? Defamation should be off the table for a pardon and corporate crimes should be as well.
But overall, I like the concept.
Yes only federal crimes. State crimes are not subject to federal pardons. Nor are civil actions so defamation suits can still be filed ( like the judgment against guiliani in Georgia). Corporate crimes are not pardonable with respect to the corporation but any employee or officer who might be charged is pardoned under a blanket pardon.
That makes sense. It might start a civil war as pardonees start enduring "people's justice." If it does, such disorder is coming in any case.
The Hunter Biden pardon is permissible, perhaps even praiseworthy on moral grounds. The problematic behavior was committed by one clamped in the deadly vise of addiction. Anyone so perfect as to not have suffered from that or some equivalent trap should be congratulated and asked to check their sanctimony at the door. Furthermore, Hunter Biden, to the best of my knowledge, is not a violent criminal nor a traitor. If a “life virtuously lived” test was given to him and Trump’s Cabinet selections, there are very few of those who would not have to cede a position closer to the front to Biden.
As for group pardons, pre-emptive pardons, self-pardons account me out. The concept is patently ludicrous - nobody could do it fairly and the Democrats would be stained hugely for generations to come. Let Trump be Trump - the more he acts in delivering misery to others, the more misery he will endure. Let it come without trying to put up boulders to block it - Trump’s greatest moment of triumph is going to lead to his disgrace and ruin.
I hope you are right but I doubt it. That's why I believe a Fresh Start pardon for ALL would be in the interests of justice just as Lincoln planned to give pardons to almost everyone in the south after the Civil War before his assassination.
Agreed!!
Any pushback from Trump is hollow and hypocritical since a razor-thin majority of Americans pardoned him!
It was not a razor thin majority, it was a thin plurality. More people of voting age did not vote than voted for trump or VP Harris. The whole premise that trump has a mandate is misguided at best. trump has not been pardoned, just made illegible for prosecution. Maybe trump's next round of criminality will stimulate a response from Republicans who might, somewhere, have a shred of honesty left.
Talk about razer thin, Wayne, I've mentioned this b4 but the update as of this am w 1% of the ballots still being counted is: the Harris DJT vote totals today on NYT are
49.9% Trump; 50.1% not Trump
48.3% Harris
1.6% Other;
Less than half of voters voted for Trump, so how is that a "mandate" to wreck the republic?!
See: Presidential Election Results: Trump Wins https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2024/11/05/us/elections/results-president.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
Trump won the presidency not by the people voting for him but by others failing to show up for Vice President Harris and Governor Gipper.
It doesn't matter how you lose if you lose.
Sadly, with the results being what they are, I believe it will be even harder to encourage people to vote moving forward. Great efforts were made to engage people who hadn't voted before for this election, beyond what I've seen in my voting years, and the idea that "it won't matter anyway" was given more weight in light of being told on repeat about said (false) "mandate".
Sadly, 1/3 to 1/2 of the electorate don't vote, been that way since before i was a kid in the 50s. ALL Presidents have been elected by pluralities. Australia it's a legal requirement to vote, though they push hot dogs at the voting booths, not punitive measures.
Wayne, that train left the station years ago.
Sorry, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that one, Wayne.
It will if trump's policies start hitting their pocketbooks, as it will with tariffs, job loss and economic downturn. I would not be surprised if trump and company cause a depression. After all, they do not care about the folks who vote for them.
They cheated
They ALWAYS cheat.
If any addict, in my position of being fortunate enough to fall down completely after only a few years, states that (s)he was never like Mr Biden, please dismiss that trite tripe roundly, s.v.p. 🙏 In my case, had I abused substances for thirty or forty years, you can bet I would have done some really nasty things. 😯
Great insight there, Michael! Thank you. 🤝
He had better not get a speeding ticket after Jan 20. Joe is right, they will never stop…
Nahh. I suspect the smug bastards will congratulate themselves on a job well done in smearing a fine man and effective President through excoriating his son publicly. 🤬
They will indeed
If I were Hunter Biden I would leave the Country. Heck if I were a whole lot of people such as the Obamas I would leave for awhile.
No one will be safe. As many in Germany found out when they thought it was just Jews in peril
I agree. Meanwhile it appears that the Biden Administration is acting like business as usual. I can't believe President Biden headed out to Africa. We are living in the middle of a successful coup and Hakeem Jeffries is still acting mellow, the Democratic leadership is MIA and people are complaining about Biden?! This whole scene is surreal.
I’m just dumbfounded, that everybody is calling it a free and fair election and are reluctant to object. I certainly think they cheated
In more ways than any suspect. It has been on going and widespread. Often right under our noses. But Dems lack that ruthless gene that Repubs have in every cell. The suspicions should have been raised throughout. But they thought women would make up for the buying votes, lying, slander, and religious bullschittery.
Go to my site (free) by clicking on the word beside my name. I talk more about this topic. I am a lifelong Democrat coming from generations of Democrats. My loyalty is endless. Now. I am so disgusted by what I am seeing in the Democratic Party right now.
Yes, I too am glad for this pardon. Biden needs to step his game up and pardon others who may be in Trump's crosshairs while he still can imo.
Can you pardon someone who has not committed a crime? Liz Cheney, Adam Kizinger, Cassidy Hutchison were doing their job ~ following the law.
You absolutely CAN pardon anyone for "any and all crimes which MAY have been committed" against the United States. My wording may be SLIGHTLY off but that is roughly the wording used in Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon, after Watergate. Nixon hadn't been charged with any crimes at that point (impeachment was on the table) but Ford feared that prosecutors might try to do so (how quaint in retrospect, that Ford didn't think to just fire the prosecutors, right?) and he felt that the country had been through enough (can you imagine what he would have thought today?!)
His pardon was a political stroke of genius although it ultimately failed in the election of 76 which Jimmy Carter won at least partially because of outrage against the pardon of Nixon.
But that "blanket" pardon was upheld and Nixon skated.
Carter then went on to issue the OTHER pardon that would be used here by Biden, the blanket pardon of all people who resisted the draft during the Vietnam War. No specific people were named in that pardon but it was clear from court decisions that it applied to anyone who was charged with violating the draft laws during the war.
So it is clear that you can issue a wide ranging pardon to an individual like Nixon without actually naming what you are pardoning him for, and you can issue a wide ranging pardon of a group of people without naming them. So there is nothing to suggest that combining both ideas into an single pardon would be any less appropriate. The Constitution only says that the President has this relatively wide power and provides minimal restrictions.
I am very confident that AFSFA (A Fresh Start For America) pardons would be totally legal.
