Patterico's Pontifications

8/25/2017

BREAKING: Trump Pardons Joe Arpaio

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 6:00 pm



Like everything else Trump does, this is highly irregular. Here is the announcement:

arpaio-pardon

Arpaio did not go through the usual DoJ process and has shown no remorse for blatantly violating a court order. But, the pardon will stir up Trump’s base. So, there you have it.

The typo in the last sentence (“he is worthy candidate”) is your Trumpy guarantee that this was well thought through.

[Cross-posted at RedState and The Jury Talks Back.]

381 Responses to “BREAKING: Trump Pardons Joe Arpaio”

  1. Ding.

    Patterico (63e824)

  2. Arpaio did not go through the usual DoJ process and has shown no remorse for blatantly violating a court order. But, the pardon will stir up Trump’s base. So, there you have it.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StJS51d1Fzg

    “It’s good to be the King.” – Mel Brooks ‘History Of The World, Part 1’ 1981

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  3. The moral of the story is that in today’s America, violating a court order is just fine if you do it in pursuit of objectives that the President approves of.

    This is a *legal* act because there is no constraint on the pardon power. But it’s a *terrible* act, all the same. One more nail in the coffin for the rule of law.

    aphrael (e0cdc9)

  4. he is merciful

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  5. “.. this is highly irregular”

    Scofflaw anti-democrat must destroy the entire legal process with something “so much better and CHEAPER”. We’re on pins and needles with the excitement he brings to the former and current swamp.

    Ben burn (786e20)

  6. Was mark rich repentant, were the faln terrorists, those are just some that cone to mind, what is the defense to lawfare now being conducted through proxies like the special counsel.

    narciso (d1f714)

  7. and let’s be honest

    the failmerican courts ain’t what they used to be

    they’re seedy and capricious

    if the fascist democrat food stamp trash wanna do that crap they did on Rick Perry and Tom DeLay

    they deserve an unlubed arpaio all up in it from time to time

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  8. the usual DoJ process

    the DOJ is corrupt and sleazy

    its processes are not to be honored, for they are stanky processes, and unseemly

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  9. How is it the whole awan clan isn’t in cuffs, or fusion gps have their assets seized how does podesta get away with filing an amended fara form with no criminal consequences.

    narciso (d1f714)

  10. ‘Ends justify Means’ is a good signpost for bad guy(s)

    Ben burn (786e20)

  11. If DCSCA can post the same thing across threads, so can I.

    It is the contempt power of judges which is the closest thing we have to lese majeste in our system.

    I might feel differently if a jury had found Arpaio guilty. Or if Arpaio’s defiance had been in front of the judge, in the judge’s courtroom. Or if the judge had locked up Arpaio or imposed a daily fine while Arpaio was in a position to comply or defy. But the way it worked out, when at this time no difference did it make, it was just petty peevishness.

    nk (dbc370)

  12. Is this a privilege that flynn and manafort didn’t get but fusion and podesta do?

    https://mobile.twitter.com/ChuckRossDC/status/901248959116713984?p=v

    narciso (d1f714)

  13. Lee Baca, de-frocked LA Sheriff tried by jury for same smell…guilty.

    Ben burn (786e20)

  14. Imposition of contempt is not the rule of law; it is the rule of judges.

    nk (dbc370)

  15. Pick your judge…

    “I want Judge Wapner”

    Ben burn (786e20)

  16. Mr. Arpaio was contemptuous of some sleazy failmerican federal judge what wanted to do diseased illegal tuberculosis immigrants all up in it

    and lol he got away with it!

    good for him

    i’d like to buy him a blizzard of his choice from dairy queen

    President Trump I love you so much I don’t say it often enough but I hope you never doubt it

    if you coming back to me is against all odds it’s the chance i gotta take

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  17. Fiefdom judge lists!

    Get yer judge here..only one Benjamin.

    Ben burn (786e20)

  18. Warlords should choose judges..you know..just to keep it local.

    Ben burn (786e20)

  19. that stupid hurplecane is kinda going just south enough to maybe spare casa pikachu the worst

    so far at least

    we’ll see what happens after landfall, but so far we’re not talking wcs

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  20. I have no problem with this. Trump has pardoned Arpaio but never said Arpaio was innocent, only that his lifetime of service justifies the compassion of a pardon. Contrast that to when Obama effectively pardoned the New Black Panthers by dropping the prosecution for voter intimidation. It was an abuse of the judicial system to manipulate it to help people he favored, and it was far more lawless than issuing a pardon — which is clearly within Presidential powers.

    I am not equating the two by saying that one had act deserves another. Quite the contrary. A pardon says he did something wrong but is getting mercy, even if it’s politically motivated. What Obama did was use the DOJ to approve voter intimidation that helped his side, while maintaining the fiction that nothing wrong happened. I wouldn’t have liked it if Obama had pardoned the Black Panthers but it would not have been lawless, and neither was this.

    DRJ (15874d)

  21. “I am not equating..”

    Holy Moly…

    Ben burn (786e20)

  22. Suhweeeet! Trump pardons Arpaio and bans trannie recruits in a Friday evening news dump in the middle of a hurricane!

    #Likeaboss

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  23. i love you DRJ for like President Trump you are wise and merciful

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  24. Let’s be honest: Would Trump have received one kind word or thought from Democrats if he had refused to pardon Arpaio?

    nk (dbc370)

  25. Not a good (or even necessary) move by Trump. Arapaio would have spent something like 6 months in jail for a misdemeanor, if I understand correctly.

    The guy is 85 years old but given his flouting of the constitution Trump should have just let this one go, especially after Charlottesville.

    lee (13a73a)

  26. No they wouldn’t, they picked up another scalp with gorka, doesn’t matter that hecdecided to resign voluntarily.

    narciso (d1f714)

  27. He banned sex change operations, too.

    And I think I found out why that tranny cussed out Obama in front of everybody in the White House where Obama had invited h__. Obamacare Medicaid does not pay for sex changes.

    nk (dbc370)

  28. The court order was unjust.

    NJRob (7f4bec)

  29. DRJ, he said at the rally that Arpaio was just doing his job. The larger message is that police who ignore the civil rights of people Trump doesn’t like will have Trump on their side. This is the second such signal…the first was that so-called joke about not helping arrestees getting into a squad car. And it also means Trump had as little use for the rule of law as anyone on the Left. Arpaio was still litigating this, wasn’t he? Trump couldn’t even wait to see if the courts themselves came up with the “right”. From the news account, it may well be that Arpaio himself hadn’t actually yet asked the pardon. But Trump loves law and order like all authoritarians.

    kishnevi (10c258)

  30. How many other people convicted of the foul and unconstitutional crime of contempt of court is Trump going to pardon?

    I’ll bet it’s zero.

    Davethulhu (3a2442)

  31. 24
    He didn’t have to refuse to give the pardon. He could have said he wanted the process to play out, give the courts a chance to throw out the conviction, and granted a pardon when Arpaio was actually at the point of going to jail. It would have looked like compassion at that point. Now it’s just the boss protecting one of his henchmen.

    kishnevi (10c258)

  32. @11. ‘petty peevishness’… aka ‘bigots of a feather, flock together.’

    “Hold it, hold it, Jefferson. I don’t go around signin’ political documentaries just like that, y’know. I mean, even Abe Lincoln, as smart as he was, he read the Declaration of Independence before he put his John Hancock on it.” – Archie Bunker [Carroll O’Connor] ‘All In The Family’ CBS TV, 1974

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  33. Real criminals get a pass even get to write an loeGinous memoir, because the rntire top staff if the bureau was in her back pocket.

    narciso (d1f714)

  34. Kishnevi,

    what civil rights are you speaking about? Illegal aliens are breaking the law and Arpaio said he would arrest them. You have a problem with the law?

    NJRob (7f4bec)

  35. Reagan pardoned Steinbrenner, too!

    “This is a conspiracy!” – ADA Tom Chamberlain [Rudy Vallee] ‘The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer’ 1947

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  36. He banned sex change operations, too.

    this is how you look Dr. Mengele in the eye and tell him go to hell that you’ll not be a party to such depravity

    it’s prideful of me but I do so love to be an American in these heady and exciting times

    i can’t deny it

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  37. This decision and how it was made is perfectly in line with what we have come to know about Trump. Manafort must be feeling encouraged.

    Dana (023079)

  38. So doj gunslingers went after Mcdonnell which had the corollary of tarnishing cuccinelli and put mcauliffe, which led to the charlottesville massacre.

    narciso (d1f714)

  39. Arpaio did more than that, as you ought to know…
    It is quite ironic that conservatives will insist that rights are God-given, inherent, natural, not granted by the government…but then claim that people from outside this country have no actual rights. And equally ironic that progressives do the exact reverse.

    kishnevi (10c258)

  40. the next couple hours will be very key

    we’ll know by then i think if CNN Jake Tapper fake news has a katrina to exploit

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  41. Doesn’t the normal DOJ procedure involve giving the Clintons a pile of money?

    Pinandpuller (1b8663)

  42. Too bad. I thought Patterico might redeem himself by supporting Trump against this malicious prosecution of the great Sheriff Arpaio. No such luck. I held out hope but Patterico is a worthless tool of the criminal enemy.

    jcurtis (f7cdcc)

  43. Kishnevi,

    yeah, he embarrassed criminals. How dare he. He deserves to rot for it. You embarrass yourself every time you align with the left. Very masochistic of you.

    NJRob (7f4bec)

  44. north of the hurricane is for reals agriculture but west of it is cattle country

    scrubby country what luxuriates in any rainfall at all

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  45. Kishnevi,

    criminals have no right to be here by the fact that they exist. You can take them into your home if you want, not your rhetorical home, your physical domicile, but till you do you protest too much.

    NJRob (7f4bec)

  46. Its going to be quite serious pikachu for a long time.

    narciso (d1f714)

  47. that part west of harvey – that scrubby part – used to be the only place you’d see leishmaniasis cases in america

    until it moved to north texas

    probably cause of diseased illegals taking it with them

    they’re so tacky

    thanks again Mr. Arpaio

    you’re way more effective than the stupid useless CDC that’s for sure

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  48. @40 kishnevi

    It’s a shame the ECLU didn’t exist when God deported Adam and Eve.

    Pinandpuller (1b8663)

  49. Its going to be quite serious pikachu for a long time.

    i’d prefer to be in denial and hope for a Better Outcome for awhile yet

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  50. the key thing is that all the trees stay put

    if you’re a tree and Harvey is menacing you just

    just stay put

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  51. is it just me or have these little internet things we click on during the hurplecanes not really advanced all that much in the past 10 years

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  52. he’s definitely meandering further west than expected

    that’s nice for them fancy cityfolk in houston

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  53. It used to bother me when the traditional pardon procedures weren’t followed, and I still think it’s prudent to follow procedures. But pardons are one of the few things Presidents can do unilaterally and for any reason they want, or even for no reason. Trump issued a pardon in connection with an issue he campaigned on — illegal immigration — and that he signaled he would issue. He gave a valid reason for issuing it, e.g., to pardon an older man who has served his country, state, and city. I understand concerns about the legal message it sends but a pardon is the opposite of law and order. It says we are going to ignore the law in this instance.

    DRJ (15874d)

  54. Grey Poupon must hire Sherrie Joe.

    Pinandpuller (651872)

  55. But if Arpaio doesn’t want the pardon, I guess he could refuse to accept it. I imagine he will accept it, especially at his age.

    DRJ (15874d)

  56. I’m looking for pardons on eBay right now.

    Pinandpuller (651872)

  57. http://reason.com/blog/2017/08/24/jeff-sessions-should-be-screaming-bloody

    The usual libertarian view of pardons, as exemplified by Reason, is that the power is not used enough.

    kishnevi (10c258)

  58. 5 days of nonstop rain srsly?

    how is that not excessive?

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  59. Yes it is, add the wind and that gets very nasty indeed.

    narciso (d1f714)

  60. what if i turn my kitchen sink tap on and just let it run for 5 days

    who would think that was even a little bit remotely reasonable

    NOBODY

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  61. Harvey needs to get a little more realistic about what it wants to accomplish

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  62. Reason should rename itself “The Screaming Meemies”. (Not just for this, it mostly always has hysterics.) I stopped reading at “[Arpaio] was convicted of felony contempt of court”.

    nk (dbc370)

  63. So Arpaio is a birther and really good at losing other people’s money, which makes it really easy to understand why Trump loves him.

    https://twitter.com/NumbersMuncher/status/901275670503968768

    Davethulhu (3a2442)

  64. This is also good news for another celebrity sheriff who’s not very good at keeping his prisoners alive.

    Davethulhu (3a2442)

  65. He forgot to check his white privilege… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru7_N0Aozqc

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  66. But if Arpaio doesn’t want the pardon, I guess he could refuse to accept it. I imagine he will accept it, especially at his age.

