All those years ago. Who knows how many bad things President Nixon did? He did enough that he resigned before the impeachment process completed. The story of his misdeeds might have continued on, but we have a long-standing tradition in the United States not to go after the previous president and put them in jail. That would be a bad precedent to set; where that becomes the norm. So not surprising that a month after Nixon resigned, President Ford, in the national interest, granted him a full, free, and absolute pardon for any crimes he committed while in office. That was a disappointment for those that wanted the full story about everything Nixon had done; who wanted to teach him a lesson and set an example for others; but it was probably a wise decision to try to put an end to the frenzy and move on.
So here we are now, with it seems a scandal a day for the current president. There are so many questions about why he does the things he does. He talks so much about his finances but goes to such extremes to keep them private. So much of what he says and does is inexplicable. We only know what he says, we never know the substance behind what he’s saying, so we wonder. Is he just that odd, or is he somehow criminal or beholden?
If a person under such scrutiny as the current president, did illegal things in their life or in their presidency, they’ll likely be exposed eventually. Presidents can’t be charged with crimes while they’re in office, but of course once they’re out of office that protection evaporates. Roger Stone begged for a pardon and got it from this president because he didn’t “flip” on him. That’s an interesting way to phrase it because it’s not possible to “flip” on someone if they didn’t do something wrong in the first place. There could be inculpatory evidence that is classified for now but will eventually be declassified and the truth be known. Perhaps there is no substance to all the suspicions about the behaviors of this president and it’s all just noise, but wouldn’t it be ironic if this president, who so disparages presidents who came before and some that may come after, and regularly hurls threats of prosecution; wouldn’t it be ironic indeed, that if once out of office, crimes of this president come to light and prosecutions are begun, it falls to some successor president, in the interest of the public good, to grant him a full, free, and absolute pardon of any and all crimes committed while in office?