I expect Trump to pardon the convicted pedophile sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell.
He would be sending a clear message:
-- He can do anything he wants.
-- No one can stop him.
-- He protects his team.
The Trump administration recently moved Maxwell from the kind of prison that holds multi-count pedophile sex traffickers to a much nicer place, a minimum-security prison. Meanwhile, ABC News reports that Maxwell said nothing to implicate Trump in her interviews with Trump's Department of Justice.
This quid pro quo deal is as transparent and visible as Trump shooting someone on Fifth Avenue. And that is the point of the Fifth Avenue story, and now this one. He can do something blatantly wrong, and no one can stop him.
Trump is sending a message of triumph and power. Trump has no boundaries when it comes to exercising presidential power. He will make a deal with a convicted pedophile trafficker if it helps him. If good-government editorial writers complain, so what? If the victims complain, so what? If Democrats sputter in frustration, all the better. They can say it is wrong but they can't stop him.
Trump would be sending a message to his team, people who might do illegal, cruel, high-handed things on his behalf. He doesn't care about "how things look." If he will pardon a pedophile sex trafficker, he would surely pardon an ICE officer, biased judge, bribe-taking legislator, an executive branch employee, or a citizen in a MAGA militia. Trump does not require a pretext, or credibility, or an honorable cover story. The Maxwell case shows that.
The thrust of the amicus brief that my attorney, Thad Guyer, filed for me in the tariff case before the U.S. Court of Appeals was that Trump is busy expanding presidential power and testing whether it has any boundaries whatsoever. His seat-of-the-pants tariffs are an obvious grab of power clearly given to Congress, so it is a place to draw the line. But the tariffs are part of a bigger picture. He is flouting the Civil Service laws. He is flouting the courts. Can anyone say "no" to him? Trump is betting no one can or will.
Trump is demonstrating that he will not be constrained by "appearances." He has power and he will use it. The more the Maxwell deal stinks, the stronger that message. Trump is in charge, he has no shame, and he can do anything.
18 comments:
And will the MAGA cult be okay with the pardon and will they pretend Trump is not a sexual predator of young girls? Does the MAGA cult have shame?
Where does Trump get the power to defy these customary standards? From the unshakable support of something like 40% of the American people.
The real political question is, what did the elites of this country do to alienate so many Americans that they saw supporting someone like Donald Trump as the better alternative?
MT, I once read that the American Revolution had only an estimated 40% support from the Colonists. I guess the “will of the people” isn’t always a majority.
It couldn't be more clear that Trump has no moral compass. Nor do his supporters: if it weren't for them, he'd just be another common criminal.
What do your "Christian" MAGA readers think about this?
The broken record is playing again.
Starting in the academy and filtering down into the common consciousness in the '60s and since, it's the default "Bad America", "Bad Israel", and "Bad Western Civilization" victimology refrains which have alienated so many Americans.
Most Americans solidly object to the conceit that America was created as and remains an oppressive net negative for the human condition, home and abroad. Jingoistic pre-'60s whitewashing was not improved by ingrate demonizing since.
Most Americans who have a conscience just want the country to live up to its founding principles. It isn’t demonizing to point out that Trump’s crimes and sexual abuse don’t fit the bill. Those who think he's presidential material are as bad as he is.
Who ever would have thought that it was expected that the President of the United States would do the wrong thing and still have the support of half the people.
The only ones who can stop Trump are the GOP Congressional representatives and senators. When they believe they will lose their seats if they continue to follow Trump, they will turn on him and impeach.
MT’s question was not what if anything vindicates Trump, but what explains his otherwise inexplicable rise.
Overheated ahistorical leftist moralizing at America’s expense is a big part of the answer. More’s the pity.
There were 12 Republicans running for president in 2016. A few of them even had some qualifications for the job, but Republicans went overwhelmingly for Trump. His otherwise inexplicable rise is due to the fact that he best reflected their values.
You can say that again…
This is true. What were those values?
If the left insists on misunderstanding them as hate, racism, etc, there’s little hope that the left will have any chance of becoming politically effective nationwide.
Trump made his values quite obvious: greed, lust, larceny and his prominence in the birther movement (and yup, it's racist).
Trump's values are all too obvious: greed, lust, narcissism and his prominence in the birther movement (his only qualification for being nominated by Republicans). If the GOP insists on associating with his hate, racism, etc, there's little hoe that the right will have any chance of remaining relevant nationwide.
MT, their values include a patriotic appreciation of America, past, present and future.
That's why they attacked the Capitol and its police: it was such a patriotic display of appreciation.
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