Ed Martin isn’t just a buffoon, he’s the perfect symbol of how this administration weaponizes incompetence.
The pardon power was meant to temper justice with mercy, but under Trump it’s been twisted into a tool of retribution and loyalty tests. Martin’s willingness to float blatantly unconstitutional ideas (pardons for state crimes, reversing prior pardons) shows the contempt for law and the embrace of raw power.
I’ve been writing about this exact behavioral farce: when justice is no longer about fairness or repair, but about rewarding cronies and punishing enemies, you don’t get mercy, you get corruption dressed up as authority. That’s the real story here.
Presidential pardons were meant to temper justice with mercy, but in practice they’ve become a weapon of retribution and corruption.
When a president can erase accountability for cronies, donors, or violent loyalists, the pardon power stops being about mercy and starts being about control.
If the Constitution protects that abuse, then it protects impunity.
Maybe the real question isn’t whether pardons should be rescinded, but whether we can afford to keep a tool that’s been twisted so far from its original purpose.
No. The original purpose of pardons should be adhered to, and repealing a piece of constitutional law in an attempt to stop a destructive president is contrary to the rule of law. If you want to stop these abuses, get rid of Trump, not the laws.
I am sick and tired of people thinking just because they utter the words, they are automatically true. Trump can’t effing read… He has NEVER read the U.S. Constitution. If he did, he didn’t understand a fricking word of it… Jeezus, people… Great post! Thanks, Lisa!
Also, eddie clearly never had a History class in college. If he did, he would know that The King wouldn't just fire him if he got sick of eddie. No, The King would yell, "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!"
My God. I'm an Australian with zero legal training and know perfectly well that US Presidents can't pardon state crimes - though I plead ignorance of what are state or federal crimes. Ed Martin's either breath takingly incompetent or so utterly debased he's prepared to make himself look a complete fool to curry favour with Trump. This administration is absolutely stacked full of clowns, with the tone, of course, set right at the top. Though given its malevolence and corruption saying they're a bunch of clowns is erring on the side of kindness.
Great post! This administration is so thoroughly incompetent, dishonest, corrupt, and criminal. Ed Martin is a great example. I hope we make it out of this hellhole!
"though none of the people on that list have any federal charges pending," I didn't know that!!! How marvelous! I'm surprised this hasn't been reported. (No. I'm not surprised. We are talking about the corporate media, the tool of the Orange Pedophilic Sadist.)
"But in this administration, regrettably, Martin makes perfect sense." I live in St Louis County (Blue dot) in the Red state of MO. MO gave Congress Ed Martin, Josh Hawley (I can pretend to be moderate because I want to be President) and Eric Schmitt (blood and soil). Obviously, we haven't been sending our best.
Of course, whenever Trump finds himself being questioned about a questionable act, he says "I know nothing about it" or "I don't know that person" or simply, "Who?"
Of course, the separation of powers is melting away, and I would not be surprised if these morons try to make it possible for Trump to pardon people for state crimes.
Anyone else noticing Trump saying "Are you ready?" in interviews lately? When I hear/see that, I can only think of Bondi, in that Cabinet meeting where she said Trump saved 258 million lives. She began her tongue-bath by turning and looking over her shoulder at the camera and saying, "Are you ready, media? 258 million lives ..."
Since Trump is probably spending a lot of time with her lately, I wonder if it's a tic of hers, and he has picked up on it, because his brain tends to lock onto the last things he's heard.
He's saying it more often, for reasons I cannot fathom. And some of them are kind of dumb, as when he said it before saying he didn't know who CZ was. Ready for what, exactly??
I guess it's just a filler phrase that has become lodged near the front of what's left of his mind. You know, how some people can't seem to go three sentences without saying, "Frankly, ..." or "To be completely honest with you, ..."
What gets me is the audacity to say stuff like that out loud. He’s one of those attorneys to which you give a side and an ask: “How the hell did you pass the bar exam?”
Ed Martin isn’t just a buffoon, he’s the perfect symbol of how this administration weaponizes incompetence.
The pardon power was meant to temper justice with mercy, but under Trump it’s been twisted into a tool of retribution and loyalty tests. Martin’s willingness to float blatantly unconstitutional ideas (pardons for state crimes, reversing prior pardons) shows the contempt for law and the embrace of raw power.
