11th hour Bush pardons

[Tex]

Originally Posted by BlueK

What the hell is a "strong" president in war time or any other time? I want my president to follow the Constitution. We can argue about whether he is or not.

Yeah, so? That's like telling a roomful of Christian denominations that you want them to follow the Bible.

Let me make it a little more clear for you: I support a broad interpretation of the constitutional powers of the president.

Originally Posted by Archaea

Millions? I thought Tex was one of a kind. Please in the future, put a caveat of potential horror content in your posts.

We are legion. And will haunt your dreams.

[Cali Coug]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

What if a presient pardoned all crimes ever committed in America, as well as all future crimes ever committed in America?

Would that be constitutional?

I think SCOTUS would rule that the pardon has to be for a specific person for a specific crime. With submitted paperwork. And all signatures attached.

Look, this isn't an argument to be had in a vacuum. Pardons have been issued in the past for unidentified crimes, and they seem to be perfectly legal (based on case law).

Here is the text of Ford's pardon of Nixon, for example:

"Now, THEREFORE, I, GERALD R. FORD, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969 through August 9,1974."

Pretty darn broad. I wouldn't be surprised in the least to see something similar for Cheney, Rice, even Bush himself. Bush pardoning himself is a bit less necessary, as the courts already give him a healthy dose of immunity for official acts undertaken while in office. He may view it as a belt and suspenders kind of deal, though.

[MikeWaters]

President pardoning himself.
http://www.slate.com/id/1002012/

[All-American]

Originally Posted by BlueK

If Bush pardons himself and staff it will set a truly horrible precedent: do whatever the hell you want as an aministration -- break laws as much as you want and trample on the Constitution and then pardon yourself when you're done. That's the kind of crap third world dictators would pull. And no, Tex, I'm not saying anything about what Bush, Cheney and their people did or didn't do. I'm just saying a blank check pardon without even anyone being charged with anything would be very bad precedent.

Come now, with all the reasons you already have to not like Bush, there's no reason to get angry about horrible things that he hasn't done.

[Tex]

With President Obama now in office, I think we can officially label this thread as a complete overreaction.