Lisa Benson for December 21, 2016

Republicans didn’t seem to mind when Geo. W pardoned 176 people. So far, Obama has pardoned a little over 300.

They also didn’t mind when Reagon pardoned 406, or when Ford (who was only in office for 2.5 years) pardoned 409, or when Nixon pardone 926.

But when Obama does it, it is an abuse of power.

Yes, Bill Clinton pardone 456, including Mark Rich, but Republicans only seem to object when it is a Democrat who does it.

^Propaganda’s the only thing they’ve got.

It’s because of who he is pardoning! Expect more terrorist attacks in America! And you know he will blame Trump for it!

Aaand vice versa.

The 231 individuals granted clemency today have all demonstrated that they are ready to make use — or have already made use — of a second chance. While each clemency recipient’s story is unique, the common thread of rehabilitation underlies all of them. For the pardon recipient, it is the story of an individual who has led a productive and law-abiding post-conviction life, including by contributing to the community in a meaningful way. For the commutation recipient, it is the story of an individual who has made the most of his or her time in prison, by participating in educational courses, vocational training, and drug treatment. These are the stories that demonstrate the successes that can be achieved — by both individuals and society — in a nation of second chances.

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https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/12/19/president-obama-grants-153-commutations-and-78-pardons-individuals-deserving-second

Pres. Obama has commuted over 1300 sentences to date. What a farce. Then he piles on executive orders as a lame duck while telling incoming Pres. Trump that he shouldn’t use the pen and phone like he did. How does this a$$ look at himself in the mirror. The rule of law means nothing to President Obama.

I understand that most of the clemency papers are for non-violent drug offenders. They should never have been arrested in the first place.

 

”I wish you could be standing where I´m standing right now.

Then you would know something that you don´t know. Mercy!

You would know that a just society is based on the concept of mercy. Its sense of fair play and justice.”

”But I guess that´s like asking a bear to s#/t in a toilet.”

Billy Hayes

The Obama process has used valid process. The greatest failure of Pelosi as “leader” by the way was “Impeachment is off the table”, when the charges against “W” and company could have at least been brought before the public in the forum of the House of Representatives. Instead, they all got a pass, and now we have folks thinking Trump is cool????

…an element of mercy. WWJD?

If you believe releasing the most dangerous Jihadi leaders from GITMO, giving hundreds of billions of dollars to Iran, and letting hundreds of drug/gun dealers onto the streets makes America safer, you might be a liberal.

One of the many good things about President Obama is that he doesn’t only pardon friends of donors.

And what’s a few more drug dealers on the streets in the grand scheme of things?

zzazzenn said,

“…an element of mercy. WWJD?”

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What Would DJt Do?

Trump pardoned his wife’s tofurky Thanksgiving roast.

And next year it’ll be Trump, flying over Wall Street. Lady, do you really understand how many men are in prison? And how hard Obama and his staff worked to make sure that the ones who really earned a second chance got one? So 231 people got a second chance. Good. For you to make it look like he’s rubber stamping exit visas for all convicts like Santa Claus? Shame on you. Ms. Benson, are you really that closed minded?

Every President has done it. Just another sick slur against President Obama.

Wishing still for a 3rd term…

nance19oped said,

@SpicyNacho

“Most of the commuted sentences were for drug related crimes and all were non-violent.”

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Sometimes the action was non-violent but the drugs used led to violent death at the hands of the druggies.

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" The US has more people in prison than any other country. We should NOT be proud of that."

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We have more people than most other countries and some of the others either don’t stop criminals from preying on the people or simply execute rather than imprison. We should be proud of protecting our people while showing mercy on criminals and giving them chances.

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Most crimes were not harmless drug use. 54% were violent, others were often predatory

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“Rehabilitation should be the goal of jails and prisons, not punishment and “throw away the key”.”

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When rehabilitation is possible, yes but there are cases where all you can do is keep the predators away from the prey.

Often rehabilitation is a pipe-dream — literally.

If we could do it, we would do it.

Repeated attempts have been failures.

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“Imagine how much GOOD can be done with the ridiculous amounts spent on locking people up.”

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Yes, nice to imagine how much cheaper life would be without criminals costing us all that money.

the country will be better when the maniac and his wife leave the white house.

ChevJames007 said,

@SpicyNacho

“Democrats have no use or respect for the rule of law. For years and years they repeated the lie that the Second Amendment applied only to the National Guard, although the amendment used the words, “the right of the people.” "

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DrDon1 said,

@ChevJames007

“Still spouting nonsense …”

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It was nonsense, but he is right that many maintained it was not a right of the people but rather of militias.

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That led to the formation of crazy, self-proclaimed “Militias.” If they weren’t crazy, they made each other crazy with anti-government paranoia, caused in large part by such proclamations by government types.

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Even after the Supreme Court affirmed the right of the people to keep and bear arms is a Constitutional right rather than a governmental power, they continued to talk about getting the Supreme Court to reverse itself just as others are convinced they can overturn Roe versus Wade by changing the Supreme court.

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This fed the paranoia. They knew government couldn’t protect them in case of riots and looting so they figured government wanted to leave them helpless, More paranoia. More distrust. More fear. More willingness to vote for radicals if they promised to not disarm the law-abiding.

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President Trump was the result.

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Be careful of the seeds you sow,

you don’t know

what you might grow.

Just a note on this Christmas Day; an in-law’s father is doing over 50 years in prison with no parole for a third offense on “non-violent” crimes in California. In other states, folks are doing LIFE for minor drug offenses, that aren’t even offenses in several states now.

Yes, it’s a day to consider the common sense, of “common sense” that says locking people up forever simply because they don’t conform to the standards of folks who’ve never made a mistake in their lives, of course.

dtroutma said, (1 day ago)

“Just a note on this Christmas Day; an in-law’s father is doing over 50 years in prison with no parole for a third offense on “non-violent” crimes in California.”

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an-law’s out-law father

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You don’t name the offenses but there are crimes which are non-violent but still very harmful to others:

—Stealing the life savings of the poor, fraud

—arson

—you ignore drug sales, but selling drugs like spice or heroin to children has often led to death by overdose, HIV infection, violent murders by the affected users. One neighbor took an LSD trip back in the sixties and never came all the way back

—Child porn

—Grand theft auto

—Falsely yelling FIRE! in a crowded theater, maybe

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“In other states, folks are doing LIFE for minor drug offenses, that aren’t even offenses in several states now.”

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Just to be clear, they ARE still federal offenses throughout the nation. The Obama Administration just isn’t enforcing those laws because they are foolish (just as Reagan ignored some laws with which he disagreed — leading to Iran/Contra)’

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“it’s a day to consider the common sense, of “common sense” that says locking people up forever simply because they don’t conform to the standards of folks who’ve never made a mistake in their lives, of course.”

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We’ve all made mistakes but let’s not confuse them with repeated. willful, heartless, intentional crimes against other people — crimes committed knowing full well the harm they are doing and the penalties permitted.

Not saying anybody is a hypocrite here, but I looked back eight years ago all through December and January’s offerings and somebody didn’t remark at all on Bush doing the same thing.