Handsomedan:

 

How does one pardon a criminal in and from another country, exactly? 

 

He's in a US jail, IIRC.

All in the very best of taste ...

A portrait of President Donald Trump made of Lego.

Christmas decorations in the East Room. 

A painting of Trump hangs among the Christmas decorations. 

Blue butterflies accompany the “Be Best” ornaments. 

The Washington Post - A pared-back White House Christmas  with a Trump Lego portrait

today

 

This year’s theme? “Home Is Where the Heart Is.”

 

The decorations include ample ribbon throughout, Lego portraits of Presidents Donald Trump and George Washington in the Green Room, 3D-printed ornaments on the White House Christmas Tree in the Blue Room, and 75 of what the first lady’s office is calling “Mrs. Trump’s Signature Wreaths.” 

 

Sideface:

 

This year’s theme? “Home Is Where the Heart Is.”

 

Heh, the Trumps spending the Christmas holidays homeless would be poetic.

To Trump, and the whole of his cohort that now occupy leadership positions throughout Washington.

A drug financier profiting off drugs is just an astute businessman seeking profit.
Like me. never cared who it hurt.
A drug kingpin is a CEO of a business, working the angles.
Tax cheat, well that's me 100%. 
My people the boss class.

These are Trumps people, so get pardons, if they have money or influence.
For Trump it also gets the message out, if you do something for me or to my enemies, you will face no penalty.

Drug mules get Hellfire missiles with no chance of arrest or process as they deserve no mercy. 

/satire-sarcasm incoming:

ezbee: Drug mules get Hellfire missiles with no chance of arrest or process as they deserve no mercy.

https://www.msn.com/en-nz/news/other/trump-insiders-fear-he-s-out-of-touch-as-rallies-grind-to-a-halt/ar-AA1Rv6BW?ocid=winp1taskbar&cvid=692e44e0ee9244e99c48751a02a16aff&ei=12

But since his second term, The Atlantic noted that the president’s focus appears to have been on “business titans and billionaires who want something from him and tell him what he wants to hear.”

“People voted for him to lower prices, to bring manufacturing back, to stand up to those taking advantage of them,” a close Trump ally told The Atlantic’s Jonathan Lemire. “They didn’t vote for him to build a damn gilded ballroom. He’s not hearing them,” the ally added, who was not named “so as not to antagonize” the president.

They only think he's "out of touch" now? Hell, I thought he's always been out of touch! 🤔

The Washington Post - Opinion - A sickening moral slum of an administration

02 December 2025

Regarding Venezuela, Ukraine and much more, Trump and his acolytes are worse than simply incompetent.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth seems to be a war criminal. Without a war. An interesting achievement. ...

 

No operational necessity justified Hegseth’s de facto order to kill two survivors clinging to the wreckage of one of the supposed drug boats obliterated by U.S. forces near Venezuela. ...

 

The killing of the survivors by this moral slum of an administration should nauseate Americans.

 

A nation incapable of shame is dangerous, not least to itself. As the recent “peace plan” for Ukraine demonstrated. ...

 

The WAPO is definitely not pro-Trump ...

... and neither is The Times ...

The NY Times - Opinion - ‘The $64,000 Question Is What Happens When He Is Gone’

02 December 2025

As Vice President JD Vance gears up to campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2028, a central element of his strategy is to win over what is fast becoming a nascent MAGA establishment.

 

Which raises two questions:

 

•    First, can a MAGA movement that coalesced around Trump - based on a shared hatred of the left - continue without Trump?
  
  
•    Second, can Trumpism be institutionalized in a way that makes it a sustained, if not permanent, political force dominating the Republican Party and the right more broadly?
  
  

Vance is determined to prove that the answer to both questions is yes. ...

 

There is, of course, another alternative altogether that would put to rest all the ins and outs of Vance’s machinations and the emergence of a new Republican establishment: that over the next three years, Trump and the MAGA movement implode, pushed to the margin by economic incompetence, corruption and the abuse of power.

 

That, however, may be too much to hope for.

 

and now ...

The Guardian - Trump claims to void all documents signed by Biden, citing autopen use 

breaking

Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is terminating all documents, including pardons, that he said his predecessor Joe Biden signed using an autopen.

 

The autopen is a device used to replicate a person’s signature with precision, typically for high-volume or ceremonial documents. It has been employed by presidents of both major parties to sign letters and proclamations.

 

“Anyone receiving ’Pardons,’ ’Commutations,’ or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

 

Trump, known for his provocative style and dislike for his political opponents, has repeatedly targeted Biden’s use of the autopen to sign official documents during his presidency.

 

The words of a mad despot.  😟

EDIT   The use of mechanical copying devices for handwritten documents dates back to the polygraph tool embraced by Thomas Jefferson. 

and a handy guide:

Sideface:

 

and now ...

 

The Guardian - Trump claims to void all documents signed by Biden, citing autopen use 

 

breaking

 

Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is terminating all documents, including pardons, that he said his predecessor Joe Biden signed using an autopen.

 

The autopen is a device used to replicate a person’s signature with precision, typically for high-volume or ceremonial documents. It has been employed by presidents of both major parties to sign letters and proclamations.

 

“Anyone receiving ’Pardons,’ ’Commutations,’ or any other Legal Document so signed, please be advised that said Document has been fully and completely terminated, and is of no Legal effect,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

 

Trump, known for his provocative style and dislike for his political opponents, has repeatedly targeted Biden’s use of the autopen to sign official documents during his presidency.

 

 

The words of a mad despot.  😟

 

EDIT   The use of mechanical copying devices for handwritten documents date back to the polygraph tool embraced by Thomas Jefferson. 

 

Does that also apply to all the pardoned January 6 thugs? Was that done via an all-encompassing document, or did he have to do an individual pardon for each one? I doubt he would have personally signed over 1000 individual documents like that?

quickymart: Does [using an autopen] also apply to all the pardoned January 6 thugs? Was that done via an all-encompassing document, or did he have to do an individual pardon for each one? I doubt he would have personally signed over 1000 individual documents like that?