Howdy Pardoner
The news out of the White House is coming fast (and furious), but let’s pause the scrolling long enough to really consider the seriousness of pardoning hundreds of (even violent) Jan 6 insurrectionists. Even the WSJ editorial board greeted the news with this headline: Trump Pardons the Jan. 6 Cop Beaters. At least one rioter turned the pardon down. “Pamela Hemphill, who pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 60 days in prison, told the BBC that there should be no pardons for the riot on 6 January 2021 … Accepting a pardon would only insult the Capitol police officers, rule of law and, of course, our nation … I pleaded guilty because I was guilty, and accepting a pardon also would serve to contribute to their gaslighting and false narrative.”
+ In addition to the Jan 6 rioters, Trump also just pardoned Silk Road dark web market creator Ross Ulbricht. “Ulbricht was found guilty of charges including conspiracy to commit drug trafficking, money laundering and computer hacking … Prosecutors said he also solicited six murders-for-hire, including one against a former Silk Road employee, though they said no evidence existed that any killings were actually carried out.” Trump described the officials who worked to convict Ulbricht as, “scum.” (Even the Joker and the Penguin think Trump is a little too pro crime.)
+ From the Josh Bearman in the Wired archives: The Rise and Fall of the Silk Road. (Uh, Josh, we’re gonna need a new afterward…)
+ In the latest moves, the new administration has moved to end DEI in the federal government (and beyond), ordered more troops to the border, warned city and state officials not to resist the immigration crackdown, and canceled flights for refugees who were already slated to travel to US.
+ The combination of the pardons and the anti-immigrant rhetoric is being received warmly in some quarters. WaPo (Gift Article): Ku Klux Klan fliers in Kentucky order immigrants to ‘leave now,’ police say.
+ Not everyone is falling in line. Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde delivered a counter message to the president as he sat in the front row during an inauguration week service. “I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President. We were all once strangers in this land.” And then he said… meh, you know what he says by now. Just focus on what she said.
