Bush Commutes Libby Prison Sentence

[Skybird]

Nice list, August. In what way does it mean anything? How many wrongs turn a questionable practice into something good? That list is a list of arguments against presidential pardons. why a president is allowed to annul court sentences without needing to make his decision object to legal counter-checking and verification (which makes it an act free to total arbitrariness) escapes my understanding.

Originally Posted by August

And BTW:

In the United States, the pardon power for Federal crimes is granted to the President by the United States Constitution, Article II, Section 2, which states that the President:

shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment.

Nothing is perfect, not even the United States Constitution.

It's man-made, like all others, made by people who lived in a certain place, in a certain time, and were confronted with certain environmental and social and political challenges, both enlightened and handicapped by the philosphical and educational horizons and barriers of their time, and not forseeing the situation of the present we living people today experience. Just making an old scripture a holy grail does not compensate for having no really long history. I personally think that America deeply regrets that it sent it's former king to hell - America desperately would love to have a monarchy. That's where the cult about the president, the extreme patriotism trying to compensate the weak national feeling of unity, and this rallying around the flag is coming from.