    I don’t think he’ll refuse it. But not because of his age, but because he sees himself as innocent of any wrongdoing, and perfectly justified in what he did do. I think he believes he didn’t deserve any of this.

    Dana (023079)

  67. It’s interesting that Arpaio and Clarke are the law enforcement people Trump really admires. There’s a pattern.

    Dana (023079)

  68. Pikachu, I told my cousin-in-law about you. He makes quite a living selling laundry detergent and other goods to those pesky supermercado folk. Hire a food and juice taster and don’t let there be a birthday party in search of a pinata. And I hope Secesh-sions does up some serious asset seizing on you.

    urbanleftbehind (ff9bf4)

  69. If you’re looking for regularity with this administration, you best up your fiber and/or buy some Metamucil.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  70. Dana, Arpaio is free to interpret it that way, while other people can interpret it as an act of mercy or as a political favor. That’s one downside of getting a pardon: It doesn’t exonerate the recipient of the conviction, only from the consequences of the conviction.

    DRJ (15874d)

  71. The pardon power is perfect for Trump. It gives him authority to act when and how he wants, without clear limits or legal objections. This may prompt future Congresses to consider whether there should be some limits, assuming they have the power to enact limits. I don’t know if they do.

    DRJ (15874d)

  72. As opposed to whom, those police chiefs that knuckled under to the Obama administrations war on cops whose top general is tom Perez, that war btw is nor metaphorical as yesterdays funeral in kissimme proved yesterday. This is part and parcel with occupy’s slow simmering insurgency.

    narciso (d1f714)

  73. @59. Think of it as God giving Texas creationists a long wet kiss– for a week.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  74. this will be a most splendid autumn Mr. leftbehind

    my concern as ever is with the stately live oaks what shelter casa pikachu

    last time we had a hurricane was many moons ago

    and yet they persisted

    but hurricanes are cruel and spiteful creatures

    they can’t abide anything so beautiful and majestic as an evergreen and unflagging live oak

    and this hurricane is more spiteful than most

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  75. At least 157 people have died while in Arpaio’s jail.

    Davethulhu (3a2442)

  76. ugh it’s moving in a more northerly direction now

    which is what they predicted

    but that doesn’t make it right

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  77. @72. So the idea of limiting pardons never occurred to you when other presidents were pardoning everybody from domestic terrorists to cop killers to Marc Rich but Joe Arpaio just pisses you off? BTW, people do consider a pardon an exoneration.

    Rev.Hoagie® (630eca)

  78. ASPCA,

    you really hate Christians, don’t you?

    NJRob (7f4bec)

  79. DRJ, I don’t think it’s possible for the legislature to impose limits on the pardon power. That strikes me as violating seperation of powers.

    aphrael (3f0569)

  80. I’m old enough to remember that Marc Rich’s pardon was wildly unpopular:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2001/01/24/opinion/an-indefensible-pardon.html

    Davethulhu (3a2442)

  81. At least 157 people have died while in Arpaio’s jail.

    Interesting.

    AZ Bob (f7a491)

  82. pro-tip: don’t do crimes on people to where you go to jail

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  83. And what came of it, comedy closed down the inquiry, just like hevpriceeded with the witchhunts against Steven hatdull and quatrine, just like his rantover surveillance created circumstances tonthe El descanso attack in 1985 of course the whol Libby travismockasham need be hashed out

    narciso (d1f714)

  84. Every time, well perhaps every other tine the left has a preference they get their way usually their malfeasance is metaphorical

    narciso (d1f714)

  85. pro-tip: don’t do crimes on people to where you go to jail

    now this is an ironic tip considering the topic

    Davethulhu (3a2442)

  86. The typo belongs to the staff – unless Kelly was out of the loop

    crazy (11d38b)

  87. The Caller-Times is receiving the following report: Gusts above 130 mph are raging through Rockport, and there are reports from residents that the Rockport-Fulton High School has been destroyed.

    oh man

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  88. Well, pardons always kinda stink, because as the great jurist Kamala Harris might have opined, these mopes have committed crimes.

    Patricia (5fc097)

  89. Arpaio tweeted this after the pardon:

    Thank you @realdonaldtrump for seeing my conviction for what it is: a political witch hunt by holdovers in the Obama.

    Dana (023079)

  90. tweets are so gay i hate them

    i like fancy salads and deceptively simple cocktails

    i like it when fall comes in august and you have to wear last year’s jacket to a late summer bbq

    pretty soon we’ll have a bunch of new tv shows

    and for $20 Sarah Michelle Geller will help you step briskly into fall with a fabulous breakfast of deliciously gay pancakes

    but these goddamn tweets

    i effing hate them

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  91. aphrael 80,

    I don’t know. I would have thought the same way you think but maybe not.

    DRJ (15874d)

  92. Actually, #78, the idea of limiting pardons didn’t strike me as possible until today when I read the link in my last comment. Furthermore, I am one of the few people here defending Trump’s pardon. Finally, you are rude.

    DRJ (15874d)

  93. I think an exoneration establishes innocence, while a pardon recognizes guilt but forgives it.

    DRJ (15874d)

  94. “At least 157 people have died while in Arpaio’s jail.”

    Davethulhu (3a2442) — 8/25/2017 @ 8:19 pm

    Green bologna strikes again.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  95. That’s what I thought.

    AZ Bob (f7a491)

  96. I’m sorry I said you are rude. I know you don’t feel well and that’s very difficult.

    DRJ (15874d)

  97. here’s a link to a current radar

    them links on Drudge is all stuck at 10 CST

    doesn’t matter much Mr. Harvey’s not really moving, but to the extent that it is it looks like it’s still pushing slightly nw

    but not muchly really

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  98. Can’t see what the big deal is here. The only people yelling loudly about this have been Democrats and the army of trial lawyers who serve as their primary beneficiaries and financiers.

    Federal Judges have been quite capable of using their plenary powers to engender disrespect for the rule of law all throughout the Obama administration. Trump is merely using his own to disrespect them right back.

    No norms have been violated, or at least no norms have been violated that haven’t already been violated to hell and back during the past decade or three.

    You don’t want Trump to trample on your ‘respect’, maybe don’t be in a profession that’s tolerated the continued existence of the 9th Circuit.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  99. no norms have been violated that haven’t already been violated to hell and back during the past decade or three.

    Drain the swamp!

    Davethulhu (3a2442)

  100. “Drain the swamp!”

    and if you can’t drain it, do the next best thing and start a big swamp fight.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  101. Didn’t Obama play to his base by pardoning dope dealers?

    AZ Bob (f7a491)

  102. shown no remorse for blatantly [???…strong editorializing here, very bad.] violating a court order.”

    You aren’t the morality police, Pat, you’re the rules police. Matter of fact, acting as the morality police is what brought the wrath of the demos and the Executive Branch on your head in the first place. Don’t assume more authority than you’re willing and able to take responsibility for just because someone pays you to do it, that just makes other people mad, and even worse, disrespectful.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  103. Why yes… yes he did!

    Dysphoria Sam Dysphoria Sam
    He’s teh new man
    Golden Nose Bob Golden Nose Bob
    He’s retired from his job

    Dinky Doo Dave Dinky Doo Dave
    Writes like a squid 🐙
    He’s a liberal knave

    Dysphoria Sam
    You’re teh new man
    Dysphoria Sam
    You’re teh new man

    Hoagie’s alright Hoagie’s alright
    He’s a natural born poet
    He’s up for teh fight

    Jungle faced Tillie
    Jungle faced Tillie
    I say make no mistake
    He gots teh li’l pink willie

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  104. Sweet Jaysus, some mook is parked out front with his car stereo blastin’ AC/DC TNT… where’s my shotgun!?!?!?

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  105. captain food stamp set five taliban terrorists free in exchange for a sleazy useless bergdork

    “[Bergdork] served the United States with honor and distinction,” Samantha Rice said.

    We didn’t have to trade any terrorists for Mr. Arpaio’s freedom.

    This is a huge win for failmerica, as these things go.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  106. Didn’t Obama play to his base by pardoning dope dealers?

    You cracked the code. These pardons that happened in 2016 were definitely done with an eye toward reelection.

    Davethulhu (3a2442)

  107. Sounds bad for Rockport.

    DRJ (15874d)

  108. Joe Arpaio is…Sanctuary Sherrif.

    Its not just for illegals anymore.

    Pinandpuller (5ef410)

  109. 105, at least it’s AC/DC… it could be worse genres being played at max volume out in Haiku country.

    urbanleftbehind (2cc146)

  110. can
    trump pardon mcconnell and then fire him?

    mg (31009b)

  111. obama must have pre pardoned the awan bros. oh wait the deep state and sessions say – nothing here go away.

    mg (31009b)

  112. Manafort should be next in line for a pardon

    mg (31009b)

  113. Well that investigation has been going on since march of last year, mg. They turned it over to the capitol police in October.

    narciso (d1f714)

  114. I suppose we can find, in our files, equal outrage over the pardons of Marc Rich and a Puerto Rican terrorist, and some Orthodox swindlers in NYC.
    No?
    That’s because Trump is held to a higher standard than dem POTUSes.
    Or is there another reason?
    Arpaio’s violation was so obvious they made it a misdemeanor so as to avoid a jury trial.

    Richard Aubrey (0d7df4)

  115. looks like CNN Jake Tapper fake news is pretty frustrated they can’t find a harvey corpse

    and god help that poor corpse if CNN gets to it first

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  116. ‘Ends justify means’ conservatives should remember the Rule of Law protects their carcasses when spit-roasting is an option.

    ““No one is above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold. Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders. The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.”

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  117. Noah Feldman

    To see why pardoning Arpaio would be so exceptional — and so bad — you have to start with the sheriff’s crime. Arpaio wasn’t convicted by a jury after a trial for violating some specific federal statute. Rather, he was convicted by a federal judge on the rather unusual charge of criminal contempt of court.

    Specifically, Arpaio was convicted this July by Judge Susan Bolton of willfully and intentionally violating an order issued to him in 2011 by a different federal judge, G. Murray Snow.

    Judge Bolton convicted Arpaio of criminal contempt. She found he had “willfully violated” the federal court’s order “by failing to do anything to ensure his subordinates’ compliance and by directing them to continue to detain persons for whom no criminal charges could be filed.” And she held that Arpaio had “announced to the world and to his subordinates that he was going to continue business as usual no matter who said otherwise.”

    This is the crime that Trump is suggesting he might pardon: willful defiance of a federal judge’s lawful order to enforce the Constitution.

    It’s one thing to pardon a criminal out of a sense of mercy or on the belief that he has paid his debt to society.

    It’s trickier when the president pardons someone who violated the law in pursuit of governmental policy, the way George H.W. Bush pardoned the Iran-Contra participants, including Oliver North.

    But it would be an altogether different matter if Trump pardoned Arpaio for willfully refusing to follow the Constitution and violating the rights of people inside the U.S.

    Such a pardon would reflect outright contempt for the judiciary, which convicted Arpaio for his resistance to its authority. Trump has questioned judges’ motives and decisions, but this would be a further, more radical step in his attack on the independent constitutional authority of Article III judges.

    An Arpaio pardon would express presidential contempt for the Constitution. Arpaio didn’t just violate a law passed by Congress. His actions defied the Constitution itself, the bedrock of the entire system of government. For Trump to say that this violation is excusable would threaten the very structure on which is right to pardon is based.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  118. Noah the fellow who allowed sharia in the Iraqi and Afghan constitutions.

    narciso (cac660)

  119. Did he murder any nuns?

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  120. Of course Trump doesn’t give a fig what we think (64%). He’s playing strictly to his minority, squeaky-wheel base. Minority rule chumps Rule of Law.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  121. Noah Feldman’s a sleazy harvardtrash p.o.s. what was agitating for impeachment as early as March of this year

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  122. How often do law enforcement get sanctioned for ignoring federal law say on immigration, yes very few judges seem to find that actionable.

    narciso (48ecae)

  123. One is struck how the pattern runs one way, son corzione gets off, but dsouza is charged. McAuliffe isn’t but McDonnell is.

    narciso (48ecae)

  124. When one wonders why the socialist govt had to resort to the gal, consider the links in my lines piece.

    narciso (ba108c)

  125. We might have to prosecute Trump in absentia. Let him languish in Russia.

    https://sputniknews.com/russia/201708251056794914-russia-browder-trial/

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  126. “Obamacare Medicaid does not pay for sex changes”

    Should’ve gone the Manning route, betray the country and then get hormones and make-believe sex change operation.

    harkin (536957)

  127. There have been some notable Presidential pardons in our history, including our nation’s first pardon for two men convicted of treason and other crimes in the Whiskey Rebellion — an event that bore striking similarities to our own Revolution. President George Washington specifically used the pardon to resolve a difficult political situation. In other words, the pardon was first used to address a contentious political issue in a way that was not possible or appropriate under the law.