I’ve been writing about this exact behavioral farce: when justice is no longer about fairness or repair, but about rewarding cronies and punishing enemies, you don’t get mercy, you get corruption dressed up as authority. That’s the real story here.
Do you think that presidential pardons and commutations should be rescinded from the constitution?
Yes…
Presidential pardons were meant to temper justice with mercy, but in practice they’ve become a weapon of retribution and corruption.
When a president can erase accountability for cronies, donors, or violent loyalists, the pardon power stops being about mercy and starts being about control.
If the Constitution protects that abuse, then it protects impunity.
Maybe the real question isn’t whether pardons should be rescinded, but whether we can afford to keep a tool that’s been twisted so far from its original purpose.
Have you ever seen a presidential pardon used properly?
I concur.
No. The original purpose of pardons should be adhered to, and repealing a piece of constitutional law in an attempt to stop a destructive president is contrary to the rule of law. If you want to stop these abuses, get rid of Trump, not the laws.
What shall happen, when another Trump-like president comes along?
I am sick and tired of people thinking just because they utter the words, they are automatically true. Trump can’t effing read… He has NEVER read the U.S. Constitution. If he did, he didn’t understand a fricking word of it… Jeezus, people… Great post! Thanks, Lisa!
The incompetence is the point. Trump has filled his regime with idiots because they are loyal and will support him no matter what he does.
Also, eddie clearly never had a History class in college. If he did, he would know that The King wouldn't just fire him if he got sick of eddie. No, The King would yell, "OFF WITH HIS HEAD!!"
My God. I'm an Australian with zero legal training and know perfectly well that US Presidents can't pardon state crimes - though I plead ignorance of what are state or federal crimes. Ed Martin's either breath takingly incompetent or so utterly debased he's prepared to make himself look a complete fool to curry favour with Trump. This administration is absolutely stacked full of clowns, with the tone, of course, set right at the top. Though given its malevolence and corruption saying they're a bunch of clowns is erring on the side of kindness.
Great post! This administration is so thoroughly incompetent, dishonest, corrupt, and criminal. Ed Martin is a great example. I hope we make it out of this hellhole!
"though none of the people on that list have any federal charges pending," I didn't know that!!! How marvelous! I'm surprised this hasn't been reported. (No. I'm not surprised. We are talking about the corporate media, the tool of the Orange Pedophilic Sadist.)
"But in this administration, regrettably, Martin makes perfect sense." I live in St Louis County (Blue dot) in the Red state of MO. MO gave Congress Ed Martin, Josh Hawley (I can pretend to be moderate because I want to be President) and Eric Schmitt (blood and soil). Obviously, we haven't been sending our best.
Of course, whenever Trump finds himself being questioned about a questionable act, he says "I know nothing about it" or "I don't know that person" or simply, "Who?"
Of course, the separation of powers is melting away, and I would not be surprised if these morons try to make it possible for Trump to pardon people for state crimes.
Anyone else noticing Trump saying "Are you ready?" in interviews lately? When I hear/see that, I can only think of Bondi, in that Cabinet meeting where she said Trump saved 258 million lives. She began her tongue-bath by turning and looking over her shoulder at the camera and saying, "Are you ready, media? 258 million lives ..."
Since Trump is probably spending a lot of time with her lately, I wonder if it's a tic of hers, and he has picked up on it, because his brain tends to lock onto the last things he's heard.
He's saying it more often, for reasons I cannot fathom. And some of them are kind of dumb, as when he said it before saying he didn't know who CZ was. Ready for what, exactly??
I guess it's just a filler phrase that has become lodged near the front of what's left of his mind. You know, how some people can't seem to go three sentences without saying, "Frankly, ..." or "To be completely honest with you, ..."
True, but at least those fillers make sense!
Unless the latter is being said to you by a used car salesman, of course. Or a Republican Speaker of the House, say.
All these pardons Trump is unaware of: Is Martin skimming from the transactional Trump slush fund?
Apparently, history-buff Ed missed class the day the subject of the Magna Carta and its influence on the drafters of the Constitution was discussed.
Ed: "What's a maga carter? Something the peanut farmer ate?"
But it's not a cult, and Ed Martin is not a charter member.
Wow. Just -- wow.
What gets me is the audacity to say stuff like that out loud. He’s one of those attorneys to which you give a side and an ask: “How the hell did you pass the bar exam?”
Sadly, I’ve met quite a lot like that.