I remember Ford's pardon of Nixon.... I almost threw my shoe at the television. However, they had evidence that Nixon broke the law. Liz, Adam, and Cassidy didn't break any laws.
And the point is that if they DIDN'T break any law, they shouldn't have to deal with defending themselves from false charges.
But that's irrelevant. The pardon "trumps" (pardon that word lol) any other potential legal action. But only for past acts. Pardons for future events are barred.
Heather Coon, when you look at the charges and prior prosecutions using that law, they have only been advanced when the addict let Ed about their addiction in order to obtain a firearm to use in the commission of another felony.
I am confused. “Heather Coon” and “when the addict let Ed” …? I suspect an autocorrect issue but still am confused.
Replace “let ed” with lied.
Where do you get that the gun was bought to use in the commission of another felony?
Start with the election. Russian interference! Recounts where appropriate can be finished in a matter of days.
Old story, Daniel. It's time to move on. Trump was elected like it or not. Recounts won't change that. Even if Russian interference played a part, there is no way to prove in court which votes were legal and which were "influenced". And keep in mind he won ALL seven swing states he lost in 2020, and it is really hard to imagine a WIDE spread conspiracy that would have affected vote counts in ALL of those states given that each had such a different way of counting votes. I could see the argument if we were down to just one state affecting the election (like Florida in 2000 Bush v Gore) but all seven states in question went for Trump.
Gotta agree with Jon here. And shame on us as a nation for having done so.
Never up, never in. Don't friggin have to....expert testimony.
Wrong. Donald was not elected . Biden win by popular vote and the electoral college is a scam.
Lol well that's good for refusal to acknowledge either history or the actual writing of our Constitution. Whether you like it or not the electoral college is written into the constitution as the ONLY way to elect a president and VP. There is NO right to or mention of a popular vote for those two offices in our Constitution.
There is by contrast quite specificity a mention of popular voting for Senators in amendment 20.
For President and VP, each state is given the right to decide how to select their electors for President and all states have chosen a popular vote but that is not required.
So while you may think of it as a scam, it is definitely the only Constitutional way to elect the top two leaders of our country. Your opinion, while highly interesting, had no bearing on the legality or correctness of how it is done and how it has been done for almost 240 years.
Before making comments like that, you might want to study some history as it was taught in high school.
Beyond sad that Biden should even have to resort to this.
Yes but the heroes of history are those ready to seize the day when the opportunity presents itself. Biden has that chance right now!
Nice to hear from the great northern voice, Frank. 🤝 What is unpardonable to me is the utter lack of charity displayed by the whining weenies on the House Oversight and 'Weaponization' Committees. 🤢
“Lack of charity” defines them as much as “cruelty is the point.”
Agreed. "What about Hunter's computer?" What about it? He was not an elected official and what they found on it had nothing to do with anything of significance. Ridiculous waist of time.
The pardon won't stop Trumplon. Or should it be Trusk? A kangaroo court won't let innocence stop them from doing their best to bring down people they view as enemies - Hunter, Alexander Vindman, Liz Cheney. I'm sure they have a long list. All the more reason to resist. All the more reason not to obey in advance. It makes me wonder whether Jack Smith was obeying in advance to withdraw the charges against Trump in the two most important cases of J6 and the stolen documents. Or maybe it was a strategic move and the charges can be relaid later on. Sure hope so.
Now i'm losing touch with reality and I'm running out of dough.
It's such a fine line I hate to see it go.
Jackson. Browne
I am in total agreement with the pardon, Heather. What would Trump have done under a similar circumstance? What would any father have done under a similar circumstance?
My current struggle is this: How can I befriend fascist family members, cousins, friends, acquaintances? Millions have died fighting in opposition to what they promote, either knowingly or stupidly.
Heather Coon: Blessings to the Bidens. Enough is enough ❤️🕊️
Yes, wealthy elites shouldn’t have to pay millions in taxes even though they come after us for a couple hundred if we file improperly. And who shouldn’t be allowed to hire illegal prostitutes and fly them across country for sex filled crack parties? We need more people like Hunter tossing guns into dumpsters near schools and getting diamonds from the Chinese for selling access to daddy and American secrets. Yay Hunter, keep up the good work, 10 years free and clear to behave how ever you like.
I could be wrong, but I think if Kamala Harris had been elected, Biden would not have pardoned his son - he was supportive of the rule of law. But after he saw who might be running the DOJ and the FBI next year, I think he questioned Hunter's safety in a prison setting. Without any guardrails or scruples in the power system, why would I risk NOT pardoning my son?
Entirely correct. What changed is the vengeful incoming administration who would have persecuted (!) Hunter for sport.
Junior, that's what they been doing from day one. Everything indicates situation would be much worse without any restrain.
Bingo.
You have hit the bull's eye with your insights, sunbirdie.
Any MAGA cult politician would have pardoned their family members simply because they could. They do not care about right or wrong, just power.
Totally agree. MAGA has declared war on us. We will need to do whatever it takes to survive. Trump is about to make the "Godfather" look like Santa Claus.
Honestly, I think Trump must be watching the Sopranos in preparation for the gang war he is about to wage. Come to think of it, I would have preferred Tony over Donald. He had a better wife and family.
The only way to prevent disaster, is to counter it up front. Do unto them, what we know damn well they are intending for the rest of us. Fools play nice when confronted with what we are seeing. Our country has stood up for democracy across the world, yet we are not willing to do it for ourselves? The Greatest Generation must be rolling over in their graves.
I agree war has been declared on us, but MAGA is just a front. The ones that are more dangerous are Putin, Elon, Traitor, those who created Project 2025, and The Supreme Farce (at least until Traitor makes them irrelevant, which they are too arrogant to think will occur).
My thoughts exactly. He had to, the writing is not only on the wall, it has painted us all.
Yeah what like he thought? Maybe Trump would leave Merrick Garland as DOJ director? C’mon.
Here. Have a dose of geopolitical reality. You are either a propaganda agent or a goddam fool:
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/magazine/nuclear-strategy-proud-prophet.html
For those of you that utilize the New York Times or as many Americans call them now the new York slime who is so left leaning that they’ve lost readership just like the post that has lost $77 million this past year.
Try spreading your reading ship around find a conservative website maybe Newsmax or somewhere else and balance what you read from the times with that I will now read your link
A very interesting meandering article essentially going nowhere.
A name I didn’t think would appear was Bob Woodward anybody taking Bob Woodward’s advice is a lost cause.
Non-proliferation will never happen. countries like Iran, and others will attempt to get the bomb. Hopefully they will be stopped. So far the balance of power has been a deterrent
You are a gas lighter, and supporter of authoritarianism, plain and simple.