    DRJ (15874d)

  128. 119.”‘Ends justify means’ conservatives should remember the Rule of Law protects their carcasses when spit-roasting is an option.”

    I’m trying to remember one case in history where the rule of law was any protection for the opposition when communists were in charge.

    And so funny to see so many concerned for the Rule Of Law after eight years of Chairman Zero and Madame Server.

    harkin (536957)

  129. As a general rule, I distrust prosecutors–based on their performance as a group–until it’s proven I should trust a particular one.
    In this case, we had the Obama DoJ working on this, against a conservative cop who opposed illegal immigration.
    So….even more distrust.

    Richard Aubrey (0d7df4)

  130. New Yorker

    “But Trump probably also likes Arpaio because the former sheriff represents in miniature what the President would like to be more maximally—a successful American authoritarian. Earlier this month, in a conversation with Fox News, Trump called Arpaio “an outstanding sheriff” and “a great American patriot.” It’s worth considering what it takes, in Trump’s view, to deserve such tributes. Arpaio, who served as the sheriff of Maricopa County, which encompasses Phoenix, from 1993 until he was voted out of office, in 2016, has a long-standing reputation for flouting civil rights, particularly those of Latinos.”

    All he has to do is declare himself Emperor and marry Ivanka..then he can spend his Senior years on Elba.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  131. Eh? When we’re ‘Commies’ in charge?

    You seem to prefer RasputinTrumps monarchy.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  132. Markos Moulitsas via twitter: “NRA and American conservatives/Nazis are one and the same”

    Iowahawk: “There are 378 genders, but politics boils down to Nazis vs people who agree with me.”

    harkin (536957)

  133. 135 – Rasputin had huge hands.

    harkin (536957)

  134. Trumps mouthpiece-hooker denies his small hands are a hindrance.

    But that Napoleon little- man complex raises it’s tiny head.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  135. Eh? When we’re ‘Commies’ in charge?
    Ben burn (5f7aa4) — 8/26/2017 @ 8:13 am

    Ben, this should be embarrassing for you. If you hope to ever escape your seat at the children’s table, you should fill in the obvious gaps in your knowledge. I hope you are able to find the appropriate remedial course.

    felipe (023cc9)

  136. Felipe: I await your first lesson here Professor.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  137. It was the highly politicized, left-wing Obama Justice Department that chose to prosecute Arpaio in connection with the hot button political issue of enforcing immigration laws. The judge whose order Arpaio defied apparently was satisfied with civil contempt. Team Obama went criminal on the octogenarian sheriff. And it did so, according to Arpaio’s lawyers, just two weeks before he stood for reelection.

    The pardon thus can be said to represent a political end to a political case.

    Some may defend the pardon by comparing it to egregious pardons of the past, like President Clinton’s pardon of wealthy fugitive Marc Rich and President Obama’s pardon of a Puerto Rican terrorist. Arguing form these outliers strikes me as misguided. Their pardons were so flagrantly unjust that the same argument could be used to defend a great many indefensible pardons.”

    http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2017/08/trump-pardons-joe-arpaio.php

    harkin (536957)

  138. When did we stop being a fascist repository in America?

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  139. I do apologize for my igorant commie pov.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  140. Burnie,

    just keep ranting incoherently. You’re turning people away from you all the time. Thanks.

    The President is using his constitutional authority to overturn a political persecution done by a leftist administration and leftist judges that create laws as they see fit.

    Justice is finally served.

    NJRob (7f4bec)

  141. 139 – “Ben, this should be embarrassing for you. If you hope to ever escape your seat at the children’s table, you should fill in the obvious gaps in your knowledge……”

    May be one of those “communism has killed over 100 million people because it’s just never been done correctly” types.

    harkin (536957)

  142. Oh, I see, Harkin. You and Felipe are referring to Commies in general. Yes, my knowledge gap missed that 12 gauge blast.

    I should be ashamed of myself for not seeing though the same myopic, and palsied eyeball.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  143. Felipe: I await your first lesson here Professor.
    Ben burn (5f7aa4) — 8/26/2017 @ 8:40 am

    I did not offer my services to you, please forgive me if I led you to believe otherwise, but I did express my heartfelt hope that you would find the course appropriate for you. I encourage you to wait no longer.

    felipe (023cc9)

  144. We took the best Nazis Germany could propagate and brought them to the US because we needed them. Any Nazi not needed got executed for the sake of justice. The rest became our low-hanging fruit of neo Nazi Leaders. That’s the genius Trump tapped into.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  145. Felipe…thanks for the honest ignorance.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  146. Don’t, don’t, don’t, three times don’t, chase Bun burn away, please! Nothing makes me like Trump more than the Wackobird Left.

    nk (dbc370)

  147. May be one of those “communism has killed over 100 million people because it’s just never been done correctly” types.
    harkin (536957) — 8/26/2017 @ 8:45 am

    Quite right. It was unfortunate that your comment at #132 gained no perch in Ben’s mind.

    felipe (023cc9)

  148. Many here are proud to have helped resurrect the Third Reich and Trumps 1000 year term.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  149. Scratch a conservative..find a fascist, eh nk?

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  150. I don’t know whether to be less upset about the wholly predictable galvanic response of the pithed Pepes, the wholly predictable reflexive Pavlovian antics of progressive sophists or the very risible disregard of Department of Fast & Furious lack of standards.

    Watching the Fed’s glacial abandonment of the Phillip’s curve as a monetary tool is more exciting.

    Rick Ballard (48cc19)

  151. Felipe…thanks for the honest ignorance.
    Ben burn (5f7aa4) — 8/26/2017 @ 8:58 am

    Why are you thanking me for your ignorance? Because you came by it honestly? Engaging you results in no profit for anyone.

    felipe (023cc9)

  152. There’s really not a dimes difference between Trumpets and Never-Trumps.

    It’s all about the tone. The substance is a-ok.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  153. And yet you seem to derive some satisfaction from the dick-slapping, eh felipe?

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  154. “I should be ashamed of myself for not seeing though the same myopic, and palsied eyeball.”

    Ben burn (5f7aa4) — 8/26/2017 @ 8:50 am

    You should be ashamed – and very embarrassed – for a good number of things, but as they say, lefties don’t “embarrass easy”.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  155. nk (dbc370) — 8/26/2017 @ 8:59 am

    I hear you, nk. He will not be going anywhere – he craves the attention of those he perceives to be better than himself. I’d say that my meager interaction with Ben guarantees an extended engagement.

    felipe (023cc9)

  156. Go rub one out, Benito…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  157. Poor Ben has run out of material and must now work “blue.”

    felipe (023cc9)

  158. “‘Ends justify means’ conservatives should remember the Rule of Law protects their carcasses when spit-roasting is an option.”

    Bull. The Law of Rule has been in full effect ever since Democrats became the Party of the Aggrieved Minority, whether that minority has been gays in high dudgeon that proles have the temerity to not offer them their business, CEOs who just want to keep the status quo going and score symbolic victories against their political opponents, or both. Monstrous individuals posing as everyday citizens with everyday concerns need to have their power SEVERELY curtailed if we want to Make America Great Again for a majority.

    ““No one is above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold.”

    And the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being judges are supposed to be fair to…their clients? Whoever pays them? Does ‘beyond reproach’ even factor into this?

    Quit quoting platitudes. You made too many laws and granted police too much leeway because your people didn’t want to take responsibility for their actions. Now you’re trying to reassert authority and failing BADLY because you’ve disconnected yourself with everyone in your country but your clients and potential clients, rich or poor. If reforms comes for the massive legal and enforcement mess you made, it WILL NOT come from your degraded and compromised class.

    “Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders.”

    Enforcing ‘racial profiling’ laws is ALWAYS political and always worthy of contempt, these are NEVER enforced on liberal power centers, they are only used as cudgels against less liberal cities who don’t have the money or connections to resist them.

    ‘Stop and frisk’ WAS a racial profiling program no matter how you word it, and it WORKED. Trump said as much. You think he’s going to be sympathetic to your argument on racial profiling? You think he doesn’t know that judges in his city have ALWAYS tried to make this argument, and failed?

    “The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.”

    The slogan is “LAW and ORDER”, with extra emphasis on the latter, you provincial hack. “Rule of Law” simply means ‘rule by the class of judges and lawyers in charge of interpreting it.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  159. When y’all claim others should be embarrassed the projection is strong like double-espresso. It just means I’ve successfully punched through your awareness crust. It is thick, but permeable.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  160. It must suck being a cellar dweller in your moms basement, ben burnie bro.

    mg (31009b)

  161. Happy Saturday, Colonel. Hurricane Harvey has brought the much needed rain in the drought-stricken state of Texas. I am hoping that the death-toll will be low to non-existent.

    felipe (023cc9)

  162. Pardons are not about law, except for the legal benefits to the recipients. They are about emotion because the legal result seems harsh or is politically unpopular. It is fair to criticize the pardon if it offends one’s moral code, but legally all Presidential pardons are allowed except a pardon to prevent impeachment.

    DRJ (15874d)

  163. The isolationists of 1935 have been inbreeding their phenotype of Nativist xenophobia, occasionally finding sycophants of a feather and join forces for one last attempt to roll back the clock.

    They don’t like forward motion, these backward troglodytes.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  164. It really sucks to have a wooden sword-wit in a word fight mg.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  165. Ben burn (5f7aa4) — 8/26/2017 @ 9:12 am

    That response was long in coming. Too bad it is only so much sparrow-shot fired from such a great distance. Quick thinking is not your “thing”, is it?

    felipe (023cc9)

  166. ohnoes

    cowardly sniveling war hero john mccain has a sad 🙁

    “No one is above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold. Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders. The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.”

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  167. complete the danged fence lol

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  168. I join felipe in hoping for no deaths or injuries, but Hurricane Harvey will be immense from a property standpoint because it is almost exclusively flood damage. Relatively few areas experienced high winds or tornadoes, and most of them were less populated areas. Thus, the damage probably won’t be covered by insurance unless the owners purchased flood insurance, and most people don’t have that.

    DRJ (15874d)

  169. Happy Saturday, felipe!

    161… that’s it then… blueballs bennie it shall be!

    Colonel Haiku (1659b2)

  170. Let’s go after Feldman’s own-goaling now:

    “To see why pardoning Arpaio would be so exceptional — and so bad — you have to start with the sheriff’s crime. Arpaio wasn’t convicted by a jury after a trial for violating some specific federal statute. Rather, he was convicted by a federal judge on the rather unusual charge of criminal contempt of court.”

    Getting convicted of unusual charges while being cruelly denied the option of a jury of your peers sounds rather unconstitutional, no?

    “Judge Bolton convicted Arpaio of criminal contempt. She found he had “willfully violated” the federal court’s order “by failing to do anything to ensure his subordinates’ compliance and by directing them to continue to detain persons for whom no criminal charges could be filed.”

    Sorry, no. Police forces are both necessary and highly resistant to rule from outside. If subordinates aren’t complying, and you aren’t going after the subordinates first, the fault does not lie with the superior. This is judicial overreach and micromanagement, perfectly worthy of our contempt.

    “And she held that Arpaio had “announced to the world and to his subordinates that he was going to continue business as usual no matter who said otherwise.””

    In so many words? Spare me.

    “This is the crime that Trump is suggesting he might pardon: willful defiance of a federal judge’s lawful order to enforce the Constitution.”

    Yes, I WILL support willful defiance of a federal judges order…in order to enforce the Constitutional authority to comply with federal over unchallenged unconstitutional state laws and their seditious backers. Get carpetbagged, you confederate loser!

    “It’s one thing to pardon a criminal out of a sense of mercy or on the belief that he has paid his debt to society.”

    Those are TERRIBLE reasons to pardon, or even parole. Unless you’re operating on slogans rather than the history of actual offending on the ground.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  171. i tread this morning somewheres the guadalupe might not set a record

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  172. err.. I *read* i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  173. “. A mess of people who are undocumented workers in the coastal bend are refusing to go to shelters or get on the bus to higher ground because they fear it is an ICE ruse. Oh dear God. People are going to die. And Trump pardons Joe Arpaio.”

    Conservative orgasms abound.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  174. 169

    Viking with wooden sword makes noise, causes no real damage.

    Bleep! Felipe!

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  175. The isolationists of 1935 have been inbreeding their phenotype…

    I realize that you are doing your best, working with what you have – as it were- but the word you are looking for is genotype, not phenotype. That is, if your intention was to make a coherent point because the use of phenotype would render your intent as racist.

    I can do this all day, but pig wrestling is most tiresome. I return you to your kiddie table. If you wish, you may engage me over there (points to the library), that is, if you care to make the journey.

    felipe (023cc9)

  176. I’m timing your slow response time Felipe.

    Speed Chess!

