No. I remember Nixon and his pardon and the debate then. I was young and brash and I rejected any pardon. Years later I came around to Ford's thinking regarding not making the national scar even deeper but this is wholly different.
Nixon did wrong for petty reasons. He did break the law, but in his official capacity there's no reason to believe that he would burn the world down to defend his ego. Trump on the other had has committed many evil acts just because he could, being the emperor he imagines himself to be. Trump hasn't demonstrated that he knows what wrong is, at least as it applies to himself. He's a much worse person than Nixon and I'd wager that Trump thinks he can do anything he pleases and get away with it, either by force of wil or by pardon. A person who takes glee in ruination does not deserve a pardon, and in his case it would be a terrible thing. Escaping consequences gives future contenders a basis to believe any egregious act can and will be forgiven with no possible consequence.
I cannot abide that.
Do you ever get the feeling that he gets so mad every night around the same time--after about 5 straight hours of News absorption that speaks only his name, and every single nugget that mentions his name (seriously, this has been reported, several times over many years as
his nightly ritual (and pretty much what he would do in the office all day)). LoL, that's actually been his job, when you think about the amount of daily hours he has spent, his entire professional life, absorbing public information
about himself.
Anyhoo, back on target: Do you ever get the feeling that he gets so angry, he honestly demands a target to strike with nukes, just randomly, at whoever is in the room waiting for orders? I mean, I would believe it. Probably half jokingly, of course, but with terrified advisors that are never quite sure. And they probably just eat it every night. Apparently, Nixon used to toss back about 7 snifters every night, and on at least 3 documented evenings, he actually ordered
very clear, and very serious nuclear strikes on USSR targets and I think, maybe, one on Cambodia. Don't remember the time period, but it could have been during those final 3 years when he was being dogged. One of his men mentioned this in an interview (he received those orders on one of those nights, directly from Nixon, and he was supposed to send it to Joint Chiefs, I think, but he and some other staffers just agreed to let it die in their hands, because Nixon usually nodded off at that point every evening, and would have a few "gaps" from the previous night, upon waking. )
I honestly don't doubt that the dude has, at the very least, joked with staffers about launching nukes. I wonder if he's tried to pick up some interns with a line like that? :hmm: