*****. “There is no more dangerous menace to civilization than a government of incompetent, corrupt, or vile men.”
[ Ludwig von Mises ]

This post will BEGIN the long list of “redefinitions” of the Trump DICTATORSHIP, which have begun to CORRUPT American government, American values, American society, American decency.

1] “Trump Pardons Redefine Crime” [ Glenn Thrush; New York Times; 6/1/25 ] – several excerpts follow:

A] “President Donald Trump is employing the vast power of his office to redefine criminality to suit his needs – using pardons to inoculate criminals he happens to like, downplaying corruption and fraud as crimes, and seeking to stigmatize political opponents by labeling them criminals.” [read & THINK on this again]

B]. “Trump has used his pardon power, like nearly every other executive tool in his kit, to assert personal dominance over processes generally, if not always, governed by established ethical and institutional guardrails. He professes to abide by the rue of law but has often shown a willingness to do so only when he defines the rules and laws.”

C]. “”Granting pardons or commuting sentences of public officials or other white-collar criminals convicted of fraud, tax evasion and other breaches of trust is likely to have the effect of normalizing nonviolent crimes,” said Barbara McQuade…”Of course, stealing by fraud is still stealing. It’s just that this is the way rich people do it.”

D] “Another Trump objective: Rewriting the history of the Capitol riot to minimize the actions of his supporters and emphasize the hardship they endured by being prosecuted. He has gone so far as to call some of those who were imprisoned “hostages.”
“Hours after declaring at his inauguration that “the scales of justice will be rebalanced,” Trump granted blanket clemency to around 1,600 rioters, some of them violent, who ransacked the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. It instantly obliterated the biggest and most logistically complex investigation in the history of the Justice Department and was followed, in short order, by a purge of career prosecutors who obtained convictions.”

E]. “At the time, Matthew Graves, the U.S. attorney in Washington who oversaw many of the trials, said the move undermined the rule of law and set a dangerous precedent by removing the main deterrence against future acts of insurrection and violence by would-be rioters.” [read this again & THINK on it. ‘UNDERMINED THE RUE OF LAW.” and future implications. For perspective see how DICTATOR Trump is acting on protests against HIM. ]

F]. “If the Jan. 6 clemency edict was broad, Trump’s recent actions disproportionally favor the powerful, famous, well-connected and wealthy.” [Note: the Constitution says. “..promote the general Welfare..” – just how does pardoning people who killed police officers “..establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility..” ?????]

G]. “These actions follow a systematic effort inside the Justice Department to dismantle units that investigate public corruption, fraud and foreign interference in U.S. businesses and elections.”

*****. “What do I care about the law. Hain’t I got the power?” [ Cornelius Vanderbilt ]

2]. “How a Troubling Trump Pardon Hurt a Major Criminal Inquiry” [ Mischael Schmidt, Maggie Haberman, Jonathan Swan, Alan Feuer; New York Times; 11/26/23]: “..one commutation stood out…The commutation dealt a substantial blow to an ambitious criminal investigation..” of a person with a history of hurting small business and others.

3] “Trump Says He’ll Stop Health Care Fraudsters. Last Time, He Let Them Walk” [Brett Kelman; The Progressive Populist; 5/1/25]: Trump pardoned a man whose company “defrauded taxpayers out of tens of millions of dollars.” Trump commuted a sentence for a health care executive convicted of a “$1.3 billion Medicare and Medicaid fraud scheme”; also commuted a doctor serving a 17-year sentence “for defrauding Medicare of $42 million.”

4] “Trump Pardoned Them; Now They’re Helping Him” [ Beth Reinhard, Manuel Roig-Franzia, Clarence Morse; Washington post; 12/3/23 ]: “Never before had a president used his constitutional clemency powers to free or forgive so many people who could be useful to his future political efforts..dozens of recipients..”

5]. “Trump pardons GOP donor convicted of bilking investors” [ Jack Ewing; New York Times; 3/29/25 ]: ‘..Shareholders lost tens of millions of dollars.”

6]. “Judge: Pardons don’t ‘change the truth'” [ News Services; 1/23/25 ]: after Trump’s mass pardons for Jan. 6, 2021 offenders, a federal judge said evidence of Jan 6th is preserved through the “neutral lens” of riot videos, trial transcripts, jury verdicts and judicial opinions.

*****. “Crime is contagious. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for the law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy.” [ Justice Louis Brandeis ]

[NOTE: Trump hasn’t just redefined crime, he’s also redefined downward standards for government honesty, transparency, corruption, cruelty, stupidity, craziness. If America was a “3rd world” country – we’d be laughing at him and his country. Trump has NOT, will NOT, “Make America Great Again.” He has, statistically, made us weaker. He has degraded America in the eyes of the world. Virtually his every move sincve January 20, 2025 has resulted in discrediting America. Many of hispolicies are making new enemies – often among former friends and allies.
His 2017 tax cut for the obscenely rich blew up the national debt. His effort to make thse tax cuts permanent will add TRILLIONS more on that debt. The interest on that – his – national debt is $1 trillion EVERY YEAR. Economists [REAL ones] say his policies don’t add up. Farmers and business people say his tariffs and economic policies are DIVORCED FROM REALITY.
Trump’s attacks on the “rule of law”. will damage America for years, maybe generations. His attacks on universities will “kill the goose that lays the golden egg.” In his NEED FOR ENEMIES, he has deliberately exacerbated ill will, suspicion, hatreds, and further divided Americans. All this damage is all the more shameful because of the motives behind it: GREED and political advantage. ]

*****. “Power is okay, and stupidity is usually harmless. Power and stupidity together are dangerous.”

[ Patrick Rothfuss ]