Yes, there was a difference: The people Trump pardoned were nearly all convicted criminals, acting on his own behalf to reinforce his lies about the election being stolen, which I know you know is not true. Comparing that action to Pres. Biden protected those people who, except for the one grossly over-harrased Hunter Biden were NOT criminals, from the certain targeting of donald trump. Wake up, Rep. Golden. Trump is a felon who wants to destroy the fundamentals of the longest tenured representative democracy in history in favor of an authoritarian, if not outright fascist oligarchy. Comparing him to Former President Biden in any way is a shameful attempt to both-sides issues for your own political safety. Instead, why not codify the use of the presidential pardon power, to further clarify what it was intended to do.
Biden was a disgusting president and traitor! His son Hunter will be found in the not so distant future for child sex trafficking. Oh! Such an honorable family.
Yes. I think Dan's comment is simply an illustration of the problem Golden is pointing out. I haven't read the numerous comments, but I suspect a lot of them are either illustrative of his point or attacking its general idea of partisan-blindness as unacceptable (also illustrative of his point). I've really appreciated Golden's thoughtful approach to issues. I don't always agree with him (am I also an illustration in those cases?), but I sure do appreciate the fact that he's doing it.
Sorry Dan, You are not correct. If you look at the 1500+- J6'ers, the judicial process was not fair nor impartial. I would suggest you spend more time looking more deeply into that, and you will find Trump did the right thing in those pardons. In fact, as the J6'ers start a reverse process to sue the fed govt we will find out even more how corrupt the Biden and Biden Judicial system really is, especially in Wash D.C. And did you not even see what was on Biden's Sons laptop...outstanding corruption. Wishing you well in the New Year.
I live in Maine, and I am an independent, but I truly do agree with you on both presidents’ signaling that they expect things outside the law. What is a horror though that you do not address are all the GOP lawmakers who are turning a blind eye to cabinet members who are unqualified and giving up the power of Congress to check rogue behaviors. That has already cost the lives of 67 people as the current president’s team had already invaded the operations of the aviation system — without any care or forethought. PLEASE, stand up for sanity in Congress and for checks on presidents who go outside the constitution.
Tragically appropriate that this deadly crash happened at Reagan Nat'l. Before TrumpMuskVought set out to trash the civil service, Reagan busted the air-flight controller union. Since then, they've been working under terrible conditions. The other night one person was trying to do the work of two. In December, Musk was already driving out the FAA chief because he was trying to hold Musk's space business to the law. If Russell Vought goes back to OMB then FAA, the National Safety Board, and other regulatory agencies which are now investigating the crash will also be gutted.
sorry but they did violate the law by going on strike in the first place. They were at fault. That is why they were all fired. It could have been different if they did not strike.
Wait - they work under difficult conditions for years and are understaffed ( and it sounds like ignored?). What should they have done when they will be blamed for failures?
President Reagan stated: "They are in violation of the law and if they do not report for work within 48 hours they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated." Wikpadia ". In addition, PATCO wanted to be excluded from the civil service clauses that it had long disliked. In striking, the union violated 5 U.S.C. (Supp. III 1956) 118p (now 5 U.S.C. § 7311), which prohibits strikes by federal government employees. Anthony Skirlick of the Los Angeles Center warned that these "Unrealistic demands in the face of this change is suicide".[9] Despite supporting PATCO's effort in his 1980 campaign, Ronald Reagan declared the PATCO strike a "peril to national safety" and ordered them back to work under the terms of the Taft–Hartley Act. Only 1,300 (10%) of the nearly 13,000 controllers returned to work.[4] At 10:55 a.m., Reagan included the following in a statement: "Let me read the solemn oath taken by each of these employees, a sworn affidavit, when they accepted their jobs: 'I am not participating in any strike against the Government of the United States or any agency thereof, and I will not so participate while an employee of the Government of the United States or any agency thereof.'"[11] He then demanded those remaining on strike return to work within 48 hours or officially forfeit their positions."
