How would you react if the President pardoned.....

The stronghold they have on institutional control now is not close to that which they had then.

The whole dynamic has changed.

EDIT: What I actually should say is that the standard for "normal" has shifted dramatically in the progressive direction since the 50s, which yields the same outcome.

 

Please explain. The Democratic party controlled the House from basically the New Deal until Newt Gingrich! I dont think academia, big business, the military is any more "controlled" by liberals than they were in 1950. Hollywood and media? Not really. Fox News didnt exist until the 90s. The Supreme Court? Definitely not! I mean give me back the 50s, there were actual communists in some of those places!

 

I edited my response:

 

Do you know who Celtic Capri is and what they do?

 

Yes I suppose things like opposing interracial marriage, liking jazz, men wearing drab suits and hats or institutional racism are considered less normal now, but that's a pretty generic statement on your part. I assume you are on board with a lot of the "progress" that is considered "normal" now? I think you need to be specific with what you mean, and not hide behind broad generalities and statements. What does "normal" or "progressive" even mean? You are speaking as if these are concrete notions with universal meaning when they arent at all.

 

For one, you mentioned "Communists" were part of some of these institutions then.

But a huge premise of the "red scare" was that being "Communist" was seen by the public at large as a bad thing.

It's nowhere close to the pejorative it was then. And racism is a much bigger pejorative than it was then. When both really require cooler heads to prevail. Otherwise, you have fear-mongers manipulating the public by appealing to their prejudices and fears.

 

I'm sure there's a psychological explanation, but I think many on both sides genuinely believe that the "other side" plays dirtier, lies more, and more frequently offers arguments they don't even believe.

I'm also sure that our ideology influences how we view the power dynamics in this country. I do think liberals have more influence in terms of popular culture, music, movies, art, and in academia. That's at least partly because conservatives apparently do not gravitate to those fields for various reasons.

In terms of political/government power, I saw that Trump was able to put three justices on the Court despite losing the popular vote by millions. I see the least populated states exerting disproportionate power. I see Republicans in control of the U.S. House of Representatives and most legislatures and Governors' mansions across the country. I see a very powerful gun lobby preventing legislation that seems very popular nationally.

I also see strange social phenomena, such as people blasting Obama for being an arrogant elitist but then cheering Trump when brags about how smart he is and how much money he has. I see people who've had tons of advantages in life accuse others of playing the victim while doing so themselves.

We all feel like we're in a bizarre, alternate universe at times.

 

There's also no USSR anymore either, I think that has more to do with that than whatever you want to ascribe to institutional control. If you are a 25 year old communist or socialist, you literally werent alive during the Soviet era. Even if you are in your mid thirties, you were a child at best. There's no Cold War security concerns about it anymore, and also capitalism has experienced multiple major crises in the last 30 or so years, and alternatives are more intriguing to people who have never known the sort of stability of the post-war era to the late 90s. There are definitely more fascists and visible far-right figures too than 30 years ago, for similar reasons.

 

Pardons for any of them will not help the divide. You want to help the divide? Have the Trump case on TV and show the country the evidence and the jury decide. Then if the evidence is there indicting Hunter and or Joe, TV trial with the evidence and the jury decides. Sure, there will still be some on both sides not happy, but you can never make everyone happy. Transparency is the key in any of these preceding to bring as many of us together that are willing to see the facts.

 

I'm far from an expert on pardon law, but I believe you can pardon conduct before a conviction.

 

Plus they may even surpass the OJ trial in ratings

 

What crime did Hunter Biden commit?

 

I support this. Public corruption bothers me a lot - probably more than it should.

 

No TV, photography or recorded audio. All you're going to see of the trial are courtroom sketches and people leaving the building.

 

That worked great in the OJ trial.

sarcasm.

 

Talk about a temporary brain fart.....I read the title of this thread and for a half a second I thought it read....How would you react if the President pardoned....OklahomaGator today.
For a split second there I wondered what @OklahomaGator did.

 

He probably lied on a federal firearms form by failing to disclose his cocaine addiction and failed to file a tax return and pay taxes. The interesting dilemma for the US Attorney investigating his case, a Trump appointee by the way, is that potential defendants charged with Hunter's apparent failure to file a return and pay taxes aren't usually prosecuted if they file the return and pay all of the taxes owed plus interest and penalties as did Hunter. Similarly lying on a the federal firearms form usually isn't prosecuted as a standalone crime. Normally it's only charged in conjunction with other crimes such as illegal firearms trafficking or if the firearm was used in commission of another crime. The irony with Hunter is that if he is treated as most potential defendants and not prosecuted the Republicans and the right-wing media would allege favoritism; the same if he were allowed to plead to misdemeanors and sentenced to probation.

 

If it put Trump out to pasture permanently I would be good with it. And hope someone more narcissistic doesn't step forward to fill the void.