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  177. Youre thinking too much about semantics Felipe. Not a conservative talent.

    Try black and white. Grey’s are beyond yall.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  178. Fortunately, this link suggests
    rural areas like Rockport and Aransas County — that have gotten hit hard by Hurricane Harvey and last hurricanes — have many residents who purchased flood insiramce. I wonder if lenders require it? But coverage in the big cities of Houston, San Antonio, etc., seems meager. Just eyeballing it, it appears there are less than 7,000 policies in San Antonio/Bexar County and less than 175,000 in Houston/Harris County.

    DRJ (15874d)

  179. We took the best Nazis Germany could propagate and brought them to the US because we needed them. Any Nazi not needed got executed for the sake of justice. The rest became our low-hanging fruit of neo Nazi Leaders. That’s the genius Trump tapped into.
    Ben burn (5f7aa4) — 8/26/2017 @ 8:58 am

    Huh?

    AZ Bob (f7a491)

  180. harvardtrash weaksuck barack obama was openly contemptuous of these berobed sluts what preside over the corrupt federal court system

    Day 9: Obama repeatedly defied federal court with Gulf oil policies

    Even before Obama’s White House was caught manipulating that science, oil firms operating in the Gulf sued Obama in federal court to overturn his drilling ban.

    After reviewing the facts and science in the case, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana found that Obama’s drilling ban was an “arbitrary and capricious” abuse of executive authority, and ordered the ban overturned.

    But instead of following the law and allowing Gulf drilling to resume, Obama doubled down, issuing a new moratorium featuring minor technical changes from the first.

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  181. That would seen surprising dry then again how exoensice are policies over there,

    He strings words with little self awareness Felipe

    narciso (d1f714)

  182. I think the main concern now is the Brazos and the bayous, but any river basin is at risk depending on which way the storm turns.

    DRJ (15874d)

  183. Trump used the pardon to overturn a politically motivated prosecution and a corrupt federal judge ruling. The politically motivated prosecution goes all the way back to the original court order. If obama’s “justice” department did not intend to enforce immigration laws, by God, no one should! It continued with the timing of the criminal charge occuring right near the end of the election cycle. Maybe people would not be so upset if Trump charged Arpaio a donation to the Trump Foundation or a donation to the Trump Presidential Library. Then it would fit right in with “why dem presidents issue pardons.” No complaints from the media for that.

    Jim (a9b7c7)

  184. 183

    See NUREMBERG (Germany) WWII, War criminals, NASA, RUMPublican Party for reference.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  185. People generally don’t buy flood insurance unless they’ve had a flood experience. Sometimes they don’t realize it’s not included in regular property insurance, and sometimes they don’t bother. It’s sold by the federal government and I think it’s only available if you live in a participating community.

    DRJ (15874d)

  186. Of course, many lenders require flood insurance. That probably explains most of the policies.

    DRJ (15874d)

  187. narciso (d1f714) — 8/26/2017 @ 9:36 am

    Agreed, sir.

    felipe (023cc9)

  188. ‘Agreed, sir.’

    Don’t you mean ‘Jefe’?

    Show some respect for the proud Contra.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  189. That’s probably true, the long ibtwrval between major storms dulls the sense

    narciso (d1f714)

  190. The genuine reason for this pardon is messaging to potential co- indictees to keep their yaps shut because..pardon us!

    He will even try to pardon himself, shameless as he is.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  191. NevereverTrumps: Meh!

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  192. Are neber Trumps down with Civil War in their Trumpublican defense mechanisms?

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  193. no seems very protective of Trump when liberals attack him. He’s like a family member I suppose.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  194. Nk seems protective..

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  195. Speaking of insurance, DRJ, Texas insurers stopped issuing “mold-damage” coverage, which Texas allowed because of tremendous losses. Most policies do not cover mold now. So after the flooding, there will be the danger of mold damages.

    felipe (023cc9)

  196. True, felipe. I think that was because of a big State Farm case about 20 years ago.

    As for flood insurance, what about letting insurance companies in the market? Wouldn’t many of them bundle flood insurance with other coverage?

    DRJ (15874d)

  197. I think nk’s previous never-T was a knee jerk response to happyfeet’s fella.-level praise. When h got her timeout, nk probably realized that his concern troll act was not genuine but a response to a certain poster.

    urbanleftbehind (847a06)

  198. I would welcome the competition in letting insurers into this area of coverage. I would prefer flood coverage to be supplemental rather than included as part of the basic formula – lest we create another “obama-policy.” Let those at risk of flooding bear the cost, or not, as they see fit.

    felipe (023cc9)

  199. Those who wish to opine on Arpaio’s conduct, the contempt finding, and the pardon should at least trouble themselves to learn the basic facts of the case against him, but much of what is being written here by the critics of the pardon is misleading and wrong.

    There was a civil case brought against Arpaio and the Sheriff’s Dept. That was a civil rights case claiming that Latinos were being “profiled” and stopped without probable cause.

    As part of the outcome in that case, the federal judge enjoined Arpaio and the SO from detaining persons stopped who were found to be illegally in the country. The practice enjoined was “arresting” those individuals and either transporting them to the Border Patrol, or holding them in custody waiting for the Border Patrol to pick them up. The Judge ruled that because Arpaio’s deputies did not know whether the people being detained and taken to the Border Patrol had committed a crime — being in the country without status is a civil status offense subject to deportation, there are other required facts for it to be a crime — putting them into custody, even for the purposes of transport to Border Patrol, was an unlawful arrest.

    But for 18 months after that order went into effect, Arpaio’s deputies continued the same practice. It was that practice, not “profiling”, that led to the civil contempt citation.

    Then, even after the civil contempt citation was discharged once the practice was discontinued, Obama’s DOJ decided that wasn’t enough, and charged him with Criminal Contempt just two weeks before his re-election – which he thereafter lost.

    So far as I know, it was not part of the criminal contempt charge against him that his department continued to “profile” Latinos — stopping them without cause separate and apart from their appearance. The criminal contempt charge was for continuing to detain and transport illegals to the Border Patrol when there were no state charges to hold them on, and the deputies didn’t know whether the person’s presence in the US was a federal criminal offense because they lacked the information needed to make that determination.

    Arpaio defended himself by saying he didn’t fully understand the previous order, and that it prohibited his Dept from transporting actual illegal aliens to the Border Patrol even when they had come into contact with the Deputies in circumstances NOT involving the alleged profiling — such as when the deputies responded to a domestic disturbance call.

    The Judge in the contempt trial found that Arpiao knew the limits based on the injunction granted against his Dept. and failed to properly advise and direct his subordinates to comply.

    Both the Prosecutors and the Judge relied on public statements made by Arpaio to come to the conclusion that he purposely disregarded the the injunction as a point of defiance of control over the activities of his Dept. by a federal judge.

    Arpaio had the right under the law to “appeal” the criminal contempt finding by the federal judge, and have the matter heard once again by a Jury.

    One big issue in a case such as this is that the Judge hearing the contempt trial must find that the order of another judge that is the basis for the contempt citation was “clear and definite.”

    As the defense counsel pointed out after the decision, whether the injunction was “clear and definite” turned on the opinion of one federal judge about the order of a colleague.

    shipwreckedcrew (56b591)

  200. wheels within wheels

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  201. oh my goodness

    check out CNN fake news propaganda slut Ana Navarro

    looks like CNN fake news has been deliberately foisting a hoax on America by billing this filthy slag as a “Republican strategist”

    CNN Commentator and self-described “Republican strategist” Ana Navarro, a vehement Trump critic who regularly attacks the President behind a veneer of phony conservatism, is a longtime ally of and fundraiser for Democrat Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, and has a history of deliberately sabotaging the GOP to help Democrats, according to newly unearthed campaign documents from over a decade ago. Moreover, Navarro is on record bragging about how her efforts to elect Menendez in 2006 cost the Republican Party its Senate majority.

    […]

    “For the last two years of George W. Bush’s presidency, he couldn’t get judges confirmed to the federal bench because the Democrats controlled the Senate by one vote. That’s why Obama was able to remake the balance of our courts – there were so many judicial vacancies when he became President. Plus, Chuck Schumer basically got to handpick [Attorney General] Alberto Gonzales’ successor, Mike Mukasey, in 2007 because he had the votes to block any other nominee.”

    this is problematic because lying

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  202. @ swc #204: Thanks for that detailed but very useful and important background, I wasn’t acquainted with it all but had no trouble following, nor doubts about, your summary.

    In the course of arguing that Congress can and should impose some restraints or, at least, regularizations upon the presidential pardons process, InstaPundit aka con law professor Glenn Reynolds also summarizes, in this five-page essay, a lot of useful caselaw regarding the nature and scope of the presidential pardons power. I agree with him both regarding the relevant law and the desirability of some of the restraints that he suggests Congress impose.

    I don’t have a strong opinion about the equity of Trump’s decision here. I do have a very strong objection to its timing, and I believe it’s another example of Trump demonstrating his indifference to the Rule of Law. Our coordinate branches of government owe one another institutional respect, regardless of the worthiness of the individuals currently occupying the decision-making positions within those branches of government. No POTUS should disrespect the judicial branch by prematurely exercising a constitutional check, even though every POTUS has the opportunity to do so. It’s a question of judgment, not bright-line rules. But here, Trump’s judgment is simply execrable: There is an excellent chance that the appellate courts could and would overturn this conviction, thereby establishing binding precedents to prevent further misguided prosecutions-from-the-bench, if this indeed was one such, as I very much suspect it was (both from swc’s summary above and from my other reading about the case). In other words, by sticking his thumb on the scales at this stage, Trump — like an impatient three-year-old who insists upon having his way and having it now — prevented the federal appellate courts from finishing the work of justice in this case, and that will screw things up for the next target.

    Recall the bogus prosecution of Texas governor Rick Perry for alleged “crimes” in making funding decisions committed to him by the Texas Constitution in ways that progressives didn’t like. That was an analogous prosecution of an executive branch official by a hyper-political and irregular sort of prosecution. I believe that under Texas law, Perry could have pardoned himself, and some urged him to do exactly that. He didn’t, and instead he fought, and won, at considerable personal expense and disruption. However, as a result: Greg Abbott, current governor of Texas, and every successor governor of Texas, can do a better job of exercising the proper institutional responsibilities of that office now as a direct result of Rick Perry not being pardoned, but instead being vindicated by the appellate courts in written opinions that are now binding precedent for the future.

    Fighting for that, and winning the fight, would ultimately better serve the Rule of Law than this premature pardon.

    On the list of things Trump’s done that I think are detrimental to the Rule of Law, this still doesn’t make the top 50. But I definitely don’t think it was smart or praise-worthy or appropriate right now, regardless of whether the former sheriff might some day actually merit such an act of executive clemency, exercised in compliance with, rather than disregard of, the established DoJ procedures for pardons.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  203. I also meant to write, in #207 above, that I agree in general with DRJ’s comments in #20 above. My objections are to the timing, but I don’t doubt Trump’s constitutional power to do it now even though I think it’s a premature decision.

    OT, my area of Houston hasn’t lost power or had any significant wind damage or flooding yet. Flooding is now the main concern, and folks here are still mostly sheltering in place, which is smart, because most inland hurricane deaths are people who drown while traveling, typically when they try to get their vehicles through “that little puddle” or when they disregard a street-closing sign, and they’re mostly Darwin Award winners. Most of us who’ve been through a hurricane or two try to avoid competing.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  204. …thereby establishing binding precedents to prevent further misguided prosecutions-from-the-bench, if this indeed was one such,

    I am glad you brought up the resolution of the Perry case, and I agree that the Trump’s Pardon of Arpaio was ill-timed for the reasons you outlined. I also express my thanks to SWC for providing the background in his comment #204.

    felipe (023cc9)

  205. Thanks shipwrecked, it seems even mote muddled a ccharge yes Perry waited the decent interval and was mostly taken out, walker suffered under the chishoslmkrieg, axon the least. I was interwsred to note tha, t Harrison Williams counterpart to menendez was indicted under a different aspect of abscam one that involve ed a uranium deal.
    Union city, was little havana north pikachu and menendez ileana and dial balart were the three paisams in the house. Navarro is from Nicaragua, you might recall s little fracas Ben keeps misidentifying me with, nit that I disagree with the sentiment, but supporting la resistencia was the least a republican like Jesse helms could do back in the day.

    narciso (d1f714)

  206. The stache and Otto reich both worked for helms, the latter fought of Cuban proxies in Nicaragua,,the same set up we see in Venezuela today, this what got creepy degenerate Chris Dodd on his case.

    narciso (d1f714)

  207. Mattis to US troops: ‘Hold the line until our country gets back to respecting each other’

    It’s a long way to Tipperary.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  208. it’s the blatant CNN fake news duplicity what bothers me most Mr. narciso

    plus i hate her stupid smug face

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  209. You can’t split the Trump toddler.

    Can’t have it both ways..

    Half- measures will fail. Choose your side decisively and maybe you’ll make a difference

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  210. Thoughts from a true believer..

    “about a larded up debt bill that Trump vetos. What if the Dems joined with Rs to make it veto proof? I mean, they are the Uni Party and between them they could take the guy out once and for all”

    Hell of an idea…symbiosis to remove a garden pest.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  211. The McCain/Schumer VALKYRIE…

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  212. “It might rub-off I tell you!”

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  213. 207: Post of the Thread!

    urbanleftbehind (7e012b)

  214. Esq.

    NBC 4 reported that the cathedral is considering removing the pair of 8-by-4-foot stained glass windows, which were installed in the 1950s to memorialize Confederate Gens. Robert E. Lee and “Stonewall” Jackson. The pieces were sponsored by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the church previously planned to decide on them next summer, but will reportedly make an announcement soon.
    W. T. Actual. F?

    How in hell, you should pardon the expression, did these two gombeens end up as windows in any damn church? (I know. The Daughters of the Confederacy played Johnny Appleseed here the same way they did all over the country.) The Confederate States of America was a failed government of slavers and the aristocrats who owned them. It was transformed into a virus in our history that affected the country’s higher functions. We’re only now getting clear of it.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  215. 214, 215 damn straight (oops didn’t mean to to exclude other orientations/sarc). Option 1 looks a little too goofy though,

    urbanleftbehind (7e012b)

  216. If only John Wilkes Booth could have assassinated ignorance and bigotry in the precious South.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  217. It’s a long way to Tipperary.

    yesterday them tomatoes on the vine were on sale at the Mariano’s – same price as beefstakers

    so i got me 5 them bad boys and made scalloped tomatoes for a breakfast dish cause of i figured they’d pair wonderfully with my asparagus egg bake

    i first had these up in the blue ridge mountains and they been a guilty pleasure ever since

    this is my go-to recipe and i keep meaning to google for different interpretations but

    in this endeavour i have failed (I’m mostly curious if anyone actually uses cream or milk in some way… as in the more familiar dish of scalloped potatoes)

    i cheated this morning’s a bit cause of i added the last of my maple bacon onion jam as the onions were finishing but didn’t skimp on the brown sugar, so this batch is decadent and lovely

    i use a rough chop – i like my tomatoes to be a bit chunkier than a dice, but not “sliced” per se as the recipe says

    also you’ll see in some of the pics where people will put some decorative sliced of tomato atop the dish before baking

    don’t do this

    it’s pretty but it really upsets the balance of the dish… i garnish mine with chopped spinach done and done

    also I do the whole shebang in an oven-safe skillet

    there’s no reason to dirty up a casserole dish

    i imagine the leftovers would freeze beautifully but I’ve never had any real cause to try

    now I tell you what troubles me is

    dad used to love love love “breaded tomatoes” and i don’t think I ever tried them

    he’d always grab the first tomatoes from the garden come an early saturday and make himself a batch

    a big messy gloppy batch what I was… I was prejudiced against them ok

    they were gloppy and weird, and I wanted nothing to do with them

    but as i recall the whole operation was done stove-top

    I wish I’d paid more better attention now

    i might google and see what I find sometime

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  218. Yes but pikachu they are being beaten by bugs bunny reruns, who can imagine jim Acosta like daffy in duck amok.

    narciso (364166)

  219. oopers decorative *slices* of tomato atop the dish i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  220. Kasich looks like George McGovern by comparison to contemporaries so goofy is preferable to CRAAAAZZZZEEEEEE..

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  221. Or perhaps Elmer fudd,

    No more like bill Scranton,

    narciso (364166)

  222. Mr. narciso it’s really a problem though

    i used to consume so much news

    now i wait til someone dependable processes it for me

    and that’s inclusive of those undependable fellers at the null-set shrubbery – i’ll take their stuff before i click over to wapo or cnn – cause all that cnn fake news crap has to be filtered now before consuming

    i hate that it looks like this is the new normal

    i was heartened to see the New York Times take the Wall Street Journal to task for it’s relatively less-biased reporting

    if the WSJ sticks to its guns i might just subscribe again; but for now I’m glad that this is the sort of conversation these trashy propaganda sluts are having with each other

    it’s bracingly honest in its sick depraved way

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  223. oh my goodness i forgot to link my recipe

    scalloped tomatoes

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  224. now that b sum nee slapn funee cellar dweller

    mg (31009b)

  225. Yes it’s quite ridiculous, the enquirer is turning out to be slightly more reliable than the times.

    narciso (364166)

  226. good luck Houston, all of Texas and Beldar

    mg (31009b)

  227. so far casa pikachu just lost a fence what was already not long for this whirl, so that’s good news

    the trees are hanging in there

    live oak trees and hurplecanes are natural enemies cause of live oaks, they don’t have a tap root

    so saturated ground and wind can be disastrous

    i think our guys got themselves anchored under the foundation and the driveway and the street, plus they’ve grown out moreso than up, which helps too

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  228. oops *its* relatively less-biased reporting i meant to say

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  229. You rent the property in Austin, yes gerald bakers whose British, has to rap the reporters knuckles like the headmaster in the wall.

    narciso (7fc2e4)

  230. “Recall the bogus prosecution of Texas governor Rick Perry for alleged “crimes” in making funding decisions committed to him by the Texas Constitution in ways that progressives didn’t like. That was an analogous prosecution of an executive branch official by a hyper-political and irregular sort of prosecution. I believe that under Texas law, Perry could have pardoned himself, and some urged him to do exactly that. He didn’t, and instead he fought, and won, at considerable personal expense and disruption.”

    Bully for him. That was a different time, and the forces arrayed against governors are currently much greater and more coordinated. I have also seen, what do you call it…NO REMORSE and no consequences among those who brought the charges.

    “However, as a result: Greg Abbott, current governor of Texas, and every successor governor of Texas, can do a better job of exercising the proper institutional responsibilities of that office now as a direct result of Rick Perry not being pardoned, but instead being vindicated by the appellate courts in written opinions that are now binding precedent for the future.”

    ‘Precedent’ is only as good as the number of hyper-partisan sock puppets in key offices that moneyed men can install during less political times. This argument is well-worded but highly weak and untransferabl in real life.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  231. That’s a good point about timing, Beldar. I agree.

    DRJ (15874d)

  232. And I hope the floods don’t materialize.

    DRJ (15874d)

  233. nonono my sister bought mom and dad’s house in south texas

    much much closer to the coast than austin

    we was raised up on crawdads and blue crab and Luby’s

    and grandma she always had lamme’s sherbet mints out

    ikes i’m a have to try them brownies someday

    that’s just charming right there is what that is

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  234. Funnily enough:

    “I do have a very strong objection to its timing, and I believe it’s another example of Trump demonstrating his indifference to the Rule of Law.”

    If the ‘Rule of Law’ (whatever that is) is indifferent at best and hostile at worst to clear and present dangers to the nation and its citizens, then too bad for the ‘Rule of Law’.

    “Our coordinate branches of government owe one another institutional respect, regardless of the worthiness of the individuals currently occupying the decision-making positions within those branches of government.”

    “My country, right or wrong!”
    “My fellow branches, corrupt or clean!”

    “No POTUS should disrespect the judicial branch by prematurely exercising a constitutional check, even though every POTUS has the opportunity to do so. It’s a question of judgment, not bright-line rules. But here, Trump’s judgment is simply execrable: There is an excellent chance that the appellate courts could and would overturn this conviction, thereby establishing binding precedents to prevent further misguided prosecutions-from-the-bench, if this indeed was one such, as I very much suspect it was (both from swc’s summary above and from my other reading about the case).”

    Nope. “Precedent” doesn’t mean jack. There is no Board of Precedents that presides over every ruling. Those who are motivated to violate it will find an excuse to violate it. People can and will bring lawsuits against targets simply to ruin them financially. The media can and will call everyone to the right of Obama a Nazi. Radical Left trial lawyers can and will bring spurious charges completely against precedent in front of sympathetic or compromised judges in sympathetic or compromised districts. Get that through your thick skull and recite it as a mantra whenever you hear the term ‘precedent’.

    “In other words, by sticking his thumb on the scales at this stage, Trump — like an impatient three-year-old who insists upon having his way and having it now”

    Speedy trials are sooo two centuries ago.

    “prevented the federal appellate courts from finishing the work of justice in this case, and that will screw things up for the next target.”

    Nothing Trump did here is going to cause one iota of change in radical Left legal strategy. They will ignore it just like they ignored precedent in the Perry case. You will need to…*gasp*…MAKE THE SAME ARGUMENTS AGAIN, pay out the same or even more money again, the prior cases like dust in the wind, or perhaps Civil War statues in public.

    Stop pretending that your world still affects the real one if powerful people don’t want it to.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  235. We do have pretty live oaks in Texas, hf. I hope your trees survive this flooding. FWIW I think all oaks, including live oaks, have tap roots but over time live oaks also tend to develop lateral roots. That makes them seem like they don’t have tap roots.

    DRJ (15874d)

  236. Sam, are there any Republicans other than Trump that you support? If so, who are they?

    DRJ (15874d)

  237. oh

    but they do tend to tipple-topple in these storms

    i always thought it was cause the roots went out not down

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  238. yup you’re right

    The southern live oak has a deep tap-root that anchors it when young and eventually develops into an extensive and widespread root system. This, along with its low center of gravity and other factors, makes the southern live oak extremely resistant to strong sustained winds, such as those seen in hurricanes.

    i have to think on this

    i seen so many fall

    and they make such a mess when they do – tearing up a whole yard sometimes

    but it makes sense they’ve adapted to the coast i guess

    thank you I’m a rethink this whole thing now

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  239. maybe it’s just when they DO fall, it’s pretty dramatic

    i was always very impressionable

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  240. Cobsider sheriff dupnik a few countys over, his malpractice caused the death of nine including a young girl, of course he had every mAjor paper running interference for him, he was voted out but that is the extent of the accountability for him

    narciso (7fc2e4)

  241. ‘No remorse’ seems a feature rather than a bug for both Trump and his Party defectors lite. Repentance and restitution are original Law, even in its most most primitive form. Aside from this temporary devolution of Executive action, we should begin thinking about the aftershocks to institutions like the Law.

    Anarchic behaviors when perceived by even 16% as successful in this instance, will constitute a righteous majority. The impact on the majority could be catastrophic.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  242. oh… this post confuzzles everything DRJ

    I recently transplanted two live oaks, one about six feet tall, the other around ten feet tall. They each had a tap root. I think from looking at live oaks uprooted by hurricanes that the tap root becomes less important to a live oak as it matures.

    that tracks with what I’ve seen

    anyways i love them very much

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  243. By 16% I mean the diehard ideologies which is my guesstimate, but that could go higher. Lower? No way.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  244. my guess is people is planting them sometimes in soils and geologies where nature never intendered

    and this can cause them to develop in a way adverse to hurricane survival

    there was neighborhoods where we lived called this and that mott, named after the oak trees what were there before the developers came

    them one I never did see topple

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  245. them *ones* I never did see topple i mean

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  246. A little Stevie Ray on a Saturday… https://youtu.be/KC5H9P4F5Uk

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  247. @226. A Buckeye is a useless nut.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  248. I don’t think there have strong tap roots as they mature, as you said, but they do have them. The problem is the wood is very heavy and their roots are shallow, so they can fall. I think I read that the hull of Old Ironsides, the USS Constitution, was made from live oak wood and it was so hard it was like iron.

    DRJ (15874d)

  249. I’m proud of how Texans are responding. Now if they can just stash home. Texans have trouble doing that. We like to explore and gawk during events like this.

    DRJ (15874d)

  250. CNN fake news got their corpse finally

    someone died in a house fire in Rockport

    which, they’re kind of at a loss at the moment about how to exploit that

    happyfeet (28a91b)

  251. Yes there was some truth to don Helen’s dirty laundry, rich Sanchez who compared to the hyenas CNN currently has on tap, specialized in this at channel 7

    narciso (d1f714)

  252. Centerpoint Energy currently shows just under 20,000 customers without power in Houston. What’s amazing is that they expect Houston flooding to reach record levels but not until Tuesdasy or Wednesday. I hope they are wrong because people won’t stay in that long.

    As for the rest of South Texas, I think the main provider is AEP Texas. It’s outage map looks benign until you click on the icons. One “50+” icon represents 48,000 customers without service, another is 153,000 Corpus Christi customers without power. But I know other areas of Texas had pre-staged equipment and hundreds of power crews ready to go on Friday, so things will get fixed.

