I am as disappointed with this pardon as you or anyone else but when President Trump promises to pardon the January 6th protesters I think that will be a just and noble exercise of Presidential judgment. Some others will likely think it is a gross abuse of power. The pardon power itself is not inherently good or bad. It is the character of the individual that is at issue.
I look at this much the same way I view the Second Amendment. Guns can be used for good or bad but is the person using the instrument that is at issue, not the gun itself. Just as with the pardon power, any effort to get around the Constitutional provision is fraught with danger. Sometimes we must accept the bad to preserve the good.
I am frequently reminded of the wisdom of my old grandmother. One of her favorite sayings was: "Be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater."
I am as disappointed with this pardon as you or anyone else but when President Trump promises to pardon the January 6th protesters I think that will be a just and noble exercise of Presidential judgment. Some others will likely think it is a gross abuse of power. The pardon power itself is not inherently good or bad. It is the character of the individual that is at issue.
I look at this much the same way I view the Second Amendment. Guns can be used for good or bad but is the person using the instrument that is at issue, not the gun itself. Just as with the pardon power, any effort to get around the Constitutional provision is fraught with danger. Sometimes we must accept the bad to preserve the good.
I am frequently reminded of the wisdom of my old grandmother. One of her favorite sayings was: "Be careful not to throw the baby out with the bathwater."