Today’s word: Befehlsnotstand.

Because when conservatives say “pardon,” they mean “Befehlsnotstand.”

WaPo gives the historical background:

Pardons in recent times generally have been granted to people who were convicted years earlier — not of violent crimes — and who have completed their sentences and redeemed themselves. Bush has granted 113 pardons over six years, nearly a modern low, and has never pardoned anyone who had not been released from prison. He has commuted the sentences of three others.

What the conservatives want is for Bush to “pardon” Libby immediately after the jury’s verdict—if not sooner.

“Our number one goal is to see Scooter’s conviction wiped out by the courts and see him vindicated,” attorney William Jeffress Jr. said in an interview. “Now, I’ve seen all the calls for a pardon. And I agree with them. To me, he should have been pardoned six months ago or a year ago.”

I can’t think of a precedent for a “President” simply setting aside a court verdict right after the decision came down. Even Bush I waited a decent interval before pardoning the Iran-Contra felons.

Where does it ever stop with these guys? What next? Bush gets an automatic signature machine like the one Rummy used to sign condolence letters to the troops, and starts churning out pardons on a daily basis?

Anyhow, Befehlsnotstand:  Read more 

Ford pardoning Nixon was worse than a deal; it was a favor for a friend. Another emmbargoed scoop from court biographer “staff writer” Bob Woodward:

Months before Richard M. Nixon set a relatively unknown Michigan congressman named Gerald R. Ford on the path to the White House, Nixon turned to Ford, who called himself the embattled president’s “only real friend,” to get him out of trouble.

“Anytime you want me to do anything, under any circumstances, you give me a call, Mr. President,” [Ford] told Nixon during that May 1, 1973, conversation.

World-class teabagging! So, why did Ford pardon Nixon?  Read more