    DRJ (15874d)

  253. Volokh discusses whether accepting a pardon is an admission of guilt, and demonstrates why it is a complicated matter :

    Legal authorities, then, are split on the subject of how the law should understand pardons; but because some pardons are understood as being based on the pardoned person’s factual innocence, I doubt that any judge today would genuinely view acceptance of pardon as always being an admission of guilt. And my sense (though I realize that it might be mistaken) is that most people’s moral judgment today would be that, even if a pardon is offered just as a gesture of mercy and not as exoneration, the recipient may honorably accept it even if they continue to deny their factual guilt or their moral guilt.

    Dana (023079)

  254. “‘No remorse’ seems a feature rather than a bug for both Trump and his Party defectors lite.”

    Weren’t we just talking about the various lists of unrepentant criminals pardoned by the bosses of the criminal Democrat party? When were we talking about the ‘Party defectors’, i.e., the #NeverTrumpers, whose only real skill is parroting the talking points of their Criminal Party bosses whenever it’s convenient for them?

    “Repentance and restitution are original Law, even in its most most primitive form.”

    Nope. INJURY AND DEATH IF YOU CROSS THESE BOUNDARIES is the most original, primitive, and, dare I say it, universal form of law. But I don’t blame you for not getting this, liberals always talk about morality with the clumsiness of aliens picking up the local language.

    “Aside from this temporary devolution of Executive action, we should begin thinking about the aftershocks to institutions like the Law.”

    So long as people want to make agreements, there will be rules to lawyer over. Whoever “THE LAW!!!” is meant to represent (probably some nebulous agglomeration of BigLaw and whatever you saw on Law and Order SVU” probably won’t last, and that’s all to the good. This is America, can’t let any power center go unexamined or unchecked, especially when its members contribute like 90% to one political party and never seem to have their most suspicious/criminal people suffer legal consequences.

    “Anarchic behaviors when perceived by even 16% as successful in this instance, will constitute a righteous majority. The impact on the majority could be catastrophic.”

    FOR YOU!

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  255. Cobsider sheriff dupnik a few countys over, his malpractice caused the death of nine including a young girl, of course he had every mAjor paper running interference for him, he was voted out but that is the extent of the accountability for him

    Arpaio faked an assassination attempt against himself, then framed someone for it. Cost the county a million dollars, but he personally faced no repercussions

    Davethulhu (3a2442)

  256. fcs obama could have pardoned polansky, berkowitz and ed gein and nobody would have gave a schlitz.

    mg (31009b)

  257. “Anarchic behaviors when perceived by even 16% as successful in this instance, will constitute a righteous majority. The impact on the majority could be catastrophic.”

    FOR YOU!

    Whoa, now Yosemite.

    We happened to be discussing the Autocrat posing as a populist with anti-democratic behavior.

    I’m surprised you don’t congratulate him for his electoral victory with each comment. When you relax mebbe we can discuss it.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  258. I think Sam is an authentic Jacksonian.

    DRJ (15874d)

  259. That seems surprising drj considering the breath of the storm.

    narciso (d1f714)

  260. “We happened to be discussing the Autocrat posing as a populist with anti-democratic behavior.”

    The Servant To The Soulless Oligarchs has had his ad hominem description placed on file and noted in his Permanent Internet Thread Record.

    “I’m surprised you don’t congratulate him for his electoral victory with each comment. When you relax mebbe we can discuss it.”

    My comments were mainly about defending Arpaio, but every comment you make that rages against decisions made outside of your input is worth celebrating Dr. Donald John Trump 2016, PhD’s electoral victory against unfathomable odds.

    (Translation: you’re such a obvious lefty-partisan lightweight that I really don’t feel like anything other than agreeing and amplifying with you.)

    But here’s my observable position(and also the one that no major conservatives seem to be taking despite all the precedent earlier in the year:) “Arpaio was busted for criminal contempt of court. So, when Dr. President Donald J. Trump 2020, PhD defies a federal injunction (citing the precedent of Old Hickory vs. Some Judge) he can order I.C.E. to continue enforcement. Agents can then defy courts, safe in the knowledge that Trump has their back”.

    This is the proper, creditable, sensible, and patriotic position for all Americans interested in maintaining a country worth defending.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  261. swc 204:

    Your summary could be spot on but there is another view. For instance:

    1. Defendants intentionally violated court orders.

    Arpaio and his chief deputy, Jerry Sheridan, acknowledged in March 2015 that they violated court orders and could be found in civil contempt of court. But they insisted their missteps were unintentional. Their defense lawyers focused on that theme during the civil contempt evidentiary hearing. When those hearings were finally over in November 2015, Arpaio’s lawyer John Masterson summed things up this way:

    “Were there mistakes made? Absolutely. Were Court orders violated? Absolutely. But the key we wanted to get across to the court, and the public for that matter, is it was not intentional.”

    But Snow concluded the opposite in his findings of facts. Snow writes:

    “[T]he Court finds that the Defendants have engaged in multiple acts of misconduct, dishonesty, and bad faith with respect to the Plaintiff class and the protection of its rights. They have demonstrated a persistent disregard for the orders of the Court, as well as an intention to violate and manipulate the laws and policies regulating their conduct…”
    Furthermore, Snow explicitly found that Arpaio and Sheridan both “knowingly and intentionally failed to implement the preliminary injunction.”

    Snow has long threatened that at the conclusion of the civil contempt case he will decide whether to refer the case to a federal prosecutor to pursue criminal contempt charges. The finding that the violations were intentional is significant because it paves the way for Snow to do just that, since intent is a necessary element for a criminal prosecution.

    Plus, Snow’s strong wording in the ruling makes it increasingly unlikely he would find strictly civil remedies to be a sufficient resolution. Civil contempt remedies are not intended to be punitive, and are just supposed to ensure compliance with court orders and compensate those harmed by the contempt. A criminal contempt finding on the other hand can result in punishment for the defendants, such as fines or incarceration.

    DRJ (15874d)

  262. Was Judge Show the one who held Arpaio in civil contempt, and another Judge heard the criminal contempt charge? I think so.

    DRJ (15874d)

  263. As you’ve noticed Trump makes everything about hisself. You enablers think you got him on a leash but you don’t pick up after him because there’s no poo on you, or so your mind wanderings suggest. And there you go distancing yourself with the unfathomable assertion those two Birfers were separated at birth and your defense of Jail Torquemada is all you intended..

    “Farewell and adieu my sweet ladies…”

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  264. 253, one more census, we wont need to give a damn,

    urbanleftbehind (7e012b)

  265. “As you’ve noticed Trump makes everything about hisself. You enablers think you got him on a leash but you don’t pick up after him because there’s no poo on you, or so your mind wanderings suggest.”

    Liberals always project their preferred governing models onto their enemies. Also they always reach straight for the poop and pee references when they’re losing the audience and they need a distraction, much like an Adam Sandler movie.

    “And there you go distancing yourself with the unfathomable assertion those two Birfers were separated at birth and your defense of Jail Torquemada is all you intended..”

    If Obama had been interested in the ‘process’ and ‘procedure’ you love to worship when it’s convenient for you, his birth certificate, college records, grades, etc would have been accessible on Day One of his presidential campaign.

    He done didn’t.

    ““Farewell and adieu my sweet ladies…””

    A pretty way to say ‘I lost because I’m not smart, funny, or driven enough to continue this argument.’ Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  266. What argument? You mean ‘argument?

    Natch! I’ll even swap out my foil for a wooden sword so we’re even up.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  267. You swallow the entire Trump flounder. Don’t deny it. We’re you upset when he ditched Birfers? At least you’re devoted.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  268. And you don’t have to answer every rhetorical question . Kinda defeats the purpose.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  269. I was wrong in #207 above on one particular: For Perry to have pardoned himself, he first would’ve needed an affirmative written recommendation for that from the majority of the members of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. That dates back to a constitutional crisis of Texas governors abusing the pardons process in the 1920s and 1930s, and for decades the Board consisted of one member appointed by the governor, one by the Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, and another by the Chief Justice of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals (both elected judicial positions not appointed by the governor). However, that was gradually changed, and since 1989, the Board has consisted of 18 members appointed by the governor with Senate approval. Perry was the longest-serving governor in Texas history, and everyone on the Board by the time he was indicted had been appointed there by him; but the Board is nevertheless fairly jealous of its prerogatives (which are occasionally controversial, usually in death penalty cases), and it’s by no means clear that Perry could’ve persuaded the Board to issue a pre-convictions-and-appeals pardon even if he’d tried. But he didn’t.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  270. I agree with Beldar that it is a shame future LEO will not have benefit of Appellate precedent against the overreach by the Arizona prosecutors. In a more perfect world, this would happen speedily.

    The problem here is that Arpaio is an old man and he is facing innumerable court trials. DJT failed to grant him a blanket pardon, as well. More criminal liability remains.

    I don’t have it in me to get upset at DJT nor JA for the quick resolution.

    I have much contempt for our politys who refuse to recognize the existential threat illegal and unbridled immigration presents. Where is the outcry for the Rule of Law ignored in the reality tens of millions of foreign squatters in our land? IRS? HRC emails? And on and on.

    Ed from SFV (3400a5)

  271. Trump asked Sessions about closing case against Arpaio. Advised it would have been “inappropriate”, he did on the back end what he wanted to do on the front end.

    A non-banana republic with a banana republic leader. How inspiring! World class.

    Q! (267694)

  272. What opened is maldef and the aclu and covington and burling took the opportunity of the regrettable error of the melendtes address to exact their pound of flesh, fit thevleft there is never any moving on.

    narciso (d1f714)

  273. “We’re you upset when he ditched Birfers? At least you’re devoted.”

    But Joe Arpaio did get his investigation into the birth certificate, and he did conclude that it was fraudulent. Right after the election, in fact. Did your usual slate of news orgs not cover it?

    “Advised it would have been “inappropriate”, he did on the back end what he wanted to do on the front end.

    A non-banana republic with a banana republic leader. How inspiring! World class.”

    This sort of “I want to do something, let me find the ways to do it” process literally happens all the time, you only hear partisans talking ‘banana republic’ when it gores their goat.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  274. @280 This sort of “I want to do something, let me find the ways to do it” process literally happens all the time As seems to become ever-clearer with every post, you have a knack for missing the point. Whether it’s intentional or not remains (perhaps) to be determined.

    Q! (267694)

  275. I found the whole birthetism one of the sillier claims

    https://openjurist.org/963/f2d/1220/cooper-v-dupnik-cooper,

    So nearly 20 years before Tucson dupnik had played fast and loose with the law

    narciso (d1f714)

  276. Hates another example, odd how arbitrariness seems to follow him, except when krugman andcmark Kelly covered for him:
    caselaw.findlaw.com/us-9th-circuit/1287845.html

    narciso (d1f714)

  277. I have to admit I was awol for that news.

    I’m surprised, considering teh timing, there wasn’t a two-hour 60 minutes episode. What a Blockbuster!

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  278. “As seems to become ever-clearer with every post, you have a knack for missing the point.”

    Whine, whine, you were trying to score a lazy rhetorical point with a weak shot and THE BIG TRUMPY BULLY BLOCKED MY SHOT”

    “Whether it’s intentional or not remains (perhaps) to be determined.”

    I’m kind of what you’d call a point guard.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  279. I’ve noted how Milan as well as Barcelona and London were nodes pre 9/11

    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4824088/Swiss-Guard-says-s-matter-time-Rome-hit.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline

    narciso (d1f714)

  280. If the Ramos and Compean case is any evidence, what Arpaio did to piss off the Arizona feds was probably not rounding up illegals per se, just the drug-smuggling ones who were paying them (the local feds) protection.

    I am not entirely joking.

    nk (dbc370)

  281. My thanks to both Beldar and shipwreckedcrew for excellent insights, but Trump could make a blood donation and some people would still find a way to criticize him for it. I don’t blame him for looking at his big picture, the political upside and downside of the pardon, and choosing to do good to his friends.

    nk (dbc370)

  282. On the list of things Trump’s done that I think are detrimental to the Rule of Law, this still doesn’t make the top 50. But I definitely don’t think it was smart or praise-worthy or appropriate right now, regardless of whether the former sheriff might some day actually merit such an act of executive clemency, exercised in compliance with, rather than disregard of, the established DoJ procedures for pardons.

    Haven’t read all the comments and don’t see a discussion of denial of jury trial to Sheriff Joe but he is 85.

    Andrew Mellon, who was prosecuted by the Roosevelt Administration was finally exonerated after his death.

    Small benefit to the unjustly accused. Like the couple in Texas who got $23 million after many years in prison for child abuse that never happened.

