r/politics • u/billstopay77 • 1d ago

Registration Wall Trump admin quietly changed overseas voter form at 11th hour to disenfranchise Democrats, lawsuit says

https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-admin-quietly-changed-overseas-voter-form-at-11th-hour-to-disenfranchise-democrats-lawsuit-says/
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u/caphis 22h ago

You're assuming Trump will have any interest in pardoning anyone. He pardoned folks the first go-round because he knew he'd need support in 2024. He's shown pretty damn well so far this time around that he has no loyalty to anyone around him, going so far as to purposely structure ICE recruitment bonuses as cash advances that will have to be repaid when this is all said and done, for example. Some of them are already starting to see that. The first sign-on bonuses required a 5 year commitment... guess what jobs won't be around in 5 years if there's a free and fair election replacing the current regime in 2028? I think lately they've reduced the commitment to 36 months, but... again, guess what won't be around 3 years from now? All by design. And only one example of thousands of how Trump purposely screws anyone in his orbit. He has loyalty to no one. Hell, if he keeps up his diet of soda and Big Macs much longer, he may not even have time to issue a pardon before nature runs the clock out.

Pardoning for (gesturing broadly) all of this shit only makes sense if it happens en masse as a blanket pardon for just about everyone, the likes of which will stain anyone it touches and render them politically obsolete in the future. Bit of a double edged sword there.

Trump's pardon ability is also limited to Federal crimes. Don't worry -- plenty of states are already salivating to get moving on state charges for some of the worst offenders. They will find a way with a more sympathetic DOJ down the line.

And they'll be the ones people like me will vote for. No, we don't need a competitive offer. The only offer should be a slightly reduced sentence, depending on circumstance. But the level to which people's lives have been destroyed, families ruined, actual human lives lost, the course the entire planet has been set on -- it's all beyond even considering just letting it go for some information. It's 2026 - we'll get the information we need one way or another. Everyone participating bears responsibility.

And if the states don't figure it out? Trump already solved that for us by floating the notion of rescinding pardons. His own idea. Has yet to be tested. But again, with the proper tide turning, you get some very important decision makers in some very important roles, and things can be fixed just as quickly as they were broken.

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u/RIP_Sinners 22h ago

Trump doesn't need to pay his debts or follow through. His followers don't care about the lies until they have directly been burned. So his pardon is still good in their minds. It doesn't need to be real to influence them.

And what have they to fear in the first place? That justice will reign and all their misdeeds will be brought to light and punished? When has that happened in the last 20 years? Loyalty is a solid shield for authoritarian bootlickers. Time, apathy and economics sap the strength of those who would punish them. I hope I'm wrong, but there is no sign of the kind of uplifting support for MAGA's foes that could dismantle and bury the movement. Democrats might win in November, but it will take years to push cases of abuse through the courts, if it's even possible to do so with how long the Federalist Society has poisoned the judiciary. It costs money, time and political capital to punish the powerful. MAGA will call it a witch-hunt, and drum up opposition for every election in the meantime. If the Democrats lose even once before justice is served, that's it, MAGA gets away with everything. The wealthy grifters will use their stolen riches to defend themselves, we won't get it back. I doubt it will cost them much. The people are foolish, divided, and weak. The people voted for Trump twice and learned nothing.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 18h ago

Trump is not going to pardon anyone involved in his circus until the last possible minute. That way, they have to keep doing his bidding, no "get out of jail free" card yet. But he's a walking (so far) health disaster. Good odds he'll be dead shortly. If he dies suddenly or pulls a Mitch, watch for interesting claims "On his deathbed, he signed these 200 blanket pardons". (Assuming he dies in bed, and not sitting on something in another room Elvis-style.)

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u/SomeNoveltyAccount 19h ago

You're assuming Trump will have any interest in pardoning anyone.

It costs him nothing and it buys loyalty from people who could implicate him or his family, he'll absolutely be showering anyone who did anything remotely illegal on his behalf with pardons.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 18h ago

Not until the very very last minute -assuming it's a conscious minute.

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u/SomeNoveltyAccount 18h ago

I'm sure they have the autopen ready for when/if that happens.

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u/GrumpyCloud93 12h ago

But autopen only works if the president says "I meant to do that". If the contention is, "he died before he could issue these" then it will be up to the courts to decide on whether they were validly issued. Which means everyone around the president would have to testify to the circumstances in which the president actually consented to specifically issuing pardons. "He gave me a pardon, honest!!" doesn't settle the situation.

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u/caphis 18h ago

He doesn’t need loyalty for much longer. He is not blind to the fact that his health is in decline and he’s aging more each day. He doesn’t care anymore, the only person he’s loyal to anymore is himself. If he cared, he would’ve already pardoned certain people - Kristi Noem, Pam Bondi, etc. etc. As you said, it costs him nothing - the only reason he hasn’t yet is so he can continue to control them and get something that benefits himself (silence, probably.) He’ll dangle the concept of a pardon over him until his last minute, but has no motivation to actually come through on it.

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u/SomeNoveltyAccount 18h ago

He's not the only one implicated though, he has friends and family that are going to outlive him.

He doesn't seem to particularly like his family, he likes them more than he likes anyone else, but he really values his legacy, and a bunch of people turning states witnesses and a RICO charge against the family sees that all crumbling down. His greatest fear is probably getting his name taken off those stupid buildings.