As he slunk out of the White House in the early hours of Wednesday January 20, Donald Trump issued a laundry list of pardons to crooks, fraudsters and other assorted criminals.
The list includes 70 pardons and 73 commutations.
Among those pardoned is Steve Bannon, his one-time campaign manager and architect of his successful 2016 presidential bid.
By leaving the White House on his own, Trump has denied Nancy Pelosi’s wish to grab him by his tiny hands and feet and drag his ponderous bulk out of the White House.
She can, however, take comfort in the fact that Guantanamo Bay is much closer to Florida where Trump has taken refuge, than it is to Washington DC.
Many commentators believe that Trump and his family belong to the cages at Gitmo that Joe Biden has hinted will close.
Keeping Trump and company there might be better use for the torture facility.
Excluded from the list of pardons is Rudy Giuliani, the quintessential crook and liar, who has served as Trump’s personal lawyer.
Since the January 6 pro-Trump terrorist mob assault on Capitol Building, Giuliani has not been allowed to speak to Trump.
His legal fees have also not been paid.
Trump instructed his aides that any payments to Giuliani must be cleared by him personally.
This means, Giuliani will not get paid. It serves him right.
Bannon’s pardon is believed to have been debated in the last few hours before his name was included in the list.
Trump seems to think that Bannon’s crookedness could be put to good use if he decides to form his own political party.
This will depend on whether the Senate impeaches him.
If he is impeached by the Senate, Trump will not be able to hold any public office.
His aides were able to persuade him not to pardon himself or his family since it would assume guilt.
Commenting on his earlier list of pardons that included son-in-law Jared Kushner’s father, Charles Kusher, John Avlon wrote on the CNN web page:
“The Founding Fathers would have been disgusted by President Donald Trump's serial abuse of the pardon power. Nearly 90% of his pardons to date have gone to friends or politically connected allies -- including corrupt politicians. While the President’s pardon power may seem unconstrained by the Constitution, a closer look shows that Trump is violating every principle the framers of the Constitution assumed would be followed by a principled President—and there’s evidence they intended special constraints on a President’s pardon power after they’d been impeached.”
While Trump may be gone—good riddance—Trumpism is alive and kicking.
More than 74 million people voted for him.
Think of ignorance on a grand scale.
Pity America!
Those that think Biden will be able to heal the wounds and unite America should think again.
America’s divisions are too deep. It is a herculian task to put the Humpty Dumpty of America back together again.