Pardon me for Livin’

Now Democratic wise man Rep. James Clyburn supports a pardon for Trump. This is the man who decided, on behalf of the Democratic party, to overlook all of Biden’s inadequacies and give him the 2020 nomination. When he speaks, Democrats listen.

A Trump pardon would set the stage for Kamala to pardon Joe. Let’s put all the lawfare behind us. Let’s stop criminalizing our political opponents. Let’s make a clean break from the tawdry past, and turn the page to a better, more tolerant political culture.

Turning the page is not excusing or justifying malfeasance in office. The Department of Justice, and the FBI need a thorough overhaul. But don’t start trying to throw everyone in jail. Take their pensions, their power, and their reputations, for sure. But let’s not descend into the banana republics where losing an election means going to jail.

Lyndon Johnson was as crooked as they come. He and Chicago Mayor Richard Daley probably stole the 1960 Presidential election from Nixon. But when Nixon succeeded Johnson in the presidency, he didn’t try to have him prosecuted. That may have served justice, but it wouldn’t have been in the national interest.

Ford’s pardon of Nixon was in the national intertest. The humiliation of resignation was enough punishment for Nixon’s crimes.

If Biden resigns, he puts himself in the same league with Nixon. It’s a disgrace, a permanent stain on his historical reputation. At his age, that’s enough.

The pardon power is the power of Christian forgiveness. Heading into Christmas, it would be fitting.