I beg your pardon, that's excessive

These broad waves of pardons that we’ve seen by both President Biden and President Trump seem to run contrary with the balance of power created in this country between the branches of government.

All told, in the last two months there have been reduction in punishments for more than 5,500 people by presidents. Is it justice or score settling?

We have a legislative process conducted by elected representatives, and a justice system handling the rule of law, and then the executive branch can just wipe away everything with a sweep of the pen.

As Sen. Edmund Muskie said after President Ford pardoned President Nixon, typically you pardon those who have been convicted. After Biden pardoned FBI agent killer Leonard Peltier, which was questionable in itself, he issued broad preemptive pardons of his family members and some political allies on his way out.

Usually there are preconditions for gaining forgiveness such as admitting guilt or expressing remorse. We’re not seeing a lot of that.

A big problem with the Peltier pardon is the message it sends to current FBI agents. And the pardoning of family members or others in his administration prior to any charges or convictions just opens the door for the Trumps and their followers to enact political violence as they wish, because he’ll have their back.

Originally, we heard from Republican lawmakers and even Vice President Vance that the Jan. 6 pardons would be done on a case by case basis, that there wouldn’t be blanket pardons because they wouldn’t be granted to anyone who harmed law enforcement officers.

I don’t know if it was Biden’s broad list of pardons as he left, or simply Trump’s impatience and impulsive behavior, but suddenly the tone was, “Release ‘em all.”

One poll said 58 percent of Americans didn’t approve of the pardons for Jan. 6 rioters. It’s a slap in the face of those officers who worked that day, some of whom were on duty again during the inauguration activities this month.

I’m sure those officers feel it’s repulsive to call those people “patriots” and “hostages.” Around 400 of the defendants assaulted police officers. Many officers were clubbed, stomped on and sprayed with bear spray or mace.

Of course, it’s all shrouded by baseless claims that FBI agents were involved in agitating protesters, which is just another flimsy conspiracy theory like the election being stolen.

Of course, the outcry is always, “What about the BLM and Antifa riots that burned our cities in 2020?” Of course that wasn’t right, and prosecutions that took place there shouldn’t end in pardons, as well. Those were horrible scenes.

What took place on Jan. 6, however, was an organized attack on our house of democracy and those inside it. Paint it as peaceful tourists all you want, but the officers who were there that day have a vastly different story to share.

Metropolitan police officer Michael Fanone was tasered several times in the back of the neck, and left stunned and injured on the ground as the mob stripped him of his ammunition and police radio. Someone tried to rip away his gun.

“I have been betrayed by my country,” Fanone said on the day that 1,500 rioters were pardoned. Pamela Hemphill, a 71-year-old retired drug and alcohol counselor from Boise, Idaho, spent two months in prison for entering the Capitol on Jan. 6. She asked her lawyer to reject her pardon, because she felt it was an insult to the police officers who helped her after the day turned violent.

But, the real betrayal will be if those pardoned criminals are brought to the White House and hailed as patriots, as some of those same officers look on.

I’d like to think that’s not what this nation truly wants. The whole concept of pardons has been taken too far.

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Email: malachy.lp@gmail.com

X: @larrypeterson