Of course the convicted criminal freed his convicted criminals

There I was the other day, happily minding my own business, re-watching an old “Seinfeld” episode (Jerry and his gal were making out during “Schindler’s List”), when I received an email inviting me to opine on a radio show about Day One of the new autocratic regime.

Sigh. With a heavy heart I said OK. I felt like Michael Corleone in “Godfather III”: “Just when I thought I was out – they pull me back in.”

What propelled me to leave my cocoon last week was the convicted criminal’s predictable decision to free the convicted criminals who’d stormed the Capitol – the first blatant manifestation of the lawlessness that will define his regime. This action was too revolting for me to ignore; and now we’ve learned, via a Trump adviser’s leak to the Axios news site, that Trump made his decision in this sagacious fashion: “F— it. Release ‘em all.”

Here’s what I said on WHYY (Philadelphia’s NPR outlet), during its “Studio Two” show:

“Today is the 75th anniversary of the death of George Orwell. I think George Orwell would’ve (denounced) pardoning people who directly attacked the peaceful transfer of power and a free and fair election…The message it sends is, ‘you can beat up on police officers, on federal property at the U.S. Capitol – and it’s OK if you are supporters of President Trump.’ It’s a baldly partisan message, and, if I’m not mistaken, polls show that most Americans (oppose) pardoning people from Jan. 6. Because we saw what happened with our own eyes…and are we supposed to deny what we saw? It’s a powerfully disturbing message which says, ‘If we lose an election, it’s OK to storm the Capitol.”

I was not mistaken about public opinion. A new Reuters-Ipsos survey says that 58 percent of Americans (including 1 in 3 Republicans) oppose the blanket pardons, and two other polls have similar numbers. The Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s largest law enforcement union, have also condemned the pardons: “When perpetrators of crimes, especially serious crimes, are not held fully accountable, it sends a dangerous message that the consequences for attacking law enforcement are not severe, potentially emboldening other to commit similar acts of violence.”

Indeed, my on-air comments did not go far enough. I should have stated a truth which is self-evident: By freeing his loons and goons to prey on what remains of civilized society, Trump has created – or, to be more precise, he has recreated – a street army of domestic terrorists who have future license to engage in violence on his behalf. Starting with the former leader of the Proud Boys who was set to serve a 22-year sentence, and the founder of the Oath Keepers who was supposed to do 18.

Even the right-wing editorial board of Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal clanged the alarm: “Law and order? Back the blue?…What happened (on Jan. 6) is a stain on Mr. Trump’s legacy. By setting free the cop beaters, the President adds another.” (The Journal editorial writers spent the election season assailing Kamala Harris. The Fraternal Order of Police officially opposed her. Were they all deaf and dumb about Trump’s plan to pardon his Visigoths?)

Not that he cares a whit about the criticism he receives. Granted, he gets mad and posts stupid missives on social media (yesterday he attacked the Episcopal bishop who’d pleaded with him “to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared”), but he’s not going to be moved by public opinion to trim his extremism. The blanket pardons are Exhibit A. His popular-vote margin last November was one of the smallest in history, but he’s falsely claiming a “mandate” anyway and he’ll behave as if it’s real.

As if any of this should be a surprise.

Ankush Khardori, a former Justice Department prosecutor, insists that Trump will likely pay a price for freeing his fellow criminals: “Trump is at the start of his second term, but it’s his last one; the Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House; and the 2026 midterms will be here before we know it. Real risks exist for the GOP both now and in the future.”

To which I say: Does this person live in America?

That’s enough from me; I’m fleeing back to “Seinfeld.” But alas, necking during “Schindler’s List “doesn’t seem as funny as it did the other day. Totalitarianism is deadly serious business.

–

Dick Polman, a veteran national political columnist based in Philadelphia and a Writer in Residence at the University of Pennsylvania, writes at DickPolman.net. Email him at [email protected]

Dick Polman

Cited by the Columbia Journalism Review website as one of the nation’s top political scribes, and by ABC News’ online political tip sheet as “one of the finest political journalists of his generation, ” Dick Polman is the national political columnist at Philadlephia NPR affiliate WHYY, and has covered or chronicled every presidential campaign since 1988.

A Philadelphia resident, Dick roamed the country for most of his 22 years at The Philadelphia Inquirer. He has been blogging daily since 2006. He’s currently on the full-time faculty at the University of Pennsylvania, as “Writer in Residence.” He has been a frequent guest on C-SPAN, CNN, MSNBC, the BBC, and various NPR shows – most notably Philadelphia’s “Radio Times” on WHYY-FM.

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