    Mike K (b3dd19)

  283. Yrs Steven berry the author was still suggesting mellons guilt in a recent work.

    narciso (d1f714)

  284. I illustrated upthread how one gitmo detainee, Larsen ikasrien despite all the evidence if his Ac membership was able to extract a sizable settlement from the Spanish courtswhich he then used to fund an Islamic state cell uncovered three years ago, another fellow, who also was at gitmo, was nabbed in the same border town that members of the Barcelona cell fled to.

    narciso (d1f714)

  285. Trump’s a racist.
    Arapio’s a bigot.

    “Just like Archie Bunker.”- Laureen Hobbs [Marlene Warfield] “Network” 1976

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  286. The Angela Davis masque, is much fir alnughty police state,

    narciso (d1f714)

  287. Mnunchin & Cohn: surprise, fellas; history rhymes.

    “We have always held the well-being of the German people and the fatherland, to which we feel inextricably linked, above our own well-being. Thus we greeted the results of January, 1933, even though it has brought hardship for us personally.” – Verband nationaldeutscher Juden, 1934

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  288. @ nk (#289), who wrote:

    My thanks to both Beldar and shipwreckedcrew for excellent insights, but Trump could make a blood donation and some people would still find a way to criticize him for it. I don’t blame him for looking at his big picture, the political upside and downside of the pardon, and choosing to do good to his friends.

    That’s a fair point, nk, and certainly it’s one of the reasons why this doesn’t make my own list of my top 50 problems with Trump on Rule of Law issues.

    My disapproval of Trump in this instance is but a fraction — and a small one at that — of my disapproval of Bubba selling pardons out the back door of the White House as he left office (corruption, pure and simple) or Obama ruthlessly, relentlessly using the pardon power as a tool to motivate and control elements of his progressive political base, the long-term consequences of which are worse than Bubba’s simple avarice.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  289. As an example of an extremely deft and appropriate use of presidential judgment in exercising the pardoning power, I’ve always thought Dubya got the timing and scope of the Scooter Libby commutation exactly right. For all its notoriety and political drama, Libby’s case actually didn’t make any new legal precedent at the trial court level, and wasn’t likely to do so on appeal. He’d been sentenced; his motion for new trial had been denied; his appellate process was already underway, but just beginning. Libby had already previewed his appellate arguments in support of his motions in the trial and then appellate courts for bail pending appeal. But one key element that must be shown to justify bail pending appeal (I’m paraphrasing here) is a decent shot of being able to win on appeal, which neither the trial judge nor the DC Circuit thought Libby’s lawyers had succeeded in showing. Libby was hours from being processed into prison when Dubya commuted his sentence, but not his conviction. I was pleased to read that Libby recently sought, and won, reinstatement of his law license in the District of Columbia.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  290. Is deft, they pulled out the same playbook, casting a net not only on flynn but manafort,caputo, gates, i’m sure I missed a few targets. This pardon is a signal that loyalty will be rewarded to a degree.

    narciso (d1f714)

  291. WaPo: Trump asked Sessions about closing case against Arpaio, an ally since ‘birtherism’

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-asked-sessions-about-closing-case-against-arpaio-an-ally-since-birtherism/2017/08/26/15e5d7b2-8a7f-11e7-a94f-3139abce39f5_story.html?utm_term=.1dbe9625bba6

    “What, what, what? I said you are my servant.” – King Mongkut of Siam [Yul Brynner] ‘The King and I’ 1956

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  292. I think he paints with a broadbrush, but still offers some truth:

    https://amgreatness.com/2017/08/26/anyone-real-afghanistan-strategy/

    narciso (d1f714)

  293. It doesn’t hurt to ask. And the Attorney General is the guy to ask about prosecutorial discretion in the DOJ. (Maybe even about recusal, too, if Sessions has read that part of the DOJ rules and regulations by now.) When your complaining witness is a federal District Judge, I expect there’s not much prosecutorial discretion, if any.

    nk (dbc370)

  294. The point I’ve been trying to makevif the goal is to knock you out as they have done in varying degrees in Alaska, Texas Virginia and Wisconsin, the size and shape of the maillot is immaterial.

    narciso (d1f714)

  295. 290:

    The wrongly convicted Texas couple, Dan and Fran Keller, have been awarded $3.4M ($80k x 21 years each), not $23M.

    DRJ (15874d)

  296. @ Mike K (#290): I think the rejections of Arpaio’s jury trial demands is indeed his best appellate argument, and I have not yet seen any convincing justification for it. I think it’s so shaky that even the Ninth Circus Circuit would have a hard time affirming his conviction (and he’d likewise have had a correspondingly strong argument for bail pending appeal, btw). But especially in the SCOTUS, modern Sixth Amendment cases have produced some surprising line-ups in majority opinions. In Apprendi v. New Jersey (2000), for instance, in which the SCOTUS held that the “Constitution requires that any fact that increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum, other than the fact of a prior conviction, must be submitted to a jury and proved beyond a reasonable doubt,” the majority opinion was written by (since-retired but undoubtedly progressive) Justice Stevens, joined by Scalia, Souter, Thomas, and Ginsburg (!), with C.J. Rehnquist and Justices Kennedy, Breyer, and O’Connor dissenting. There were similar pro-Sixth Amendment lineups in a pair of subsequent cases about the federal sentencing guidelines, Blakely v. Washington and U.S. v. Booker. And in Alleyne v. U.S. (2013), new Justices Sotomayor and Kagan joined Ginsburg and Thomas and Breyer in reaffirming Apprendi (although some other peculiarities in that case again produced a fractured lineup on some of the particular applications of Apprendi). So there are many reasons to think that the current SCOTUS would likewise find the Sixth Amendment issues important, and that the current Court might well agree that Arpaio deserved a jury trial. The very importance of this issue is why, for jurisprudential purposes as well as for separation of powers issues, I wish Trump had waited.

    Arpaio is old but was still running for office, and he doesn’t appear to be frail. Age is an appropriate factor in clemency and pardon deliberations, but never more than a weak one, and only when the subject is already in, or actually in imminent danger of, imprisonment.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  297. Bah. Sorry for the unclosed tag.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  298. I guess Arpaio’s effort to convince the Supreme Court (that he should have had the right to a jury trial) is now moot.

    DRJ (15874d)

  299. Is he i think has just trying to defend his name, and possibly deal with more pressing issues:
    http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/joe-arpaio-confirms-wife-ava-is-ill-does-not-deny-cancer-rumors-7971684

    narciso (d1f714)

  300. Glad you have power, Beldar. Hope it’s not too wet.

    DRJ (15874d)

  301. I have a great war story about being held in contempt, but I’ll save it for another time.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  302. As I’ve said before, steyn might very well in his lawsuit Against Michael Mann, but the result is to discourage anyone else from following such a course. Conrad black did get some justice against fitZ and his accomplice, breeden but the flagship wee sold to the Barclays bros (guess which firm they recently retained and why?)

    narciso (d1f714)

  303. Thanks, DRJ. So far so good in my neighborhood.

    Beldar (fa637a)

  304. “for all its notoriety and political drama, Libby’s case actually didn’t make any new legal precedent at the trial court level, and wasn’t likely to do so on appeal.”

    What sort of analysis is this? If any lawyer, judge or citizen is looking to executive pardons as justifications for generalized legal precedent beyond the next four to eight years, they’re just as bad as Congress and deserve all the executive overreach they get.

    Talking about an ‘independent judiciary’ and then taking this EVERYTHING IS PRECEDENT attitude when things get difficult is precisely the level of presumption/hypocrisy that makes people look askance at the legal community.

    There is the legal world, where you do whatever you can get away with according to the rules at the time, and then the moral and political world, where you try to do what’s right by you and yours. Treating actions outside of your world by definition (executive decisions, personal preferences, really any act that’s informed by personal judgment) as though they can be infinitely subjected to your world’s rules is part of why you’re hated.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  305. OT, but we’re at comment 313.
    Beldar, you’ve mentioned the Civil War novel you’re working on before. Have you read the Judge Priest stories by Irvin S. Cobb? They center around a bunch of Confederate veterans, now in their 50s and older, and their town in northwest Kentucky, in the early 1900s. They were written around that time, too. At the link, above, I found:
    — Back Home: Being the Narrative of Judge Priest and His People
    — Old Judge Priest
    — Those Times and These

    I mention them because I think the fiction of an earlier era sometimes gives you a better picture of the tempores and mores than history books, if it’s from a good writer.

    nk (dbc370)

  306. Well that is overreaching as well. One ca. Derive totally different conclusions from past precedent.

    http://www.claremont.org/crb/article/con-fusion)

    My friend clarice saved the late ed reinecke from the cconsequences of Watergate era lawfare, but that doesn’t stop a tone ofvthe period. The sovereign state of itt from preferring their narrative

    James Stewart reviewed the blame case in a recent collection, but only saw obsudian black not any Grey area.zimmermsn was acquited but NBC was not held accohbtable for their malfeasance.

    narciso (d1f714)

  307. Thanks, nk, I’ll take a look!

    Beldar (fa637a)

  308. 293… ASPCA is a knob.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  309. For a “look” ;), I recommend Those Times and These. The first story starts with the remnants of Shelby’s, Smith’s and Bedford’s commands “withdrawing” to Mexico in the middle of its revolution.

    nk (dbc370)

  310. Pardon, that’s John, not Sam. Oops.

    Rev.Hoagie® (630eca)

  311. “JULIETTE OCHIENG: The Left Reminds Its Foot Soldiers that Real Soldiers are the Enemy. They can only pretend to love the troops for so long. Because ultimately, anyone fighting for America is their enemy.”

    — Glenn Reynolds

    https://baldilocks-talking.blogspot.com/2017/08/the-left-reminds-its-foot-soldiers-that.html

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  312. On another front:
    legalinsurrection.com/2017/08/then-they-came-for-philadelphias-frank-rizzo-statue/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LegalInsurrection+%28Le%C2%B7gal+In%C2%B7sur%C2%B7rec%C2%B7tion%29

    narciso (d1f714)

  313. anyone against the pardon of sheriff Joe is likely to enjoy sleeping with chelsea manning

    mg (31009b)

  314. the cellar dweller and his mom….

    mg (31009b)

  315. when and i am hoping soon that mccain dies – sheriff Joe gets his seat.

    mg (31009b)

  316. Ryan needs to be ousted then fried like potatoes.

    mg (31009b)

  317. So now is Sessions gonna get the heave? He’s crept into my “neutral” bracket, which is where I had Flynn, Bannon, and Gorka. http://www.yahoo.com/news/jeff-sessions-apos-advised-donald-025557765.html

    urbanleftbehind (847a06)

  318. Sessions recused himself as a player for MAGA months ago. -axe him now.

    mg (31009b)

  319. Terrible flooding in Houston overnight. Best wishes to Beldar and everyone in that area. I guess Gov Abbott was right when he said they should voluntarily evacuate North.I’ll

    DRJ (15874d)

  320. narciso (d1f714) — 8/27/2017 @ 5:03 am

    Great link, narciso, thanks. The link to Stella Morabito’s post sheds light on Ben Burn’s presence and morphology of his comments.

    felipe (023cc9)

  321. I have friends and family in Houston, Sugarland, and and Conroe. So far all are safe, Thanks be to God.

    felipe (023cc9)

  322. 328

    Jefferson Beauregard is only concerned it sets a bad precedent for Jim Crow revival.
    C

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  323. “Civilization depends on the vast majority of people observing rules which can never be legislated. ”

    Yup. Laws and prison had to be created because SOME people think they are above the rules.

    Do we need legislation preventing future POTUS from advantaging business enterprise for himself?

    Need we spell out he can’t pardon himself from high crimes and misdemeanors?

    Apparently some people need lessons on community and comity.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  324. Like it or not, a lot of white people have a hard time seeing unjustified killings of people of color as the gross civil rights abuse it is, because when cops cite fear or danger in individual cases, fearful white people — who themselves might shoot a black kid in haste in the name of self-defense — side when them. Those white people might easily treat Black Lives Matter as an annoyance blocking their commute on the freeway.

    The same white people might find Joe Arpaio’s tortuous camps for people of color objectionable, because those camps make the systemic aspect far more apparent. They’re far more likely to do so, though, if this pardon is primarily seen as Trump’s endorsement of systematic white supremacy rather than a test run to protect himself.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  325. The targets of the Russian investigation already know Trump can and is considering pardoning them.

    But a pardon of them — at least some of them — is a very different thing than an Arpaio pardon. That’s because, for some of the crimes in question, in case of a pardon, Robert Mueller could just share the evidence with a state (usually NY) or NYC prosecutor for prosecution. It’s possible that accepting a pardon for Trump or Kushner business related crimes could expose those businesses to lawsuit, and both family’s businesses are pretty heavily in debt now.

