Dem
51
GOP
49
Before Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) was getting into hot water for her treatment of the family dog, Sen. Mitt Romney was getting into hot water for HIS treatment of the family dog. This is also the man who brought you such hits as "binders full of women" and "the 47%" and "Corporations are people, my friend." With such a tin ear, it's really remarkable he's had the political career he'd had. Guess family connections and money really do matter.
Yesterday, in the midst of his political swan song, Romney was at it yet again. Appearing on MSNBC, he declared that, "Had I been President Biden, when the Justice Department brought on indictments, I would have immediately pardoned [Donald Trump]." And why would Romney have done that? "Well, because it makes me, President Biden, the big guy and the person I pardoned a little guy."
It seems to us, given the Nixon precedent, that a pardon of Trump would have been a colossal mistake, serving to affirm that the president in general, and Trump in particular, need not concern themselves with adhering to the laws while they are in office (or after). Now, there are some counter-arguments that have some merit, like "Putting a former president on trial heightens tensions in the country." We don't buy those arguments, but they aren't completely crazy. On the other hand, sweeping aside the law and the justice system just to look like a big guy? To score some cheap PR points? That would be the kind of "let me focus on what's best for me, country and Constitution be damned" thinking that got Trump into trouble in the first place.
To this day, we still don't understand why Romney ran for the Senate in the first place. Clearly, he did not intend to stay around long enough to get any real power, since he's going to be one-term-and-out. And while he did oppose Trump on occasion, most obviously in the two impeachments, Romney did not use his platform in any meaningful way to rally the anti-Trump, old-school-GOP resistance (compare to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger). What a disappointment Willard must be, to nearly everyone. (Z)