Pardon Me!
We applaud President Bush for not issuing a raft of last minute pardons as has been a building tradition in recent administrations. The pardons granted by George W. Bush are far less than half those granted by Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan on their departure from office.
Is it possible that Clinton’s pardon of crooked financier, Mark Rich, as well as members of a Puerto Rican terrorist gang, actions which are subjecting Barack Obama’s nominee for Attorney General, William Holder, to much scrutiny since he dig much of the legal legwork to enable Clinton to rush these pardons through, could have muddied the public’s confidence in the pardoning process thus making President Bush extra cautious not to do anything that could be seen in the same light? Could it be that the President is simply being consistent with his behavior through out his political career believing in the legal process and the rule of law not wanting to grant any special considerations that would override the intent of judges and juries who passed judgment on possible candidates for pardon?
Some expected that Bush might pardon Scooter Libby. He did not having earlier commuted his sentence. Likewise there was a huge uproar particularly among the conservative talk show community demanding pardons of border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean who shot and wounded a border suspect who later proved to be a drug dealer. While the shooting victim was a lowly slug, the kind of criminal who makes the southwestern border issue a rallying point for many as the Mexican Border a porous boundary of little consequence allowing infidels and insurgents to freely crawl into America along with those who are simply in search of a better standard of living, nevertheless, these agents were tried and found guilty of unlawful conduct including trying to cover up their deeds involved in the shooting. While we applaud forceful and assertive action dealing with criminals who pass into the United States, we do not condone enforcement agents who act above the law, in essence acting as prosecutor, judge, jury, and possibly executioner with guns by their sides. President Bush acknowledged these agents were guilty of a crime but also, on compassionate grounds, felt they had paid their debts for their conduct, and while not granting them full pardons, commuted their sentences so they could return to their families and attempt to put their lives back together.
We applaud President Bush for not giving into political pressure or other influences to use the pardon process as a “Get Out of Jail Free” card for those who have not served their time but had the support to utilize the political process to overturn the legal process.
Surely it would be out of character for President Bush to perform a necessary action much like Ford’s pardon of Vietnam Draft Resisters, and pardon every person rotting in jail for things as basic as simple marijuana possession. We continue to support emphatically the full legalization of marijuana, subjecting it to appropriate government standards, selling it legally, and taxing the hell out of it, taking a multi-billion dollar industry off the black market and putting it in the retail market where it belongs where it can generate tax revenue without taking any money away from citizens who need the money to make ends meet or the more fortunate whose money can be a vital part of growing the economy which would be taken out of the free enterprise system if seized by taxation.
Prohibition of alcohol provided nothing beyond the growth of organized crime, and while we look at the pardon of two border agents patrolling a leaking sieve through which much elicit drug traffic travels as a reminder that under the status quo, marijuana sales provide a huge cash cow for criminal elements who engage in far more evil deeds than selling a little reefer. The entire country of Mexico is corrupted by the organized crime behind the drug market holding towns, villages, and entire regions hostage to the evil grip of Mexicali drug lords.
What would be a greater contribution to our nation’s security than taking assertive measures that could help Mexico develop a thriving conventional economy and a political system rescued from the demonic grip of the drug cartel?
These are issues to be dealt with by future administrations. Right now, we applaud the efforts President Bush has made to keep integrity in our justice system above petty political considerations and some segments of public opinion.
We applaud President Bush for not issuing a raft of last minute pardons as has been a building tradition in recent administrations. The pardons granted by George W. Bush are far less than half those granted by Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan on their departure from office.
Is it possible that Clinton’s pardon of crooked financier, Mark Rich, as well as members of a Puerto Rican terrorist gang, actions which are subjecting Barack Obama’s nominee for Attorney General, William Holder, to much scrutiny since he dig much of the legal legwork to enable Clinton to rush these pardons through, could have muddied the public’s confidence in the pardoning process thus making President Bush extra cautious not to do anything that could be seen in the same light? Could it be that the President is simply being consistent with his behavior through out his political career believing in the legal process and the rule of law not wanting to grant any special considerations that would override the intent of judges and juries who passed judgment on possible candidates for pardon?
Some expected that Bush might pardon Scooter Libby. He did not having earlier commuted his sentence. Likewise there was a huge uproar particularly among the conservative talk show community demanding pardons of border agents Ignacio Ramos and Jose Alonso Compean who shot and wounded a border suspect who later proved to be a drug dealer. While the shooting victim was a lowly slug, the kind of criminal who makes the southwestern border issue a rallying point for many as the Mexican Border a porous boundary of little consequence allowing infidels and insurgents to freely crawl into America along with those who are simply in search of a better standard of living, nevertheless, these agents were tried and found guilty of unlawful conduct including trying to cover up their deeds involved in the shooting. While we applaud forceful and assertive action dealing with criminals who pass into the United States, we do not condone enforcement agents who act above the law, in essence acting as prosecutor, judge, jury, and possibly executioner with guns by their sides. President Bush acknowledged these agents were guilty of a crime but also, on compassionate grounds, felt they had paid their debts for their conduct, and while not granting them full pardons, commuted their sentences so they could return to their families and attempt to put their lives back together.
We applaud President Bush for not giving into political pressure or other influences to use the pardon process as a “Get Out of Jail Free” card for those who have not served their time but had the support to utilize the political process to overturn the legal process.
Surely it would be out of character for President Bush to perform a necessary action much like Ford’s pardon of Vietnam Draft Resisters, and pardon every person rotting in jail for things as basic as simple marijuana possession. We continue to support emphatically the full legalization of marijuana, subjecting it to appropriate government standards, selling it legally, and taxing the hell out of it, taking a multi-billion dollar industry off the black market and putting it in the retail market where it belongs where it can generate tax revenue without taking any money away from citizens who need the money to make ends meet or the more fortunate whose money can be a vital part of growing the economy which would be taken out of the free enterprise system if seized by taxation.
Prohibition of alcohol provided nothing beyond the growth of organized crime, and while we look at the pardon of two border agents patrolling a leaking sieve through which much elicit drug traffic travels as a reminder that under the status quo, marijuana sales provide a huge cash cow for criminal elements who engage in far more evil deeds than selling a little reefer. The entire country of Mexico is corrupted by the organized crime behind the drug market holding towns, villages, and entire regions hostage to the evil grip of Mexicali drug lords.
What would be a greater contribution to our nation’s security than taking assertive measures that could help Mexico develop a thriving conventional economy and a political system rescued from the demonic grip of the drug cartel?
These are issues to be dealt with by future administrations. Right now, we applaud the efforts President Bush has made to keep integrity in our justice system above petty political considerations and some segments of public opinion.
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