Here is what we know about the incoming president:
The Hollywood access tape caught him live boasting about sexually abusing and assaulting women. The E. Jean Carrol verdict found him guilty of abuse and the judge called it rape. He was found guilty of paying off a porn star to interfere with the 2016 election. He invited Russia to interfere in the same election. That same year he verbally abused and physically mocked a handicapped journalist, while he incited to violence against the press and hecklers at his rallies as well. He joked about “second amendment people” taking care of Hilary Clinton. He has cheated vendors who provided services to him in his building and casino projects. He indulged in both-siderism at a Nazi rally in Charlottesville where a protestor was killed when a car ploughed into a crowd of counter-protestors. He sided with Putin over our own intelligence services. He malignantly threw paper towels deriding hurricane victims in Puerto Rico. He withheld funds from states that didn’t support him during natural disasters. He shoved aside physically the leader of Montenegro for a photo-op at a G-20 summit. He created an atmosphere such that mass shooters at a synagogue in Pittsburgh and El Paso credit him with their inspiration for the murders they committed. He presided over a pandemic in which his son-in-law advised him to do nothing since it would hit states worse that didn’t vote for him. He pursued a cruel policy of family separation at the border while wasting billions on a useless wall project on the border as well. He furthered wealth inequality by a huge transfer of wealth from the lower and middle class to the uber-wealthy. He took a meeting with the dictator of North Korea, one of the most brutal regimes on Earth. He presided over the illegal assassination of an Iranian general and exited a nuclear deal with Iran that helped prevent further nuclear proliferation. He negotiated the deal with the Taliban that resulted in a catastrophe for both the US and Afghanistan. He misrepresented the direction of a hurricane and hurricane preparation for the people of the Gulf. He pulled out of the Paris climate deal, our best chance to avoid the worst results of climate change. He has encouraged the destruction of Gaza encouraging the Israelis to “finish the job”. He strong-armed a US ally, Ukraine, to get dope on his political opponents or face withdrawal of US support against a dangerous US adversary. He incited violence against the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, resulting in the attempted murder of her husband in their own home with a hammer. He illegally and violently dispersed legal protestors in Washington DC. He profited illegally from his office, corruptly strong-arming various branches of the government and foreign governments to use his properties for which his company received the earnings. He refused to allow any officials save a US interpreter be present at meetings with himself and Putin and refused to allow the interpreter to divulge the nature of his discussions. He repeatedly lied about the results of the 2020 election. He sought to overturn that election by inciting a mob to storm the Capitol, during which he did nothing to stop it. He wanted to but was prevented from leading said mob. He incited the mob to attempt to lynch Mike Pence and Nancy Pelosi. He has thrown a match on the militia movement in this country which has sought to disrupt legislative sessions in a number of states, intimidate peaceful protestors, and kidnap the governor of Michigan. He refused to hand over classified documents he took from the White House upon leaving – after which dozens of human assets were liquidated in China alone. He repeatedly lied about stripping women of their right to access to health care and women have died of it or been forced to give birth to their rapists children now. During this past campaign he rambled about Hannibal Lector, obsessed about crowd size, fellated a microphone, used foul language repeatedly, and held a Nazi style rally reminiscent of the 1930s in Madison Square Garden. He has refused to release health records and tax returns. He lied so many times about so many things one does not know where to start. He faced 91 felony counts in 4 districts and was able to escape them only by virtue of his wealth and position. He has faced the opposition of the military, legal, and scientific community. He has repeatedly threatened the media. He has promised to be dictator. He has called our soldiers and veterans and war dead and POWs suckers and losers. He wants to install a series of concentration camps for mass deportation. He has put in place a Supreme Court that has resulted in the imposition of an ideology that has seen women bleed out in parking lots to their deaths. As I write, he is choosing a cabinet full of corrupt degenerates that would be the envy of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Is there more? Absolutely - remember with whom and what we are dealing. Bannon put it out there for all to see and Hannah Arendt told us decades ago how it works: Flood the zone with s••t and gaslight until your opposition is exhausted, indifferent, numb, or questioning their own sanity. He is this bad, this depraved, this unqualified. And the people who voted for him – people like you - have a choice. Either you are profoundly stupid, profoundly cruel, or morally bankrupt. That or a combination of all three, and none are good.
So yes, you are that bad. But you are right when you boast it is a historic win, just not in the way you – now little more than part of a mob of braying jackals whose chief is a thuggish simian - would like to think.
And remember what support of him is about: stripping and gutting a much-needed social safety net. Not feeding hungry children. Not paying the working poor a living wage. Breaking our alliances. An economic revanchism that could cripple our economy. Hatred of people of color, Jews, and women. The further degradation of an already degraded climate and planetary environment. Coddling dictators. Strangling democracy. Imposing religion. Limiting the rights of others. Shoveling the resources of the lower and middle classes to billionaires. They want to strip everyone of everything – this is the hill you – and this administration, its supporters, the guy next door with the MAGA hat because he can’t wear a white hood - wish to die on, and the fact that a depraved, mentally ill, morally degenerate, intellectually bereft old man is leading the way means nothing to you. You have no honor, zero compassion, and people with a sense of history like Heather Cox Richardson are objects of derision to you.
We on the other hand? We want to ensure the rights of everyone. We want a robust economy and free market but one that is regulated to stop vulture capitalism from degrading further our planet or taking advantage of people. We want access to health care and education for all. We want living wages and protection of workers’ rights. We want more equitable wealth distribution because letting megalomaniacs accrue billions is dangerous for democracy and the planet. We want and need our children taken care of, well fed, living in healthy families that can spend time together without working two or three jobs around the clock. In short, we want to ensure that the blessings of economic prosperity, democracy, and human dignity are shared by everyone, not to make them happy, but to give them the choice and freedom to pursue it. We respect the work of everyone from the waitress to the researcher, from the teacher to the construction worker, from the doctor and lawyer to the mothers whose labor is unpaid and unappreciated. You do not, despite your protests and concern trolling. Your side is simply selfish, mean, petty, and stupid. You run on fear, not hope, selfishness not generosity, ignorance not wisdom, cruelty not compassion, exclusion not inclusion, violence not peace.
Rapprochement? Hell no. Because as Paul asked nearly two thousand years ago, “What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?”
By the way, I could refute almost every ridiculous myopic charges that you would like to throw at Trump up above, but I’d be wasting my time. Much of what you say is untrue and the other is meaningless as I said. You don’t even understand detente. Sad. Like I said if you continue to hate, it’s gonna affect your health long-term. I would suggest changing the channel and watching an alternative point of view and see what other American see where you have no idea.
