How Joe Biden Can Go Out a Legend
Added 2024-11-11 09:16:27 +0000 UTCOA1085 - Matt has put together a preliminary list of things Joe Biden can and should do in the lame duck period. Will he? Let's make him.
After that, we examine something that he should absolutely not do courtesy of the aspiring fascists of the National Review. As a little treat.
Check out the OA Linktree for all the places to go and things to do!
Comments
I strongly disagree with Thomas about pardons. I don't think the average Trump voter really cares at this point. Most far right sources have been making up their own facts for ages now, and they're not going to stop. Even if Biden doesn't pardon the civil servants that Trump says he wants to take down, he'll get no credit for it. Whether that's the far right headline of the day or some made up bullshit, it doesn't matter to that audience. In my opinion, we'd be throwing these people to the mercy of a petulant tyrant for literally no reward.
Friday Spangenberg
2024-11-13 21:41:03 +0000 UTCAlso, honestly don’t think it makes a difference at this point if some of the right wants to point at this as “evidence” that they committed crimes. The election is over, and I don’t think it will be a talking point for long enough to make an ounce of difference if we make it to the mid terms.
Peter H.
2024-11-13 19:42:00 +0000 UTCpre-emptive pardons are totally a thing, I promise! No charges required
Matt Cameron
2024-11-13 19:01:38 +0000 UTCI meant to mention this as the previous example of a mass pardon, but I just wanted to be clear here that my proposed mass pardon of our undocumented population wouldn't even be for crimes! It would only be for deportable civil violations of the Immigration and Nationality Act. (As I hope I have mentioned as often as possible, unlawful presence in the US isn't a crime and immigration courts don't have jurisdiction over any criminal charges.) I'm sure this would get lost in the reporting but I do think it's an important distinction
Matt Cameron
2024-11-13 13:15:40 +0000 UTCI think preemptive pardon is not an actual thing. But whatevs. I’d rather see JaKu charged. And all sitting office holders involved with the insurrection. And all the PPP grifters as well because people have been harmed in reality.
dddebz
2024-11-13 01:58:51 +0000 UTCCheck out “Behind the Bastards” // or “It Could happen here” for deep dives
dddebz
2024-11-13 01:56:25 +0000 UTCNot only is she seriously amazing, I further believe she needs to push the whole “cowardly GOP who picks on the least powerful to further entrench their power and their corporate sponsors so they can get their own bigger piece of the pie” while pointing out Senate (and the House) have continually ceded their power to the executive and judiciary branches every time GOP holds congress” We know damned well GOP usually gleefully wields every bit of power, harms be damned, especially to pin the proverbial tails on the front man.
dddebz
2024-11-13 01:54:15 +0000 UTClol I was waiting for someone to notice that
Matt Cameron
2024-11-12 17:35:16 +0000 UTCMatt's amazing senator Elizabeth Warren understands the assignment https://www.commondreams.org/news/senator-elizabeth-warren
Cheers to The Onion, the greatest media outlet in the history of humankind
2024-11-12 13:23:58 +0000 UTCAgreed.
Timothy High
2024-11-12 13:22:11 +0000 UTCAs hilarious as it would be to troll like this, I don't want the first woman president to be on a technicality.
Cheers to The Onion, the greatest media outlet in the history of humankind
2024-11-12 13:14:54 +0000 UTCThe Mandala Effect is when people draw intricate sand designs about whether an anti-Apartheid South African activist died in prison or not, right?
Chris Conley
2024-11-12 11:38:54 +0000 UTCThey've never needed any justification from past Democratic actions to do a thing they want to do, and Democrats saying "let's not do something that might help because then the GOP could do it too", unilaterally disarming before the fight even starts, has not worked out well for them, historically
Chris Conley
2024-11-12 10:57:21 +0000 UTCIn January 1977 President pardoned over 200,000 people who had violated the selective service (draft) laws during the Vietnam War. This allowed many people who had moved to Canada and elsewhere to return home without fear of being arrested. It excluded people who were charged with violence in their anti-draft activities. So Biden could craft a pardon that would likewise apply only to those who are not accused of violent crimes. I don’t think Carter’s pardon of draft resistors hurt the Democratic Party.
Viola DeGamba
2024-11-12 09:05:18 +0000 UTCI wish Joe could force all government employees to retire at 70 years old. Kamala would (briefly) become president and have to replace three of the most right-wing justices.
Dominic Watkins
2024-11-12 06:49:12 +0000 UTCPlease don’t suggest a climate emergency for executive power exercise. The less Trump has concerning weapons justified by a predecessor, the better.
Austin Flake
2024-11-12 06:00:04 +0000 UTCRuin all the 45/47 hats too!
William LaFrance
2024-11-12 03:37:25 +0000 UTCI’m down for a segment on fascist bootlickers
Samhain, not pronounced Sam-Hane
2024-11-12 02:30:32 +0000 UTCSo here's an interesting angle on how he could go out a legend: Resign so that Kamala can be the first female President. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/11/10/jamal-simmons-joe-biden-kamala-harris/76182658007/
Timothy High
2024-11-12 01:57:10 +0000 UTCBiden could telepathically declassify everything & pardon himself in perpetuity, then roll down Palm Beach with the National Guard, seize Mar-a-Lago and spend his twilight years napping by the pool. Such is my understanding of current jurisprudence
Bald Weasels Scrotal Manscaping
2024-11-12 01:22:22 +0000 UTCI am on Thomas's side regarding the potential pardons of Jack Smith (et al). My faith in the mainstream media is so low that I believe they would jump 100% on board the narrative that they must have done something illegal if they're getting pardoned. I like Matt but this idea is just horrendously awful and misguided.
