It’s been quite a while since I last posted comments about the state of the union. During this time I’ve eschewed speculation in favor of waiting and seeing what was going to happen after the 2024 election. Ever the optimist, I hoped the second Trump administration just might be guided by a modicum of moderation and sobriety. Additionally, I simply needed some time away from politics and being disappointed by partisan and selfish Trump voters.
The pardoning of the January 6 perpetrators made me recall the words of attorney Joseph Welch asking Senator Joseph McCarthy, “Have you no sense of decency, sir …?” during the historic Army-McCarthy hearing June, 1953. Welch’s admonition continues to haunt me during the loss of decency and the rule of law in our own time. Only this time, it is not a junior senator from Wisconsin who is the villain but the president of the United States.
Trump’s callous and vindictive pardoning of the January 6 rioters is a chilling sign of the moral deficiency and self-serving ambition that appears to drive the president and his MAGA acolytes. He has uncritically given pardons to those who assaulted the Capital, including Enrico Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, who was serving 22 years for seditious conspiracy to overthrow the U. S. government and Daniel Rodriguez serving 12 years for tasing metropolitan Police Officer Michael Fanone who suffered cardiac arrest and a traumatic brain injury. There was no looking at case by case, no exception, just a blank pardon in an effort to whitewash the January 6 riot and rewrite the history that we all saw play out on television. And now, of course, this egregious action is being excused because of the ill-advised pardons issued by President Biden during his departure. Balderdash!
So far, not good – waiting and seeing and still hoping for saner heads to prevail in the next four years.