I’m done dealing with you not because I don’t have an answer to every single solitary misguided comment above but because nothing I will say can open your mind to other possibilities and other realities. I wish you luck in the future. And happiness and success in America.
And in three words, I can describe you. And I feel badly. You are lost.
Sunbirdie93@gmail.com,
Once Trump is installed....no matter his mental failings....he will NOT leave. There are worse waiting in the wings.
...and one has to wonder if this iteration of SCOTUS will say it's OK for him to stay in office indefinitely even if he has dementia. (And we KNOW he'll never allow any diagnosis of this to be voiced.
I think Kamala would have pardoned him
Yep: totes true.
As many have stated there should be real fear that Trump is going to "weaponize" the government against many of its citizens. This is why I am not thrilled about the Hunter Biden pardon which is selective and personal but instead advocate for a "global" pardon of all US citizens regardless of political party or imagined past actions against the US.
A Fresh Start For America.
Forgive all not only Democrats but MAGAts as well. Hunter Biden and Roger Stone alike. A Fresh Start For all.
Yes, the long game of the American fascism/authoritarianism movement is winning. The wreckage is going to be quite hard to rebuild, much less witness happening. In my little world of primary care and health I aim to follow organizations like American Academy of Family Physicians, evidence-based authorities like Cochrane Database and US Preventive Services Task Force, and physician/scientist thought leaders behind rebel lines on Bluesky and Substack.
I think we need to defend our own backyards, areas of expertise, and communities - as taking on any of this big picture stuff is too big for the individual.
I won’t bend truth to power when I counsel patients about vaccines, public health tools, ongoing pandemics and new ones to come. I’ll keep posting here, though I could garner lots more attention playing the angry physician contrarian, cozy with anti-vax and pandemic revisionism.
Staying strong individually is a precondition to staying strong collectively.
Thank you.
Hope you continue to let us know some of the challenges being thrown at your profession and your practices to engage & encourage all to build healthier lifestyles as the tensions & acrimony of the coming era appear and cross over the threshold of our democratic bastions of personal safety and healing. Be well.
Thank you, Dr. McCormick.
I urge you to keep using that term fascism, etc.. It’s one of the main reasons that Trump won because of this rhetoric of isms and ists and references to folks like Hitler
Anyone who makes that reference is totally ignorant of history.
No, it’s appropriate to call something what it is, by definition. HCR used educational information from the early 20th Century that was then, and is now, intended to raise awareness of this threat.
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/october-26-2024?r=536ok&utm_medium=ios
What threat? You mean like America first?
While I was supportive when Harris responded to Anderson Cooper that she believed Trump was a fascist, I think she might have been more successful if she had broken it down. But let's be clear, even his first wife, Ivana, said he kept a copy of Mein Kompf in the bedroom. Not someone I'd want to go to bed with much less call my president.
Your ignorance of history is showing if you think “America First” isn’t fascistic.
Speaking of being ignorant of history…
Well, perhaps you’d like to accompany me to Auschwitz let’s lie down in the ovens and see all the skeletons of the dead and the hundreds of thousands of pairs of eyeglasses and boots worn by the prisoners and then related to anybody alive today. Yikes. That’s history.
It didn’t start in the ovens, Rick. It started with “Germany for pure Germans,” and “Jews were poisoning the blood of the country” (Sound familiar?) Even the phrase “America First” was lifted off of 20th Century pro-fascists.
And this is how naïve your side is everybody on the right welcomes immigration. As I said earlier, my wife and her family and other family members had to wait six or seven years to be able to come into this country and still have to wait for their citizenship. My wife was in a group when she went for her citizenship induction 104 languages were spoken.
All that is fine you’re so mixed up. It has to be legal immigration. That’s it plain and simple. Get it through your head. If you’re trying to compare this country and Trump with Germany, you’ve got a disease in your head and the story
You, sir, are clearly ignorant of history.
Well, as I said, you keep using it you’ll get what you deserve Life is a do it to yourself proposition.
The 2026 Senate map has many prominent Republicans up for reelection, that is unless they retire (ha ha). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_United_States_Senate_elections
Of course, if things go too far sideways, there may not be any 2026 elections, but there is only so much Republicans including Trump can do and get away with it at the polls in each state.
We need to focus on getting the Federal minimum wage passed and point out that Trump, the Republicans and the oligarchs are all keeping our wages down. If you raise the wages of service workers to $15/hour minimum and force the larger companies to provide health care benefits, it raises the wage bar for everyone.
By the way, while it’s great that service workers make more money when prices are low like they were under Trump’s administration businesses could’ve afforded to pay higher wages
If you wanna know about minimum wage, take a look at California businesses that used to earn say 10 to 15% to the bottom line or now earning 4% to the bottom line and many have gone out of business large national chain because of the cost of doing business mainly because of labor. You obviously don’t know any business owners in California, especially in the food industry.
So their workers should be paid less than living wages, right Rick?
What is a living wage and why do people make an only living wage?
I owned 40 restaurants at one time and when I looked at the stats I believe at that time it was 75 to 80% of people earning a living wage it was their first job and the majority of them were under 21. Everybody’s gotta start somewhere which as I’m sure the same way you did and most of us did.
One of my board members owned several restaurants and one of his big expenses was employee theft. When you own several restaurants or a retail business that's what happens that's what happens, especially when you are too cheap to pay your employees.
I started up a consulting business and built it from 2 employees to 150 consultants working for companies in 37 states and 4 foreign countries. In the first 5 years our turnover rate was 0%. In our 6th year, two people left the company. Turnover is a profit killer especially in tech.
The year we sold the company our lowest paid employee was paid $15 an hour plus benefits including 4 weeks paid vacation and that was in 1999.
It was your choice to own multiple restaurants. If you're not willing to pay your employees, then you're part of the problem. I don't care what you're bottom line is.
When you’re going to write a number of restaurants, whether it’s two or 50 you’re going to have theft, but that’s why you have specific controls and paperwork that can pinpoint the theft if you were at all a organized owner. You may even have a department that owns in on that, but when you have detailed paperwork that you analyze on a timely basis and aren’t an absentee owner, you minimize the theft. You can also do that by offering other incentives, such as healthcare or such as retirement plans. I happen to have retirement plans for my entire company and yet even in the fast food industry where that’s unheard of my turnover was like you say extremely minimal. I had people working for me in a fast food restaurant for 15 years. One of my managers worked for me for nine years and left with $40,000 in retirement money. Unheard of in the industry my restaurants were all in California, which was paying twice the national minimum wage. 12 years after retirement I still have employees calling me and thanking me for the time they spent.
Sorry when you’re going to run not right a number of restaurants I voice text everything so please excuse the typos, etc.
