We’ve passed a line in the sand where we have to push back or we have conceded. There must be a response.

Another commenter pointed out that Nixon was pardoned because of the distaste of jailing a President and fear of the precedent it might set. That pardon was also the price to get him to resign and end a Constitutional Crisis. He did so because he did care about the fate of the union enough to not want the national fallout of all he did becoming public.

There are logistical problems to jailing a President. For one, Past presidents still receive secret service protection. That protection cannot be lifted and would be much more problematic in prison, even Club Fed. The only effective and safe way to jail a president I can think that would still be “jail” of would be in isolation. But then we’re tripping over problems with the “cruel and unusual punishment” clause of the 8th amendment.

We’ve got to figure it out though or we are inviting more of the same. The eventual end of that is anarchy in the streets, revolution, etc. Without collective adherence to the law, we concede any kind of self determination to our own fates. The law ceases to mean anything and it’s return to the law of the jungle.

I guess everyone will have their own thoughts on this, but I’m not really interested in devolution. So I say let that fraud have his day in court. Let the courts decide without interference from the sitting administration so we avoid that precedent by involving politics. Let the courts decide and let their decisions stand. If they say jail, lock the bastard up. If they say house arrest, so be it. If they say fine, surrender if passport, no business dealings, barred from seeking office or participating in national politics, etc., okay, fine, that works too.

But there must be a response.

Last thought, pardons don’t have to be issued before time is served or judgement is rendered. They can also be a means of clearing one’s record. So if there is to be a pardon, let it be on the shoulders if the next sitting Republican President and let them be the ones to shoulder the backlash. And let’s not kid ourselves, there will be backlash.