Dusty Lee
2024-11-12 01:21:46 +0000 UTC"SEAL Team Six, motherfuckers, here's my list"
Bald Weasels Scrotal Manscaping
2024-11-11 22:10:34 +0000 UTCI agree with Thomas on the pardons. Taking petty revenge with the law will, I think, hurt the trump admin.
Civil Politics Radio dot com (Fridays at 6pm EST on Valley Free Radio)
2024-11-11 21:49:12 +0000 UTCExtremely A+ opening quotes update
She Purple
2024-11-11 19:21:53 +0000 UTCRegarding the National Review article, there's obviously several things wrong with the whole "the people decided" perspective. First, "the people" weren't members of a jury, presented all the evidence and arguments in a controlled setting. There's a reason legal proceedings aren't run like popularity contests... Second, "No good at all will come of an American president fulfilling his constitutional duties at home and abroad under the cloud of pending criminal prosecutions." - that's EXACTLY what the people decided; that, in spite of his controversies, he should be the one to lead. There's absolutely no obligation to the people to wipe any slates clean there. They made their bed, that's where we'll lie.
Timothy High
2024-11-11 19:05:33 +0000 UTCI said this on another post, but I'll repeat here, given that it's literally the discussion at hand: If Biden wants to go out like a legend, he should pack up every secret document he can get his hands on, and ship them out to his bathroom, garage, coffee tables and anywhere else as insecure as Mar-a-Lago. Maybe I'm being facetious here, but maybe not. While I think Thomas was right in saying that pardoning Trump's prosecutors would make them look guilty, I think a move like this would beg the question loudly and clearly as to whether or not Trump was being criminal. Worst case, Biden goes to jail for the rest of his life and Trump pardons himself. What then? Trump's hypocrisy would be undeniable even to his own people. He could live with that, but it would be more than a footnote on his legacy. Hopefully there'd be some recognition of the actual importance of those documents. Or, maybe Biden just declassifies them all at once BEFORE he leaves office, so there's nothing to pardon. As an official act, he gets off scott free. It'd be interesting to game out the possibilities, but one way or another, there's a golden opportunity to shine a light on what is an insane situation right now.
Timothy High
2024-11-11 18:47:50 +0000 UTCTo add, de-scheduling marijuana is all the more important as we jump into a more authoritarian regime. It's always been used as a tool to lock up "undesirables" but as that list of targets of State violence expands an excuse to arrest and imprison people is more dangerous. Worse, it feeds the narrative that targets are "criminals" and the State needs to crack down even harder on them. Immigrants are already less likely to commit crimes than citizens, but they trot out rhetoric about them being criminals and worse. Trans people are accused of being sex criminals (without any examples), so giving the claim that we're criminals more to back it can only make things worse. This is more important than recreation, since it's another tool to oppress more people.
Rick Woodward
2024-11-11 18:44:10 +0000 UTCI disagree with Thomas regarding a pardon of Jack Smith and the others Trump intends to target with his weaponized DOJ. No matter how specious such false charges would be, each of those individuals’ lives will be derailed and potentially ruined just from the “investigation.” Andrew McCabe briefly discussed this on the most recent Jack podcast. They can lose their jobs and/or careers, plus the legal fees will be crushing. President Biden should extend all protections to these civil servants.
Kristen Leist
2024-11-11 17:27:51 +0000 UTCI agree with Thomas regarding the pardon of Jack Smith and others who Trump has said he would target. Trump voters will remember that and it could give us problems in the midterms and the next presidential election.
Shad Riley
2024-11-11 17:07:42 +0000 UTCYes it is the time for Rage Against the Machine! 😤
Reese
2024-11-11 14:47:44 +0000 UTCI appreciate the off-schedule changed opening quotes.
Despairing Radical
2024-11-11 14:39:48 +0000 UTCCoolest electronic filing notice I ever got in a case: Jan. 2016 while Obama was on his way out, he pardoned a client we were seeking post conviction relief for on a lower level drug charge. Seeing "the President of the United States" had entered a filing in..." in my email was unreal. Let's get those pardons rolling! Starting with commutation of inmates on death penalty, for sure.
Katie Herrmann
2024-11-11 14:31:14 +0000 UTCI also disagree with Thomas, the MAGAs will say we are all communists and traitors etc regardless of what we do. Why not try to protect people Trump had said he plans to target? I feel like trying to play it straight and honourably has gotten us more cornered 🥲
Jess C
2024-11-11 13:54:59 +0000 UTCI respectfully disagree with Thomas. We are past the point of messaging for PR's sake.
Unlikable Internet Goblin
2024-11-11 12:46:07 +0000 UTCI'd like to nominate this National Review guy for chucklefuck of the month....merely a ceremonial title, but you've got to give credit where credit's due.
Jess C
2024-11-11 10:56:26 +0000 UTCI’ll tell you what I’m backing away from: mainstream news. We. Should all be supporting voices like yours and other INDEPENDENT voices. Do you know how you have just expressed what many are feeling right now? Thank you for that. Our megaphone needs more amplification (subscriptions and supporters). Keep up your good work if you can. Understood if you can’t for a min. Love to you.
fran reichenbach
2024-11-11 10:55:26 +0000 UTC