Well, the restaurant business is a little bit more delicate when it comes to wages because the wages immediately affect Menu pricing and if your prices get too high sales start to wane and that’s why you’re seeing Burger King and McDonald’s starting to fight a five dollar war they haven’t had in 10 years or more. In California a friend of mine just paid $7.59 for an egg McMuffin. That’s what happens when you have $20 an hour minimum wage.
Well said, Dr MacCormick.
I am with you.
I too, live in the healthcare world as a labor nurse and clinical instructor and it is dispiriting to say the least to see what is going on around us. Trying to guide and cultivate the next generation of nurses with evidenced-based medicine, and right the wrongs that patients and their families find on social media is an uphill task. But they do see us as trusted professionals and I will use that platform every chance I get to counter the lies and distortion. Thanks for posting and it is good to know that I am not alone!
Thank you for your Excellent guidance as we clearly stumble into a new unknown, yet possibly too well understood by those of us older and weary of the societal chains restraining our youthful months, years of ‘freedoms’ with No Choice.
I honor your clear-thinking and hopeful promise of following your professional path. We are in this together! And every way we can offer honesty and kindness to one another, the more strength we will have to share in every challenge to our professional lives.
Sleep time here ~ For refreshing dreams and peaceful awakening as the cold of December has dropped out of the chill of the clouds at the end of this day. House is getting very cold. Hope you are somewhere asleep & warm. Be well. Be good to Yourself !!
Taking on any of this big picture stuff is too big for the individual - so true, it’s beyond overwhelming. Defend our own backyards, stand tall in our world…
Well said!
Thank you, Doc, for your thoughtful approach. I am especially thankful for your closing sentence and intend to share it as widely as possible. You are a very wise man, indeed!
Thank you. I think your wanting to "defend our own backyards" is very valuable and what we should all be doing.
Thank you for your clear-headedness. I feel confident about my own MDs, but I'm sure others will bend.
Dr. McCormick, thank you! It’s going to be some tough years ahead of us but we have to all stay strong & help where we can.
"Staying strong individually is a precondition to staying strong collectively." (Thank you for that!)
Agree. I'm taking the same approach, do what I can in my universe.
I'm listening to David Pepper's "Trump Project 2025: Up Close and Personal" podcast and using these stories to develop my own survival strategy for what I hope is only 4 years. 🙏
Split screen?
Vindman: served 22 years defending the Constitution.
Musk: tweets conspiracy theories from his billionaire bunker.
Alexander Vindman is Demonstrating some of the Best Qualities of the American Military... Integrity, and Courage... If DJT, aka Cadet 'Bone Spurs', does indeed attempt to become an Orange Musolini, and tries to Corrupt OUR MILITARY... True Patriots Like Alexander Vindman Will Resist, And Help Save Our Freedoms...
If we want the Cavalry to arrive we'd best join it ahead of time.
That's a powerful prompt for me. Enigmatic. Those unknown unknowns are challenging my adaptability. Useful guidance though.
One would hope. But he’s trying to replace all the principled military with his own stooges and the low-integrity ones like the war criminal Gallagher whom Trump’s DOF nominee helped pardon. If those at the top of the chain of command flaunt the traditional oaths and commitments, the lesser ranked military will find it hard not to comply. And there will be no such thing as whistleblower immunity.
Watching the news from other countries I see large numbers of military/police personnel in riot gear chasing and beating protesters and anyone near them. Sometimes live fire into the crowds. And I think, would American rank and file suit up and do the same to American citizens? Not just a few fanatics among the military but widespread obedience to orders to suppress protest with extreme prejudice.
I suspect we shall see the answer next year. Unless the D’s wake up and decide to defend freedom by arresting those who have subverted the miseducated masses with lies, distortions and propaganda. Not impressed so far.
Will there be any officers left with the competency let alone a desire to hold true to the Constitution and her people? Many of the white males enlisted seem to come from a background contrary.
Vindman! What a man! My blood runs cold.
I wonder if they are taking aim at Alexander Vindman because his brother, Eugene, won his race in Virginia against a Republican. Possibly Musk is playing the usual bully card of intimidation and instilling fear to use as leverage to silence an opponent, Eugene in this case.
Yes, maybe. But this is an outright threat against his life. Out with FBI, in with Gestapo.
Wait a few months -- there will be trouble in the White House. Some reports are emerging that more than a few voters who supported Trump thought they were voting for President Harris's positions. If that be true, there is hope for 2026, after all.
No, because the amount of intimidation, propaganda and dark money will be in the hands of the dictator. No checks and balances and a farce of a midterm or 2028 election. President Biden needs to take decisive measures to expose and declare enemies from within, now, with what powers he has.
I don't think we can count on a midterm election.
So true
I agree.
I am referring to big egoes rubbing up against each other.
The problem with billionaires is they think their infallible and they logic of thinking is to governing this country from a business perspective to serve their wealth. But it takes more then that. Not a single one has experience in these high rank positions of leadership. It's appalling and frightening. This country is the largest super power in the world. When Trump becomes president in 2025 , all it would take is one massive screw up by him and his cabinet to wake the American people who voted for him to wake up and rebel along with us. We need the cooperation of Democrats and moderate Republicans from congress and the military who swore an oath to the constitution against our adversaries. Not to get involved politically. I hope their will be a silver lining before it's too late.
Been waiting for that silver lining since 2000, it ain’t coming…
Nothing is impossible. Don't ever give up.
Congratulations to President Biden for pardoning his son! Let the Republicans stamp their feet and scream till they turn blue in the face! Too bad. Trump is making a mockery of the presidency and is the very last person to call foul! I'm just grateful Hunter Biden will be safe to go on with his life and I wish him and his family well.
I salute your compassion, Mina.
Who among us is really safe to go on with their life?
Nobody, regardless of who one voted for.
I fear he will be stalked, has a scarlet letter on his head, as do Pelosi, and others
Sadly I disagree. This will absolutely be thrown in Biden's face and it deserves to be as it is selective family/ friend pardon regardless of whether HB deserves it or not (and personally I don't care). What Biden should have done (and still can do) is issue a wide reaching blanket pardon of all Americans for all crimes real or not which may have been taken against the US prior to Jan 19 2025.
I call it "A Fresh Start For America". It wipes the slate clean for everyone (like a brand new day) Democrats, Republicans, MAGAts and all. It would have been (and can be) non partisan, giving everyone a "fresh start".
It also incidentally leaves the Trump administration with little to do to wreak havoc on their "enemies".
Well said.
You forgot to give him the congratulations for lying. The latest Moniker for Legacy media.