    Most importantly, a Paul Manafort or Mike Flynn pardon would deprive them of their ability to invoke the Fifth Amendment, meaning they could more easily be forced to testify against Trump, including to Congress.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  326. With all the glibertarian lawyers here you’d think they’d pick up on this.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  327. If it was California rather than Texas, betcha Trump would be tweeting about FEMA in a very different manner.
    http://blog.ucsusa.org/rachel-cleetus/4-ways-president-trumps-budget-takes-aim-at-fema-and-disaster-preparedness

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  328. The same white people might find Joe Arpaio’s tortuous camps for people of color objectionable, because those camps make the systemic aspect far more apparent. They’re far more likely to do so, though, if this pardon is primarily seen as Trump’s endorsement of systematic white supremacy rather than a test run to protect himself.
    Ben burn (5f7aa4) — 8/27/2017 @ 7:24 am

    Who wrote that for you Ben? Maxine Waters? Black Lives Matter? The Communist Party USA? That looks like something you lifted from a radical alt-left site that promotes the idea that anything white, male or Christian is raaaaadist. Which means once again your liberal privilege is showing. I know, you copied it from some college pamphlet!

    Rev.Hoagie® (630eca)

  329. Hoagie: Does someone else read the post then type your dictation?

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  330. Rev.Hoagie® (630eca) — 8/27/2017 @ 7:43 am
    Yes, Rev. He lifted the 12th paragraph.

    felipe (023cc9)

  331. “Like it or not, a lot of black people have a hard time seeing the unjustified slaughter of people of color by other people of color in the urban areas of Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, Los Angeles, Miami, S St Louis, etc. as the gross proof that illiteracy, illegitimacy, embrace of thug culture and decades of being told they could never achieve excellence, only a substandard existence doled out monthly by their Democratic masters, was not a winning recipe for human success.

    Now, instead of rejecting this formula of human misery, they double down, declare themselves “ungovernable”, the cops and white folk “the enemy”, and decide rioting and uncivil mayhem is the answer.”

    Fyp

    By all means maybe a sit down on the freeway will fix it.

    harkin (f1711c)

  332. Like it or not, a lot of white people have a hard time seeing unjustified killings of people of color as the gross civil rights abuse it is, because when cops cite fear or danger in individual cases, fearful white people — who themselves might shoot a black kid in haste in the name of self-defense — side when them.
    Ben burn (5f7aa4) — 8/27/2017 @ 7:24 am

    We have a hard time seeing it because there’s usually a lot of justification there. The BLM side exaggerates and fabricates narratives that just aren’t true when you watch the evidence. In cases where someone is unjustifiably shot, we agree that it wasn’t a just shooting and try the officer.

    Lyrics Don't Matter (f80109)

  333. Your quote, Rev was the twelth p. “His” comment at 337 was the 11th and twelth pp. He does this often. I do not assign any ill-will in his failure to provide proper attribution’ just laziness.

    felipe (023cc9)

  334. Just as I thought. It’s conservative occupational myopia.

    I ‘lifted’ TWO sections felipee.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  335. Sight challenged special Olympics commenters need their attribution hand held tightly.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  336. The left wing cesspit of Portland, Oregon doing its best to chase the minority community away… http://www.portlandmercury.com/feature/2017/08/23/19263182/how-portland-is-driving-away-new-residents-of-color

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  337. Following are choice excerpts.
    Ben burn (5f7aa4) — 8/27/2017 @ 7:23 am

    This is Ben’s idea of attribution. Whatever floats his boat.

    felipe (023cc9)

  338. I ‘lifted’ TWO sections felipee.
    Ben burn (5f7aa4) — 8/27/2017 @ 7:56 am

    I know that very well. You did not see my comment #346.

    felipe (023cc9)

  339. I’m happy you found your context Felipe. I’m sure you can find typos to fill your pelican bill with lots of delicious fish.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  340. Lol!

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  341. 337.Like it or not, a lot of white people have a hard time seeing unjustified killings of people of color as the gross civil rights abuse it is, because when cops cite fear or danger in individual cases, fearful white people — who themselves might shoot a black kid in haste in the name of self-defense — side when them. Those white people might easily treat Black Lives Matter as an annoyance blocking their commute on the freeway.
    Ben burn

    More radical alt-left ant white racist drivel, Ben. Like it or not white people not only do not have a hard time seeing unjustified killings of people of color as the gross abuse of civil rights but they expand that belief to ALL people of ALL colors since it was those damn “white people” who codified equality in law into the justice system. That idea was not put forward in Africa, the Middle East or Asia and by no other culture of prominence than Western Civilization.

    The very idea that you believe *white people* alone would be the only ones “who themselves might shoot a black kid in haste in the name of self-defense” is a racist take by a closed mind. Any person of any race in the fear of the moment “might shoot a black kid” even, and most often another black!

    And the stupidity of: “Those white people might easily treat Black Lives Matter as an annoyance blocking their commute on the freeway.” is beyond explanation. Are you trying to make a point? If so come out and say it. “Those people” as you call them most likely don’t see BLM as an “annoyance” but rather as the anti-white, anti-American communist supported Soros financed mob of brain washed racists that they are. How do you see BLM Ben? As an off shoot of the Boy Scouts?

    Rev.Hoagie® (630eca)

  342. Blueballs Bennie can’t catch a break.

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  343. “I’m happy you found your context Felipe.”

    Thank you, Ben, for correctly spelling my name (it is my actual name). It demonstrates an effort at civil discourse, and is appreciated. I’ll endeavor to do likewise.

    felipe (023cc9)

  344. Pfc and Freunds have lidocaine in their buns. (Anticipating a** kickings)

    Lol!

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  345. “just laziness”

    Gramscian hiring and advancement practices resemble close in-breeding in final result. Simple cretinism should not be rejected as a potential explanation. Morabito’s post was a very good exploration of the application of Alinskite tactics but such explorations should end with a finger pointing at Chicago as the effective result of the application.

    Rick Ballard (48cc19)

  346. Rick Ballard (48cc19) — 8/27/2017 @ 8:10 am

    That is an astute insight.

    felipe (023cc9)

  347. “Simple cretinism should not be rejected as a potential explanation.”

    Which would disrespect the opponents who just had their empty heads handed to them.

    A ‘Deadfall’ is more likely.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  348. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/08/26/what-authoritarianism-experts-think-of-trumps-decision-to-pardon-joe-arpaio/

    “Authoritarians generally don’t allow their officials to be convicted of anything in the first place. So it’s a sign of how much the president is working against the system that produces outcomes that he doesn’t like one bit.

    “Now, I think it is meaningful that Arpaio is a law enforcement official, but that’s because it reveals the hollowness of ‘law and order’ presidency. What I’d really find more troubling is if he starts pardoning your everyday police officers who are convicted of the abuse of power or other violent crimes.”

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  349. Bennie with teh blue balls, blue balls, blue balls,
    Bennie with teh blue balls on
    Bennie with tehblue balls, blue balls, blue balls,
    Bennie with teh blue balls on
    Fee, fee, fi, fi, fo-fo, fum
    Read his crap today, here it comes
    Spreadin’ Big Lies and throwin’ shade
    Stinkin’ up the place and we’re runnin’ outta Glade
    Typin’ fast and a vict’ry mince
    What you smell ain’t gardenias and his name ain’t Vince
    Bennie with the blue balls, blue balls, blue balls,
    Bennie with the blue balls on
    Hey I said now, Bennie with the blue balls , blue balls, blue balls,
    Bennie with the blue balls on

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  350. Colonel, only you could work in an homage to the great Vincent Gardenia in such a fashion! Kudos.

    felipe (023cc9)

  351. You really love blue balls eh private?

    But your ‘haikus’ really suck them hard.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  352. Lol, thanks, Felipe… happy Sunday!

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  353. Happy Sunday to you, too, Colonel. Happy Sunday to you, as well, Ben. I mean that, sincerely.

    felipe (023cc9)

  354. Point of reference… https://youtu.be/KVbr37_yPeY

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  355. I’ve said all along the serial bankrupted would quit when he gets it.

    Newsweek

    According to Irish bookmaker Paddy Power, large sums have begun to be placed on Trump calling it quits, taking the odds into evens, the equivalent of 50 percent. While still not as strong as the odds on Trump being impeached, which currently stand at 4/6, or 60 percent, it still represents a significant shift. A similar move was also witnessed at leading British bookmaker Ladbrokes, which took its odds in from 11/10 to evens.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  356. Cheers felipe.

    Ben burn (5f7aa4)

  357. “Like it or not, a lot of white people have a hard time seeing unjustified killings of people of color as the gross civil rights abuse it is, because when cops cite fear or danger in individual cases, fearful white people — who themselves might shoot a black kid in haste in the name of self-defense — side when them. Those white people might easily treat Black Lives Matter as an annoyance blocking their commute on the freeway.

    The same white people might find Joe Arpaio’s tortuous camps for people of color objectionable, because those camps make the systemic aspect far more apparent. They’re far more likely to do so, though, if this pardon is primarily seen as Trump’s endorsement of systematic white supremacy rather than a test run to protect himself.”

    Ben Burn shows his true colors as EXACTLY what a ‘nonviolent’ Democrat Antifa lawyer/apologist looks like, all the talking points are there:

    THE SYSTEM IS WHITE SUPREMACIST

    EVERYDAY WHITE PEOPLE AND POLICE ARE THE ENEMY, IF YOU’RE WHITE, YOU’RE PART OF THE SYSTEM, BIGOT

    ALL KILLINGS OF PEOPLE OF COLOR ARE UNJUSTIFIED NO MATTER WHY THEY HAPPENED OR WHAT PATTERNS YOU SEE

    FREEWAY BLOCKING WITH ANGRY MOBS WHO HAVE HISTORIES OF PROPERTY DESTRUCTION AND MURDER IS INFINITELY JUST AND ‘FEAR FOR MY LIFE’ IS NO EXCUSE FOR DRIVING THROUGH THEM NO MATTER WHAT WEAPONS THEY HAVE

    RICH WHITE PEOPLE ARE STILL USEFUL AS PROPAGANDA TARGETS, IT’S ABOUT NOT THE TRUTH, IT’S ALL IN HOW YOU FRAME THE ARGUMENT WHILE OUR OTHER OPERATIVES SECURE THE POWER CENTERS!

    BURN ALL FLAGS AND BORDERS, BASH THE FASH, THEY’RE ALL GUILTY ANYWAY!

    Happy to be the guy who forced him to unmask himself!

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  358. This is a pretty basic statement of ben burn’s position:

    https://kek.gg/i/6qjCv_.jpg

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  359. Ben burn is essentially the lefty version of Jason Kessler, Richard Spencer, or David Duke-continually making apologies for the same failed 1930s street LARPing ideology in the vain hope that its foot soldiers deliver people like him back into power.

    But this is the Trump era, and Communist flags belong with Nazi flags on the ash heap of history-along with the bones and fortunes of their backers.

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  360. Joe Arpaio committed the worst crime in Phoenix history. He dyed prison underwear pink so thugs who smuggled them out and wore them as a trophy were easily identified.

    More TDS from Patrick.

    Mike K (b3dd19)

  361. I’m not seeing anything from Ben Burn, maybe he’s off at Berkeley ganging up with thousands of masked leftists against like 10 people:

    https://twitter.com/DBloom451/status/901917760044892161

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  362. Ben Burn, are you out there with the crowd shouting “No Trump, no wall, no USA at all!”? Clop once for yes and twice for no!

    https://twitter.com/EsemicolonR/status/901917394838441984

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  363. Numbers 204 and 207 are very informative.

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  364. Why did they let Joe Arpaio get away with so much for so long? Doesn’t that reflect badly on some people?

    Sammy Finkelman (02a146)

  365. Much like with the Martin Shkreli thing, it’s not ‘how did Joe Arpaio get away with it,’ but ‘how are we pretending that other prisons aren’t fudging their numbers and their hiring practices in far worse ways, and if he’s such a big offender, why are you getting him on an unrelated charge where he’s clearly in the right?’

    Dysphoria Sam (4071c5)

  366. I noted the great clarence dupnik deputized as truth teller in Tucson. And at least two incidents thatvwent tonthe top courts.

    narciso (d1f714)

  367. if he’s such a big offender, why are you getting him on an unrelated charge where he’s clearly in the right?’

    In many cases, the remedies for Arpaio’s abuses were civil rather than criminal. Arpaio is responsible for costing Maricopa county around $160 million in lawsuits for his bad behavior. In others, it’s simple corruption. If someone dies in jail under suspicious circumstances, and it’s up to people like Andrew Thomas to investigate, it’s no surprise that nothing comes of it

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Thomas_(American_politician)

    Davethulhu (fab944)

  368. How is this irregular? Ask me about the Mark Rich pardon. Or better yet, ask the Senators who didn’t call Holder on his well-known multiple lies about that pardon.

    Steve57 (0b1dac)


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