You are free to accuse me of a logical fallacy, I merely consider it pointing out the obvious. You authored the article and are entitled to express your points of view but you should also expect to receive viewpoints in opposition to yours. Nothing in my comments disagreed with your views of Trump. What was obvious (my opinion) was that the majority of the electorate chose Trump because they disagreed with a host of Biden’s policies. Granting more pardons/clemencies than any other President was just one of many egregious policies.
I agree with you as to wishing for significant limits on Presidential pardons power. You are concerned about the types of pardons Trump has granted and the large number he may yet grant during his term. You mention almost nothing about Biden’s pardons, the largest number to date of any President in our history—4200+. Perhaps Biden’s pardons aren’t of persons whose crimes engender as much concern for you as for Trump’s pardons. People of different political persuasions will argue those points endlessly. With the current impossibility of a Constitutional amendment to curb this power, I suspect both political parties are loath to yield any perceived political advantages.
The fallacy here is called "Tu Quoque," colloquially known as "Whataboutism." It consists of trying to distract from one person's wrongdoing by pointing to someone else.
It is possible Biden abused the pardon power. There is some debate. Some were pre-emptive pardons for people he feared would be the targets of malicious prosecutions by the Trump administration, and however sketchy that is, the fear proved justified. The largest number were mass commutations (not pardons) for particular types of crimes, and I've seen arguments that these were overbroad and ended up granting clemency to some people who didn't deserve it.
But if Biden misused the pardon power, that makes the case for limiting and reforming this power all the stronger.
"Over four years, Biden issued 80 pardons and 4,165 commutations for a total of 4,245 acts of clemency.
"The number of pardons Biden issued is the second lowest on record; only George H.W. Bush granted fewer (74). But the nature of some of Biden’s pardons is historically unique" for the reason you say. ("Some were pre-emptive pardons for people he feared would be the targets of malicious prosecutions by the Trump administration, and however sketchy that is, the fear proved justified.")
Shorthanding all these presidential acts of clemency into "pardons" seems too common to fault, but it's interesting that the Biden administration's pardon count was unusually low, while its overall clemency count hit a historic high.
Sorry for being european, but how exactly is it possible that a convicted felon, insurrectionist, twice-impeached, blatantly corrupt and unlawful person is eligible for any office? I know America is extreme in every respect, but this just seems silly. Like Flying Circus North-Minehead by-election kind of silly.
You are free to accuse me of a logical fallacy, I merely consider it pointing out the obvious. You authored the article and are entitled to express your points of view but you should also expect to receive viewpoints in opposition to yours. Nothing in my comments disagreed with your views of Trump. What was obvious (my opinion) was that the majority of the electorate chose Trump because they disagreed with a host of Biden’s policies. Granting more pardons/clemencies than any other President was just one of many egregious policies.
I agree with you as to wishing for significant limits on Presidential pardons power. You are concerned about the types of pardons Trump has granted and the large number he may yet grant during his term. You mention almost nothing about Biden’s pardons, the largest number to date of any President in our history—4200+. Perhaps Biden’s pardons aren’t of persons whose crimes engender as much concern for you as for Trump’s pardons. People of different political persuasions will argue those points endlessly. With the current impossibility of a Constitutional amendment to curb this power, I suspect both political parties are loath to yield any perceived political advantages.
The fallacy here is called "Tu Quoque," colloquially known as "Whataboutism." It consists of trying to distract from one person's wrongdoing by pointing to someone else.
It is possible Biden abused the pardon power. There is some debate. Some were pre-emptive pardons for people he feared would be the targets of malicious prosecutions by the Trump administration, and however sketchy that is, the fear proved justified. The largest number were mass commutations (not pardons) for particular types of crimes, and I've seen arguments that these were overbroad and ended up granting clemency to some people who didn't deserve it.
But if Biden misused the pardon power, that makes the case for limiting and reforming this power all the stronger.
According to Pew,
"Over four years, Biden issued 80 pardons and 4,165 commutations for a total of 4,245 acts of clemency.
"The number of pardons Biden issued is the second lowest on record; only George H.W. Bush granted fewer (74). But the nature of some of Biden’s pardons is historically unique" for the reason you say. ("Some were pre-emptive pardons for people he feared would be the targets of malicious prosecutions by the Trump administration, and however sketchy that is, the fear proved justified.")
Shorthanding all these presidential acts of clemency into "pardons" seems too common to fault, but it's interesting that the Biden administration's pardon count was unusually low, while its overall clemency count hit a historic high.
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/02/07/biden-granted-more-acts-of-clemency-than-any-prior-president/
Sorry for being european, but how exactly is it possible that a convicted felon, insurrectionist, twice-impeached, blatantly corrupt and unlawful person is eligible for any office? I know America is extreme in every respect, but this just seems silly. Like Flying Circus North-Minehead by-election kind of silly.
Look, I've lived in the US all my life, and I'm still trying to figure that one out.
Yes. He has waged war on the USA.
I know everyone is looking for every other possible explanation but that the USA has been attacked by hostile enemies.
Enemies intent on the destruction and annihilation of the United States of America.
That’s what my eyes and ears tell me I am seeing.
Who could think or belive like 20 years ago that one day the USA is going to have a president who wants to govern as a dictator?