I agree we should spend on problems at home. But here are a few things of the 100s of things Trump already did. Saying it was fine for him to grab women by the p---y because if you were famous, "they let you do it." Crowing over credit for getting rid of reproductive freedom, so we can read about more young women bleeding to death with miscarriages in parking lots outside hospitals every month because doctors are afraid to treat them for fear of decades-long sentences. His inaction on Covid that cost hundreds of thousands of lives, which readers here have already referred you to. The sadistic separation of children from parents entering the United States, some of whose children were "lost" in the system and never reappeared. The list could go on for pages.
It was Obama that lost the first children and put them in cages not Trump.
But the media use the photos from my administration to try to place the blame on Trump when it was not him check it out
The Buy administration has lost 350,000 illegal children who invented this country they don’t know where they are
Now we’ll talk about Covid and his inaction on Covid so please tell us in your estimable vast medical knowledge on once a century new viruses that are global in nature how would you have handled the Covid pandemic differently? I’ll wait for an answer. And by the way as many people died on Trump’s watch , it was Barack Obama, who first put children in cages first
You loved the Supreme Court when they affirmed Roe v. Wade. You then hated the Supreme Court when they overturned Roe v. Wade. Now it’s in the hands of the voters that you hate and there is a 98% chance that not much
Will change at all. So would you rather have the government make the laws or the vote voters make the laws being that we’re a democratic nation.
That same president allegedly paid Paula Jones $850,000 on a non- disclosure. Sounds familiar.? But worst of all then he had sex in the White House with an employee while president and married, and then lied about it under oath. Did he see a courtroom for that? These were very good presidents and I didn’t hear any Democrats complain when they went to the polls and voted for them anyway. Couple more responses
This will take a couple of posts so I apologize
I hate revisiting this topic but I believe one of the best presidents in history was John F. Kennedy. And you know what his history was with women. Then another president had a 10 year affair which was disclosed a couple weeks before the election and he won anyway obviously with Democratic votes.
Affairs are different from sexual assault.
And i don't reply to ad hominem attacks so don't waste your time. I am trying to talk to you instead of dismissing you as a bot. but if you want to talk like a bot, good night.
Yes, Sender is either a bot or a hopeless case. I feel sure it is best to ignore everything he writes.
He's a troll. He disappeared for a few days but he's back and dropping turds all over the comment area. Please do not respond to him.
You're the one who believes lies. Get some help.
He’s a troll
He is certainly diminishing my enjoyment of engaging with my fellow Readers.
He appears to know better, just owning the libs. Piss on such
Good for President Biden in pardoning his son. It was a compassionate response. Hunter Biden is not a danger to anyone, and has paid his back taxes, plus interest, and fines. He’s been in rehab for 5 years. Let the Biden’s get on with life, for heaven sakes.
I, for one, am very happy Biden pardoned his son. The miscarriage of Justice by the Republicans went on far too long to unreasonable conclusions. It was totally political.
A most painful realistic read tonight. God, whomever or whatever he/she may be help our country fight back against such evil in power and money. Sleepless nights are mounting.
For what it’s worth God is not the Calvary. Either we do it or it won’t get done.
Actually, God was on Calvary. God is, however, not the cavalry. 😉
I blame autofill which seems be the nemesis of many of the posters and commenters on Substack based on what I read here.
Correct and WE are all foot soldiers.
Yes, we are the guardrails of democracy. A democracy that is 250 years old, can not be dismantled so quickly. Over my dead body.
Yes. Resist we will. We are at a very dangerous crossroads. If anyone here does not know that they are not educating themselves. I prefer to continually do just that and not on social media.
Michael lived by the sword, die by the sword. Everything will be fine. Don’t be such a pessimist. Even Stephanie rule said don’t panic stop the histrionics 80% of what you think is gonna happen never does.
Or does happen. Its happened before elsewhere, and the guardrails that have prevented it from achieving supremacy in the USA are no longer in play here as of 1/20/25.
It happened in baby democracies. Not in matured democracies. Mussolini couldn't become Hitler because Italians do not obey. Period. We live in San Francisco, and Rome. I am typing this from our home in Rome. Do NOT obey. No qualifier.
Interesting reply. Why are you still keeping your foot in SF, CA. Curious question only from someone who has family ties to Italy. 🇮🇹
Because USA gave us everything we have. It is our permanent home. "You can not love your country only when you win."
Kathy, yours is not the comment I reported. I agree with you fully. I was trying to report the returned troll.
Why would you wanna shut down free speech that’s my question? I don’t really wanna be here, but there is certainly a need for opposing views. Just like in a courtroom, you have to hear both sides of the story otherwise you may come to the incorrect judgment. I actually would prefer if you didn’t respond, but if you’d like to respond and I believe there’s a reason for a response from me, I will do so.
....free speech is not the issue...your lies and deliberate provocations are the issue. That's not 'opposing views'.
Free speech means freedom to pretend lies are facts. They use it like a cudgel
If you don’t like free speech, there are many countries who don’t allow it. In fact if you didn’t like free speech, you wouldn’t be able to say what you’re saying here.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Well then please share with me what I’ve lied about. And these are not deliberate provocations if they are provoking is because they countradict what you think you know, but you don’t seem know the whole story in my opinion and the pushback here confirms that
Ok. Your patronizing statements to me that 'you loved the Supreme Court when it did x" and 'you love x when it did y." That is actually a lie because it is such nonsense. You don't know me and you cannot make any statements about what I loved or didn't love.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Well, you seem to be concerned with the right to abortion. Am I reading you wrong about that?
Well, you’re certainly not happy about this circumstances today are you? That the voters will choose. What do you imagine? Will change about women’s right to an abortion? And not to inflate the two but it’s OK to kill over 1 million fetuses in the United States but it’s not OK to kill a massive murderer ? Let’s keep them alive on the taxpayer dime. Sad
Might I suggest she/he, Kathy?:)
What I don’t understand is why liberals are so darn pessimistic, fatalistic, and negative in advance? Most of the stores are also sold out of crystal balls and Ouija boards. You should have a more positive approach look what’s happening even since he’s been elected. Or maybe your media isn’t telling you.
Mr. Sender. I respectfully submit that the real impact of what’s coming is much more than you’re anticipating. Placing unqualified people in key positions in our government is a sure sign of failing, weak leadership. It’s a short-term tactic that lacks a strong strategic foundation for long-term success. When chaos ensues, weak, unqualified leaders with no strong strategic foundation will result in disastrous outcomes. I sincerely hope you’re prepared for the coming consequences.
Thank you for that clear wisdom. Agree. Not a time to be drinking the Kool Aid.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Much of the media has already followed the ‘obey in advance’ tenet.
