this post was submitted on 16 Feb 2026
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politics

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[–] inari@piefed.zip 115 points 18 hours ago (4 children)

The very existence of a presidential pardon is bizarre and an insult to the judicial branch

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 64 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

Pardons aren't the problem. They exist to provide an avenue for reprieve in cases where the law was applied in an unjust or unintended manner, which is not uncommon. The issue is that we let a corrupt, narcissistic piece of shit become President. Obviously he's going to do terrible things with all the power available to him. It doesn't mean the powers of the office are inherently bad, it means he is.

[–] naught@sh.itjust.works 49 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

If one man can single-handedly do anything Trump has done without check or balance, the system does not work imo. Think of the worst person you ever knew. If you don't want them wielding the power, there is too much concentrated power.

[–] Jarix@lemmy.world 19 points 17 hours ago (2 children)

The rules have checks and balances. They just mean absolutely nothing when those who are supposed to use them don't do their fucking jobs. Create more rules and they seemingly will just ignore them.

Look at the order to release the Epstein files? Look at how enough dems cave just to give Trump everything he wants.

It doesn't end until people start being replaced or getting killed. That's where America is at and there is plenty of examples from other nations guess this goes down. Time to start reading some new books

[–] VindictiveJudge@lemmy.world 6 points 15 hours ago

Ultimately, the rules work fine for what they were intended to do, which is prevent one branch of government from becoming much more powerful than the other two. However, they don't work well against an entity like the Republican Party, which deliberately subverts multiple branches simultaneously. The rules against executive power have also been weakened over time due to congress ceding power to the president, something the founders hadn't anticipated. They were prepared for greedy bastards that wanted to hoard power, but people giving power away to reduce their own responsibilities or achieve partisan goals was something they hadn't even heard of.

[–] BillyClark@piefed.social 4 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

There is no check for presidential pardons. Perhaps the pardon itself is supposed to be a check, but there is nothing to stop a president from pardoning criminals who were already serving completely justified sentences.

[–] Jarix@lemmy.world -1 points 14 hours ago

How's your(that) first amendment holding up these days?

[–] krashmo@lemmy.world 3 points 14 hours ago

I'm not saying there's nothing we should do to limit Presidential powers, just that the best thing we can so is not put the worst people in that office. Rules can only do so much. All of them have some kind of loophole. At some point you have to blame the voters for putting people who would abuse those powers in the position to do so.

[–] UnspecificGravity@piefed.social 3 points 14 hours ago

Trying is a piece of shit, but literally every president does a ton of obvious quid pro quo pardons. Most pardons are bullshit.

[–] unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml 1 points 11 hours ago

Not even unjust or corrupt.

It's for cases where judicial guidelines are too hard, requiring a conviction which doesn't make sense.

It's for (uncontroversial) amnesty when the law is slower than the executive and not retroactive. So stuff like non-violent drug convictions.

It's for adding another chance at parole when the parole board's main concern is something that shouldn't be their focus.

[–] phaseshift@lemmy.zip 9 points 14 hours ago

The power of the pardon should be held by the House of Representatives.

[–] Furbag@lemmy.world 4 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

It's was supposed to be the executive's check on the judicial, like a veto but instead of bills passed by congress it's convictions made by a federal court. This was of course back when there was some semblance of judicial independence, nonpartisan interpretations of the constitution, and most people acting on good faith and in the best interests of their constituents or the American population at large.

Sadly, we are now ruled by idiots who have co-opted the government apparatus to serve their own interests.

I kind of agree with other commenters that we should do away with the presidential pardon and replace it with a check that is less likely to be abused for personal gain.

[–] 7101334@lemmy.world -1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

most people acting on good faith and in the best interests of their constituents or the American population at large.

In the bests interests of their constituents aside from women, black people, Chinese people, Japanese people, Muslims (and Sikhs as collateral), Native Americans, Hispanic people, poor people of all ethnicities... but yeah most of the rest of the ~~wealthy, white~~ American population has historically been well-served by electoral politics for sure.

[–] hellure@lemmy.org 3 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

The comment was meant to show contrast between politicians who actually use their position to serve a community at all or in general vs politicians who use their positions purely to enrich themselves, often by defrauding their community.

Your statement detracts from the value and accuracy of their statement without adding anything of value to the discussion. And is thus a bad faith response.

Please try to be more productive with your responses in the future. And maybe actually take the time to listen to what others are saying rather than just looking for opportunities to get on your soapbox.

Thanks.

[–] 7101334@lemmy.world 1 points 50 minutes ago* (last edited 29 minutes ago)

How can my statement "detract from the [...] accuracy of their statement"? That makes no sense.

I will continue speaking out against the mythology of American exceptionalism regardless of whether or not you, or anyone else, approve of me doing so.

The point is that electoral politics have not delivered any meaningful, long-lasting wins to the populations typically ground under the wheels of America. All wins for those groups have been secured by other forms of action, and the reliance on electoral politics to act as a savior has enabled many of those wins to be degraded in recent decades. Suggesting otherwise is promoting mythology, not facts.

Thanks!

[–] Wilco@lemmy.zip 3 points 14 hours ago

Considering Trump is actually selling pardons ... yea, very odd.