A Dumb Question About Pardons

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Thursday November 13, 2008 · 8:18 PM PST

2008/11/13 · 20:18

There's been a lot of talk suddenly regarding the possibility that Bush may issue blanket pardons for various perps in his administration. But what about Cheney, Rumsfeld, Gonzales, et al? They actually haven't been officially charged with any crimes, yet. This may be a dumb question, but can a president issue pardons preemptively, before any charges have been brought? I mean, aren't pardons issued for people who have already been convicted, or at least charged with a crime?

And if you do issue a pardon preemptively, is that not a de facto admission that crimes were committed? Does he then have to state what crimes are being pardoned, or can Bush actually say he pardons everyone for any and all crimes they may have committed, or may in the future be found to have committed, regardless of what the crimes were?

Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution states that the President:
shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

I take this to mean, quite pointedly, that he can't pardon anyone for breaking international laws.

The White House Repo - the Obamas take a tour

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday November 11, 2008 · 4:56 PM PST

2008/11/11 · 16:56

Foreclosures, repossessions, bailouts, bankruptcies, the list goes on and on. For the first time today, some action was finally taken to provide relief for homeowners, not just Wall Street bankers. Two wars? Nothing a little paint won't fix. Oh yeah, we got this new plumber guy, but you may want to find your own, since he doesn't actually plumb. Auto makers are going belly up, but think of all the carbon emissions you'll save? We kind of pissed off the neighbors, but you can always make new friends. Oh, and we made a few changes to the contract, that Constitution thing.

Looking at photos of the Obama White House visit, you can't help but think . . .

The White House Tour

A Strategy for Bush's Nominations: Stay Out of Jail

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday October 04, 2005 · 12:44 PM PDT

2005/10/04 · 12:44

W Plays the "Stay Out of Jail Free" Card

Cross posted at Talking Points Memo Cafe

In no other way can a President exercise lasting influence over the philosophical direction of the nation's government and social mores than through appointments to the Supreme Court. In fact, it was with this kind of influence in mind that Religious Right joined in lock-step and propelled Bush into the White House. So, with the Far Right wailing and rending cloth over their perceived loss of appointments they worked so hard to control, the question remains: Why did he choose Roberts and Miers?

More . . .
Read More

Three Duke Students Refute FEMA Excuses

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Wednesday September 07, 2005 · 11:19 AM PDT

2005/09/07 · 11:19

CNN currently has video up of an interview with three Duke University students refuting claims by FEMA that no one could reach the people stranded at the Convention Center in New Orleans. They drove to New Orleans from NC, hoping to do anything to help. When they got to the city, they found officials blocking every way in saying that the roads were flooded or damaged or otherwise impassable. They later found a press pass, which they scanned and photoshopped into fake credentials and returned to the city. There they presented their passes and were let through. What happened next amazed them. Read More

Call Your Congressman Today or Lose Public Broadcasting

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday June 20, 2005 · 8:47 AM PDT

2005/06/20 · 08:47

I've seen little notice of this in the ususal sources, which surprises me. The only place giving this high priority, that I can see, is MoveOn.org. It's been so quiet it's scary, really, and deserves our full attention. Why? Because it is perhaps the last remaining big step left - in a large scale effort by the Right Wing - to eliminate remaining sources of dissent in mainstream media. There is legislation pending in the House that will eliminate ALL government funding of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The vote on this spending bill may occur as early as tomorrow.
Read More

Walk Like the Buddha -The Art of Slow Protest

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday November 08, 2004 · 5:49 PM PST

2004/11/08 · 17:49

This made me very happy. My wife came across it in the Utne Reader yesterday while we were having our coffee and licking our wounds. It made us both laugh with a kind of silly joy, really, really hard, which felt really, really good. Even my 14 year old daughters got a charge out of it. I can't explain what it is about this that's so great, but trying would only spoil it. So here it is; enjoy: Read More

The Wind is Blowing Hard in Virginia

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday November 02, 2004 · 4:18 PM PST

2004/11/02 · 16:18

Been blowing hard here all day. Always means a change is coming.

I live in a tiny town in central Virginia, barely over 500 souls. We have one polling place, and we know all the poll workers on a first name basis. They know my kids. We go to church together. Most of the grown ups have served on the town council at one time or another, me included. Read More

Encouraged in Florida

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday October 31, 2004 · 7:05 PM PST

2004/10/31 · 19:05

Josh has a great letter up from a friend in Florida who is helping elderly and people without transporation get to the polls. Stories of people waiting in line for over 5 hours just to caste their one vote. If you are feeling down from all the bad stuff going on, all the negative influences, it's worth a read. Really.

Here's the link:

www.talkingpointsmemo.com

Here's the money quote:

The best of all was an 80 year old African American man who said to me: "When I first started I wasn't even allowed to vote. Then, when I did, they was trying to intimidate me. But now I see all these folks here to make sure that my vote counts. This is the first time in my life that I feel like when I cast my vote it's actually gonna be heard."

Very cool.

Faux News Reporting Now, US Leaders Let Osama Get Away

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday October 31, 2004 · 2:17 PM PST

2004/10/31 · 14:17

Karen Hughes says no, "If he was there, we would have got him." She is evil, eh?

Geraldo is on, says he was embedded with troops there at Tora Bora. He has footage of him there with troops, air strikes, etc.. He says, "Absolutely Osama was there, and we had the troops there to catch him. But the higher ups ordered the troops to pull out and head for Iraq. Had that not happened Osama would not be out there making video threats now." (I'm paraphrasing.)

Chris Wallace is challenging Karen Hughes now on the disappearance the explosives. She says, "See there were WMD there in Iraq, Kerry is shooting himself in the foot by bringing this up."

Huh? Bush says the weapons are why we went to war, but then doesn't guard or destroy the largest weapons depot in the country when we get there? Hughes says pointing that out hurts Kerry?

Poll flashes on screen, Bush and Kerry tied. Hmmm.

Now she says Kerry is politicizing OBL tape. Go Wallace, he's challenging her on that, too. You know, maybe some of these Faux guys are smelling a loser and are hedging their bets. Read More

After Fear, Comes Anger

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Friday October 29, 2004 · 9:35 PM PDT

2004/10/29 · 21:35

Let this stew for a couple of days folks and see what happens. It's like when your little brother jumps out from behind the door and scares you: first your heart goes pitter-patter, then you want to pound him black and blue. Once people shake off the willies just from seeing Dr. Doom in their living rooms, they're gonna get pissed. Don't let the spin doctors redirect that anger. People need to be shouting in the streets:

Why is Osama bin Laden still out there messing with us?!

More: Read More

Vote Suppression in PA Dem Districts

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday October 18, 2004 · 8:43 AM PDT

2004/10/18 · 08:43

Via Atrios:

GOP Tries to Block Votes in PA Read More

Electoral Count Based on Latest Polls - Kerry Ahead 258 to 181

eyeinhand

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Sunday October 17, 2004 · 6:50 PM PDT

2004/10/17 · 18:50

Encouraging.

Just did the calculations based on the combined results out of every state on www.electoral-vote.com. If ALL polls agreed on one leader, I put that state in their column. If the polls contradicted each other I left it undecided. If only one poll was available and it was consistantly for one candidate, they get it.

Comes out with Kerry ahead 258 to 181 Bush.

These are the states with contradicting polls:

New Hampshire
Ohio
Wisconsin
Iowa
Colorado
Nevada
Arkasas
Florida (of course)
Tennessee - has swung both ways, though mostly for Bush. Read More

Newer
Older

RSS