Bwahahahahahahahahahaha, good one! "look what’s happening even since he’s been elected"
Perhaps you’d like a chaser with that Kool-Aid?
Kathy, we are "whomever/whatever". Every one of us. Except Sender.
Ally, that is a given. We need more than that. Read about CPI on Capitol Hill. Read Project 2025. We are now living history like no other.
You go Joe! Anything else you can do to stick it to the adjudicated rapist in Chief, lier
and Russian operative? Do it! I am sick of everyone playing nice. These creeps are either
willingly destroying our democracy for financial gain or are ignorant pawns. Let the war begin!
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Agree. Poor Ivan, life in his parent’s basement can cause a lot of neurosis.
See this is why you continue to lose. Your fabricate stories you make things up that have been proven incorrect and if you keep it up, you’ll keep losing.
And I have to keep asking the question why are you so negative Trump was already president. And if not for Covid, he’d be the one leaving office today.
"And if not for Covid"...400,000 Americans would not be dead, Iranians would not be weeks away form the ability to launch nukes, NATO would not have needed rebuilding, there would have been no total surrender to the Taliban, there would have not been an insurrection in our capitol. As they say in your country Вы тролль.
I would increase that number of COVID deaths. The illness was allowed to get a foothold and mutate enough that when Biden took office the Country was already afire with it, so deaths under Biden’s watch were still a direct result of Trump’s carelessness.
Yes. It was about a million.
That is the lower bound of estimates. That number is shocking enough. The clown nearly killed himself and Chris Christie.
We should have been so lucky.
I am going to be the Contrarian here. Attacking Trump and/or defending Biden on COVID is a real waste of energy. Covid was an unexpected pandemic with no real defense available at the time. Trump made mistakes to be sure (his normal approach to anything makes that virtually assured) but I don't think ANY president would necessarily have done better. Biden walked in and took advantage of what had already been done under Dr. Fauci and when the first round of vaccinations helped millions and slowed the spread of Covid, he was heralded, but to be fair, he just got lucky. And then when Covid continued to come back over and over again (and is still coming back even now) people got bored and just turned away.
It is a sad and tragic thing that happened to all of us and I think it is b somewhat unfair b to blame it all on Trump and give Biden medals.
The reality is that it was a horrible thing we had to all go through, no one (not even the esteemed Fauci) really knew how to solve it except to try to get a vaccine out quickly which they did in record time and in the end a lot fewer people died later on, but it didn't end the crisis.
I think it is unfair to blame all the deaths on Trump (as it could just as easily have been a Democrat in charge when things went south and no one knew the best things to do) and to give Biden accolades for "solving" it which he really didn't, he was just in the right place at the right time.
That said, Biden did help reduce the fear by governing with a more steady hand whereas Trump had done little to help much.
But it still feels like an imbalance to blame all the death and destruction on Trump and give all the rewards to Biden.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
I don't think Iran is wanting to launch nukes. There are other countries far more warlike. Can you think of any?
You, Diana have a grave responsibility to say the truth and keep saying it.
Mr. Sender. There is one person involved in this discussion who is a proven liar. If we’re being honest with ourselves, we both know who that is. The long-term dishonesty of the former president is, without question, one of the primary reasons he be will viewed as the worst president in America’s history.
Well, I’m sorry you see it that way Joel the sad part is once Trump is done with this second term and things turn out totally differently than you anticipate 25 years from now he will be revered as one of the top four or five presidents in history because what he went through because of the hoaxes, the lawfare , the attempted assassinations and the success at the end.
Time will tell, but apparently the people here don’t have the patience to wait
By the way by the lied about pardoning Hunter in public
Trump is already near the absolute BOTTOM of our presidents.
Thinking he’ll get better is LAUGHABLE.
Not sure why anyone here is wasting their time for “discussion” with you….
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Likewise, VermontGirl.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
100% troll. Not a serious person. Ignore.
Had Kamala Harris been elected, I believe Joe Biden would have trusted the justice system to provide a reasonable conclusion to the prosecution of Hunter Biden. I believe Hunter was subject to extraordinary prosecution because Republicans insisted that he not be given any quarter in the charges against him, and a judge who did not like the way a plea agreement was written decreed that Hunter had to stand trial, instead of rewriting the agreement.
No father would look at the new administration about to take office and leave his son at such risk, if that father had the powerto protect that son. The Trump administration would have come down on Hunter like a ton of sh*t, if given the chance. On balance,I am totally comfortale with what Joe Biden just did.
Exactly so, Snarky.
Thank God Biden pardoned his son. Now on to those Trump wants to enact retribution on...
It’s not retribution if anything happens it’s called equal justice for those who lied and created hoax for the last eight years. And that’s why they’re scared because they know they did wrong like the 51 liars about the Hunter at about the Russian hoax, including Robert Mueller everything will be OK. egbok
It’s all been substantiated TROLL. The bipartisan Senate committee on the 2016 election has a nice detailing of collusion with Russia in its report. Mueller was instructed by AG Barr not to pursue the material he discovered that would lead to indictments of a sitting president because of the Justice Dept memo prohibiting such indictments. Four Grand Juries indicted the ex-Pres and one Jury from trial found him guilty. That record holds despite the ‘justice delayed justice denied’ tactic he used.
You are a troll!!! Go away!!!
Don’t you wanna hear from both sides of the story? You have the right to ignore it. You have the right to dismiss it. You have the right to trash it but if you don’t hear it, then you’re gonna believe all the propaganda from one side only. Common sense. That’s how it works in a courtroom assemble of American justice.
By the way, name-calling didn’t get you very far in this past election.
And calling me a troll doesn’t change the issues at hand.
It’s really not healthy for the psyche to be negative in advance so perhaps you should wait to see what happens in the next term and then judge
Hilarious, that strange voice in your head.
Thank you
Thank you, Dr Richardson for reporting trump's attempts to destroy America. L:et us hope there are a few Republican Senator's with sufficient courage and patriotism to stand up for America and our Constitution.
Kudos to President Biden for pardoning Hunter Biden unequivocally for crimes that deserved a slap on the wrist.
Are you kidding - they have shown us who they are over and over again. They will bend to the will to trumpy.
Hope is all we have, Fay, but realistically, there isn’t an independent thinker among them.
Biden is not the first President to pardon a family member. He is the first to pardon a family member who only needed a pardon because he was a family member.
Like Trump's pardon of Jared Kushner's father CHARLES KUSHNER who Trump II has appointed to be the Ambassador of France. French: nepotisme. Not joking.
Exactly
Brilliantly put, man.
Kevin, that is one powerful statement. Thank you.
Perfectly states, Kevin!
Stated!!!
