Merry Christmas miscreants! And to all a fake handout!

President Trump yesterday pardoned 15 miscreants, none of whom seem to have expressed remorse outside a courtroom, made restitution, or devoted themselves to good works. They include mass murderers, fraudsters, liars, drug traffickers, and thieves. There is nothing wrong with pardons for the deserving, but this group wouldn’t even pass muster to be considered for pardons in the usual Justice Department process. Another five people had their sentences commuted.

The President also let it be known that he favors bigger relief payments in the legislation Congress has just passed, after more than 7 months of negotiations and Republican stalling. He would like credit for advocating more than triple what is being provided, but he has intervened too late to make it happen except by a procedure known as unanimous consent. The Democrats will likely propose to use that, but at least some Republicans will object. The President’s handout proposal is a fake.

Pardons are a double-edged sword, since they make it impossible for those pardoned to refuse to testify in court proceedings on grounds of self-incrimination. Thus far, none of those pardoned would appear to be a good candidate for testifying against Trump in court. One who was, Roger Stone, got a commutation of his sentence, which doesn’t erase the conviction and enables him to “plead the fifth.”* Trump may pardon his lawyers, business associates, and family members, but only those he can rely on to lack evidence against him or he thinks are determined to defend him at all costs.

While Christmas has elicited unmerited pardons and a fake handout, the New Year will produce confirmation of the electoral outcome in Congress, where at least a few Republicans will object on January 6 to Joe Biden’s win. That will make for lots of political drama with no substantial effect while Trump’s diehards demonstrate in the streets of Washington and generate the kind of turmoil Trump predicted would happen under a Biden Administration. Trump is determined to leave office with his reputation for promoting violence and wrecking the American political system intact.

Biden is a far more credible and less volatile leader. He has already named a cabinet of worthies that is also more inclusive of minorities and women than any in the past. He will inherit a disastrous epidemic and a still far from fully recovered economy. Depending on the run-off election in Georgia January 5 his party may not control the Senate. But he is a man who respects the American political system, eschews violence, and will quietly but firmly try to restore confidence in America at home and abroad. That will be far better than the unproductive chaos of the last four years.

*PS: This changed a few hours after I posted–Trump pardoned Stone, who can therefore no longer avoid testifying based on self-incrimination in a Federal proceeding.