Hacker News Reader

Comment by coryfklein | Hacker News Reader

Yes, but in the context of presidential pardons there is nothing the GOP can do to either back the president or not back the president. It doesn't make sense to attribute presidential pardons to The Republican Party when there is a sole individual who decides who to pardon and why.

I'll point out that, now that Donald Trump is out of power, many in the GOP in general have been rather quick to turn their backs on him and outright criticize him. While he was in power, sure, Republicans politicians were politically savvy enough to side with him, knowing that the alternative was suicide. But there is now room to disagree with Trump and we're seeing many (like Mitch McConnell, and you don't get more Republican than him!) use that opportunity to distance themselves.

View on HN

It's true that the direct decision was his but this doesn't happen in a vacuum. People talk beforehand — this is reportedly why he didn't pardon himself or his children – and especially now there's no reason why a member of Congress or other national leader couldn't speak against something like this. It practically writes itself — “Republicans support private property rights, thievery isn't something we condone” – so if they want an easy way to show that Trump isn't the party, all they have to do is start.

> While he was in power, sure, Republicans politicians were politically savvy enough to side with him, knowing that the alternative was suicide.

It's not that easy: some people were making a cold political calculation but we're far enough down the Tea Party rabbit hole that there are members who earnestly believe what used to be fringe beliefs. I mean, think about how many right now are willing to unequivocally say that Biden legitimately won the election, which is almost the weakest sop to objective reality possible. That's not going to reverse itself quickly, especially without a hard fight from everyone else still in the party. I know some people who are trying to pull the party back from the edge and I wish them success but the odds aren't looking great.

Come on, suicide? If you loose your job for saying "this is unethical" do you call that suicide? It's called having a backbone. "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor." These GOP folks who stood behind Trump but are now critical choose the side that's winning at the time rather than stand up for what's right.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com