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There has always been a stink about pardons, except for when President Ford pardoned President Nixon, realizing the country needed to put the whole horrid affair behind us, and that further persecution would not accomplish much.

The stink was apparent when the criminal, Marc Rich, who had fled from prosecution was pardoned by President Clinton and supported by that paragon of virtue, Eric Holder. Marc sent his wife and a lot of money to talk with our leader and the deal was made, allowing the criminal to return to the US.

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Ahem. Harvard College is NOT in Boston, it's in Cambridge. I went to Harvard Business School, which is across the moat that surrounds the People's Republic of Cambridge, and is in Allston, a suburb of Boston. These Marxists can't even get the location of their education correct, let alone the content...

I went to college in New Haven. No less problematic an institution, but at least correctly situated.

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I turned down Harvard for graduate school and have the button to prove it.

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There must be a lot of people who understand the logic of pre-emptive pardons for Trump's antagonists, but I confess that I don't.

People who haven't committed crimes can't make efficient use of pardons. (I'm assuming you can't retail a pardon or rewrap it as a Christmas present for the black sheep of the family.)

Are the advocates of pre-emptive pardons assuming that everybody has broken the law at one time or another, only most haven't been caught yet? I know that view is an occupational hazard for people in law enforcement, but I didn't think it extended to presidents or columnists.

Those advocates must know, even if Trump doesn't, that ex post facto laws are a non-starter. So are they just thinking that he may get his Department of Justice to bring unsustainable charges under existing law and thereby harass the victims with litigation?

If the idea is to wreck people's lives, there are ways of doing so without resorting to lawfare. I don't get it.

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Wow, of all the places I read, TFP is the *least* likely to say something critical about Trump, especially during the election cycle. Is this referring to noting his new "Victory" cologne/perfume line? Or wanting to be at Notre Dame? Those are pretty light observations, to me, for all the surface area available.

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I really thought the "Fight. Fight. Fight." cologne reference was a joke. It is not. What it is, though, is the white elephant gift of the century.

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Good name for a cologne. We do live in a capitalist country, right?

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Thank you for sharing the frank reality of the Islamic Regime (centered in Iran but spreading) as bravely set out by Gazelle Sharmahd whose father supported the people of Iran in their struggles to speak and share information online.

As she said, her father was kidnapped from Dubai, tried in Iran for bullshit "terrorism" charges, and executed.

That our government treats the ruling government in Iran as anything other than a murderous terrorist cult is shameful. That our government facilitates the infiltration of our State Department and agencies with spies and hostile actors who actively work in support of the Iranian regime borders on treason.

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I would not say "borders on". The current administration KNOWS the background and sympathies of these people, and employs them anyway. Yes, they pass a 'security clearance' check. How thorough and how frequent is debatable - my guess is once you're in, you're in and no one askes any more questions. The person who leaked the Israeli defense plans back to Hamas and Hezbollah? Quietly moved to A DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT, and went from Top Secret, to Secret. And everyone crossed their arms and did a pouty pout because Israel wouldn't share any more plans with us.

SYCMU

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"Preemptive Pardons Are a Terrible Idea".

"Preemptive Pardons" is an oxymoron, don't need an article about it.

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It's a democrat thing, so OXYMORON fits perfectly.

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"some of the president’s closest advisers are debating whether he should issue preemptive pardons for Democrats and other public figures against whom Trump has threatened retribution."

Ollie, the word you were looking for is justice, not retribution, but justice. "Trump has threatened justice."

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Trump repeated again yesterday that success will be his revenge. I'd still like to see the DOJ go after the evil elf formerly with the NIH.

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As Democrats threatened retribution and extracted their pound of flesh from Republicans during the Bidey administration with very thin indictments like the January 6th strollers through the Capital. Way to go Nancy.

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If you see something, say or do something ‘right’? Alert McDonalds customers and staff, the low IQ blue collar MAGA types, solved the manhunt.

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Danny Penny still has to defend a civil suit by Jordan Neeley's family. I wonder if he has any insurance coverage for this, possibly via a homeowners policy. If not, it will cost him dearly to fend off the claim of Neeley's opportunistic relatives. (I almost wrote "a pretty penny.")

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So sad. Worthless parent cashing in on death of drug addicted son. Sorta like the George Floyd case? Lots of damning evidence against the “victims” stricken from the record.

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Thank God and common sense.

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“But this is the Middle East,” he continues. “Anyone who remembers the Arab Spring knows that things can always get worse. And anyone who studies history knows that predictions are for fools.”

We keep applying our Western Christian Judea views on the Mideast and consistently get it wrong. There is some evidence that authoritarian dictatorial governance is required for a large Muslim population as Islam has not yet experienced a reformation and thus many of its practitioners are stuck in Medieval cultural practices and beliefs that are more brutal than that of the authoritarian dictator.

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I agree.

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Sure, the gratuitous media shots at Trump can be a little snippy, but that doesn't make them untrue. Trump is a masterclass in using events and the media to his benefit - which is very smart politics, and something that a lot of politicians have forgotten.

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There is now a power vacuum in Syria. I think ISIS is the group that steps in to rule the country (much like Hamas in Gaza). This is a frightening proposition for our strongest ally in the region, Israel. Iran will get cozy with ISIS and we will have another fight on our hands. As much as I am happy about Assad being ousted, I am concerned about which group takes over.

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Probably the best result near-term will be for the various groups to fight each other so they are not fighting us and Israel.

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Sort of like the history of the Middle East?

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C'mon man!. It's not the whole history, just the last 1400 years. I'm trying to think what happened about then that seemingly turned them all into 6th century barbarians en perpetuity.

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We the deplorable and uneducated are looking on as the corrupt and self-serving are slithering out the back door.

It's a early Xmas for the self employed and family oriented who survived Bidennomics, whatever that was.

Evan the swamp creatures overseas are courting the favor of the new king of the hill.

I'll bet anyone a grand he still doesn't make the cover of Time.

He might buy it though. That would be so sweet after all the crap the media has thrown against the wall in hopes of his demise.

I for one will have a great New Year while the libs eat crow.

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The ceremony was also a return to the world stage for Donald Trump, who you just know wasn’t going to miss a show like this.“ boring expected and .. nasty

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