Imagine your local mayor appointing a known pyromaniac as be the fire chief whose mission is to start fires, not to put them out, with the mayor’s political enemies being the targets.
This seems to be the equivalent of many of Trump’s appointments.
Whoa, it just takes your breath away. As for Hunter, he has a wonderful father.
Yeah, his father did a great job on Hunter. Yikes. If you were a father, would you rather say I’m proud of Trump’s children or I’m proud of Joe’s children ?
Joe’s all the way.
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
Joes all the way to what. And by the way, as I said in my post, I’m not surprised that he pardoned Hunter. I knew it all along and that’s why I bought that shirt. Get your pardon pen ready. The worst part is that Hunter disgraced the Biden family. That’s very sad.
The Trump family is robbing the government blind and is beyond disgrace . Hunter has a health problem and dealt with it. Get real
He's not real.
The good thing about trolls posting here is that they must pay Heather to get access, so the trolls are helping fund her work.
он тролль
(I wrote in his native language so he can understand.)
Sorry, I misread your earlier post. I thought you were referring Ring to Trump’s potential health problem.
You obviously also missed Joe Biden on the Senate floor holding up a quarter saying if anyone possesses this much crack cocaine they go to prison for five years no judge no parole. Ooops.
And you don’t call in an illness when he parades around in a diaper with a crack pipe in his mouth sleeping with women after woman after woman after woman and raise his money dubiously from a foreign government/entity
PLEASE don't respond to the troll. He's the modern day version of the land-line-heavy-breather. He NEVER gets positive responses, and yet he posts way more comments than ANYONE else. He thrives on the negative.
I am very real and he’s not even in office yet. How is he robbing the government? Yikes. Here’s a good axiom for you janice
You don’t need to be aware or fear the billionaire entering politics like you weren’t in fear of Bloomberg for example what you should fear is the average citizen entering politics and earning a government salary becoming a multimillionaire
And it’s pretty ripe for you to talk about Donald’s potential or possible health issues when Joe Biden should’ve never run in the first place
And they hid it from the public, which made it worse he was a semi cadaver at the Hollywood elite race $25 million for him only to kick him under the bus two weeks later.
And as long as you keep using the word, Russian with any context of Donald Trump, it’s only gonna get worse for you and your party I am an independent voter for the last 40 years one of my favorite president who I voted for twice is none other than Bill Clinton despite his wandering PP
Hundreds of psychiatrists have signed Duty to Warn's petition that Trump is exhibiting classic signs of dementia.
You can’t even copy my name right. Your understanding and competence level is out there for all to see.
Addiction is a chronic disease and should be treated as such, whether it is Hunter Biden or Don Jr.
Chronic disease does not post your actions or illegal or illicit activities online. It does not drop off your computer so that the evidence that you have is missing. It was an embarrassment to the Biden family, so please spare us the addiction as a chronic disease which we all know it is. And what was Joe Biden doing while all this was going on?
You do not seem to know addiction is a chronic disease and please spare us that "we all know that it is."
No contest. Trump’s have no integrity whatsoever and are just business and charity frauds and grifters like their padrone. And really, Don Jr using crack cocaine at a rocket launch? The thrills never end.
Well, you ought to check your own fat checkers like snopes who says it never happened with Don so whatever you go on posting nonsense Yeah, i do you believe Hunter was he wearing a diaper and illustrating how he was having sex with variety of women? With a crack pipe in his mouth.
Donald Trump went bankrupt many times as many of you have tried to point out without looking at the other people that have been bankrupt and came back Here’s a short list. Abraham Lincoln, PT, Barnum, H.J. Heinz, Henry Ford. Milton Hershey and your favorite. Walt Disney. And in the meantime.
Donald Trump and his family owned hotels and golf courses all around the world with their name on them employee 22,000 people and now have a social media website that’s worth over 10 billion. Oh and will be president of the United States twice. What a failure.
Money is not a reason someone should be president. Ditto for owning golf courses and hotels all over the world. Or stiffing contractors right and left. Or making fun on national TV of a reporter's disability. Or urging crowds to beat up protestors at a rally. Or bragging about grabbing women by the p--sy. Or being fined over and over for fraud. Or inciting a crowd to try to prevent the peaceful transfer of power after you lost the election. What a failure, indeed.
Mr. Sender. Perhaps the more salient question would be which children should be most proud of their father? Again, honesty clearly indicates the truthful answer.
Well Joe Biden was an average politician who has no substantial legislation to his credit. Yet he is becoming a multimillionaire on a government salary.
And yet he lied to the public about pardoning his son
Trump on the other hand has been elected to the presidency twice
He has a hotel chain and golf courses all over the world with 22,000 employees he also now has a social media site that’s worth over 10 billion
Now that Joe has pardoned Hunter all the way back to 2014 will never know how Joe became a multimillionaire or his brothers or his family but we do know about Perma and his father being the big guy or the 10% recipient
I hope that answers your question
“Drunk uncle “.
I believe you’re possibly speaking about the Biden clan. Again as an independent, just pulling for America. If you keep this type of rhetoric alive, Russia fascist all the isms all the ists. You will continue to lose election elections. And I think it’s good for the balance of power that each election brings change and hopefully a balance to the middle, which has been long forgotten here.
Joe Biden’s children /NEVER the are Trump children!!!
Not exactly sure what you meant by that comment. Would you care to expand on that answer?
Good on ya’ Joe. This pardon will have ZERO impact on trump’s future conduct. The hand-wringing from certain Dems is why the Dems have been outplayed. Hoping Joe issues prospective pardons to everyone on trump’s enemies (within) list, including dozens of generals.
That would be an absolutely great idea to pardon any one who might come into the cross-hairs of the Trump sycophants. That would stymy them.
We all are likely on it, but down a ways. Except trolls, of course
He doesn’t have to pardon any generals. Trump will fire the ones that didn’t do their job and they will be long forgotten.
maggot.
Junior, name calling doesn't work. Combat with words or ignore him.
Junior, you might tweak the spelling a bit.
Drop the second "g".
Change the "o" to an "a".
Some folks like to add a dash "-" between the "a" and the "t".
Wow, name-calling cool.
Mr. Sender. Unfortunately for Trump, he will be remembered infamously as the worst president in America’s history.
Can’t find your comment, but it was a short one about somebody doing their job or not doing their job. The reality is that the president is specifically called and named the commander and chief and in the military, which I don’t know if you’ve been Joel, either you follow orders or you either lose your rank get court marshalled , etc. Unless the order you’ve was against the law
Well, I replied to your comment a few minutes ago, but apparently you commented again and I can’t find that particular post but I’ll keep searching.
The ones that DID do their jobs, I’m sure you mean.