We all remember Oprah Winfrey shouting “You get a car and you get a car!” right?  Well, we need her again, except this time we need her to shout “You get a pardon and you get a pardon!”  This strategy has been suggested by some customers of the salon and a few pundits on the teevee.  I like it, especially as it would be a big Fuck You to Trump.  It goes something like this:

On January 18, 2025, Biden issues blanket federal pardons for all acts committed by the listed people between the dates of January 20, 2017 through January 20, 2025.  Those on the list will include all US officials who were ever involved in investigations or prosecutions of Trump, his family, friends, associates, and all of those who prosecuted the January 6th insurrectionists.  It would also include all federal personnel in the various departments of the government who have been involved in any program that Trump opposes.  At the top of the list would be past and present Joint Chiefs, especially Mark Milley, and the entire officer corps of all 5 branches of the military.  The pardons would also go to Biden’s family and staff, Kamala Harris, her entire family and staff, as well as all Biden Whitehouse staff.

Also on the list would be all all Democrats and the few Republicans who spoke out against Trump during that period as well as journalists who factually reported on Trump’s corruption between those dates and all of the staff of those new organizations.  Jeff Bezos would not make the list.

Then, on January 19, 2025, Biden would resign the presidency and Ketanji Brown Jackson would swear Kamala Harris in as 47th president of the US.  (Just think of all the Trump 47 merch that would be unsaleable after that!)  Kamala would then issue a blanket pardon to Biden covering the period from January 20, 2009 to January 20, 2025.

Biden and Harris would then issue a joint statement of explanation stating that these extraordinary pardons had become necessary because of the clear and present danger Trump poses to these thousands of people who would be otherwise unprotected.  The explanation would include citing the continuous stream of public threats made by Trump and his nominated cabinet members specifically stating that they will use a weaponized DOJ to exact retribution against anyone who has even TALKED ABOUT Trump’s criminality and corruption.  Hunter would be included in that group.

This would be the first salvo in the flame thrower war that the Dems and Biden must wage to protect everything they can from Trump’s infestation of the Whitehouse beginning on January 20th.  Trump must be frustrated at every turn.  This must be a continuous effort on everyone’s part if we stand any chance of actually saving the country from the dictatorship Trump and his goons are planning.  Basically, we’re turning McConnell’s strategy against Obama and Biden against Trump with flamethrowers added for effect.

Let flamewar commence!

At some point when we were children we were told that sticks and stones may break our bones, but words would never hurt us. It’s a nice sentiment for toddlers and young children, but anyone that has ever had an argument with a friend, loved one, or even a casual acquaintance knows this to be untrue.

We’ve seen any number of monikers for the ex-president as well. People have found all kinds of creative names and acronyms to avoid saying his name. They do this because he sucks all of the oxygen out of the room. He is just a gigantic lump of vanity or the human form of a black hole. Unfortunately, these are only words too.

At a recent event, he admitted out loud that Joe Biden won the election and he was trying to overturn the election. However, I’m sure he doesn’t see it that way. He will continue to assert that he won while uttering phrases like this that showed that he lost.

Words matter. How we address our friends, neighbors, family members, and those we work with matters. How we speak to people matters. This is why we pay so much attention to our politicians in the first place. We pay attention to not only what they say but how they say it. When those words and the deeds that follow match up then we know we are onto something. On a similar timeline, the ex-president promised to pardon insurrectionists should he be reelected in 2024. Such talk could be seen as idle chat, but it is important to look at his history of pardons while he was in the White House.

Certainly, it wasn’t everyone on the list. Yet, when you look at a alarmingly large number of folks pardoned or commuted you see a pattern. It is a pattern of someone that used the oval office as somewhat of a criminal enterprise. It could credibly be said that no one gets poorer going to Washington. Still, no one has profited from the presidency quite like the last occupant.

In the face of these words, the mantra from the right has been eerily consistent. He didn’t mean it like that. He was just joking. You libs are taking him way too literally. He’s not a politician, so he’s not an artful speaker. He just tells it like it is. Suddenly you look up and they’ve tied themselves in knots trying to explain off something that can’t be excused.

What the former guy knows is that nothing serious is ever going to happen to him. People will talk and there will be investigations and they will find more than enough evidence to charge him, but somehow that won’t happen. It won’t happen because he breaks the law in plain sight. He tells you he’s going to do it. He tells you he’s done it. Surely no criminal would do such a thing.

He also is banking on an over 200 year tradition in this country. Underlings and henchmen go to jail. The principals never do. We don’t throw our political opponents in jail. The whole country would descend into chaos if we did. Chaos is just another word after all. Still, it is a pretty good descriptor of what is going on right now.

This weekend I was reminded of Liz Cheney’s words at the beginning of the January 6th committee investigation that they had a responsibility “…to make sure that Donald Trump is not our nominee, and that he’s never anywhere close to the reins of power ever again.”  TFG was in the Houston area on Saturday grifting money from stupid and corrupt fans, playing his Top 40 hits of lies and hate.  This time, though, he added a new promise to the menu – to pardon the insurrectionists who’ve been charged, convicted, and jailed for attempting to overthrow the US government.  That’s right, folks, even after reversing himself on vaccines, which pissed off the base, he terrified everyone else with his promise to pardon the criminals who did his bidding on January 6th.  On top of that chilling declaration, he called for his supporters to demonstrate in New York and Georgia should prosecutors bring charges against him and his family.

TFG’s profound corruption is back on public display where he demonstrated that nothing at all has changed; he puts his own welfare and wallet in front of all other priorities, including the public welfare.  He doesn’t care if you live or die, as long as the lights are always focused on him and his followers do his bidding without question.

The stakes have never been so high as they are right now.

Trump is now in Mar a Lago for Christmas.  I can only hope they changed the locks on the White House and have started the deep clean and fumigation.  On his way out the door, Trump granted another 26 pardons, mostly for more of his allies, corrupt congressmen, and murderers who he really enjoys pardoning.  Included on yesterday’s list was Paul Manafort, Roger Stone, and Charles Kushner (Jared’s father) who plead guilty in 2004 to 16 counts of tax evasion, 1 of retaliating against a witness, and 1 for lying to the FEC.  Nice guy.  The congressmen were felons Steve Stockman (fraud and money laundering), Chris Collins (securities fraud) , along with Duncan Hunter along with his wife (misuse of campaign funds).  He also pardon George Papadapoulos and Alex Van De Swaan, snared by Robert Mueller.  He also pardoned the Blackwater mercenaries who killed 14 innocent Iraqis and wounded another 17.

During his time in office, Trump has turned the President’s pardon power on its head.  Envisioned by the Founders as a tool for mercy, to right wrongful sentences or false charges, the pardon power depends on the President actually using these powers for those purposes.  There have been some isolated abuses of this power, like when Clinton pardoned Mark Rich, but those instances are rare.  Trump has used the power almost exclusively to pardon his friends and fellow criminals, those endorsed by Hollywood stars, and criminals who committed their crimes against those who Trump doesn’t like.  They are overwhelmingly white and male.

These pardons are so corrupt that even a few Republicans have been able to stand vertically, sans backbones, to condemn them. Even conservative Been Sasse of Nebraska called these pardons to be “Rotten to the Core.”  That’s an understatement, way too little, way too late.