They did violate their terms of working. Reagan needed to prevent a huge issue. I think if they did not push for the removal of the non strike requirement it could have turned out better. Air Traffic Controllers issue has been going on for years. And it is an on going problem in many other services. Shortage of workers qualified to fill critical positions. You do not just go off the street into this job. You have to lots of training. And learning new tech equipment.
Congress has a bad habit of adding unpopular legislation in an important spending bill. In this case the military had not had a pay increase.
Bills should be clean and clear and on the topic. Passing a good piece of legislation and pulling along on its coattails is a travesty. If the legislation would not pass on its own then it should not have been included. My personal opinion on this has no baring on this issue. Just presenting a fact.
The 67 lives lost was due to yesrs of understaff of our Aviation. There was only one person in the tower dealing with both the helicopter and the plane. There was supposed to be two in the control tower. We can't blame present Presidents for what has been going on for years.
Ok that’s fair but he did just randomly dismiss FAA staff that are part of aviation safety without excluding that group from the firings and freezes. We will have more plane crashes if this continues instead of governing.
Yes, I think you’re straddling the fence to appease the Republicans in your district.
There is ABSOLUTELY NO COMPARISON to Trump pardons of 1500 plus people that were convict if violence against police and sedition and Biden’s pardons of people that Trump promised to go after.
I couldn’t have said it better Janice. Word for word is how I would’ve put it. Thank you for making this point. No comparison to the pardons. The One leaving did a DEMOCRATIC caring act to protect the people from the incoming president who was going to take out his revenge on….. the one coming in did his act of pardons to put his ButtKissing criminals back on the streets. walking that fine line doesn’t look good on you.
as if the previous administration did not do that. Look who he pardoned. That just show that they were all criminals. And the point is that he did not pardon himself. And why....in his own words he did nothing wrong. That truly shows that Fauci Miley and the rest would be found guilty if not protected by those pardons.
they were not all violent. Why would you go in the middle of the night , use a swat team to arrest the little old lady from Pasadena who was taking selfies in the capital. really. That is sick.
Once the administration releases all the videos, you will see the amount of misinformation we have been fed about the J6 day. However, it will mean you will have to spend the time to do your own research. The problem I have had with folks like you, Judith, is that you seem to not look at both sides of the information stream, and rely solely on news and information streams that only twist the information. I have been watching both types of streams for a number of years and it is amazing the amount of BS that is spewed from the MainSteamNetworks, NPR etc. Once the Truth comes out, it is amazing how wrong they were. Good luck to you in the New Year.
Now who said "If you speak a lie often enough, it will become truth" And that is all that has been happening for a long long time. But it is getting perfected now with AI.
Shameless. Recall, Golden capitulated to Trump before the election and has continually downplayed the unique threats of Trump Project 2025. Look at the chaos of last week when the Project 2025 OMB unconstitutionally impounded funds appropriated by Congress. And Elon Musk sent out emails intending to gut the federal work force. Evidently without the White House's knowledge. Musk also drove out the FAA chief - because he wanted to hold Musk's space ship business to the law. Then there was the deadly crash at National Airport. Where one controller was trying to do the job of two. This goes back to Reagan busting the air-controllers union.
You are right. I think your comments are a political ploy. Calling out Biden's pardons as rogue behavior equivalent to Trump's is either cynical or embarrassingly naïve. I think it's the former.
Jared, my name is Hugh Bowden and I live in Ellsworth. I agree with some of the things that you have said in this piece. But I am disgusted that it comes only a few months after you refused to endorse Harris and stated publicly that you really didn't care who you might be working with in the White House. And for you to suggest that Biden's pardons were as inappropriate as Trump's is outrageous. Trump pardoned hundreds of people who were convicted, many after pleading guilty, for trashing our Capitol, threatening the life of the vice president and trying to overturn an election. By contrast, Biden's were aimed at providing safety for people who were fearful of the retribution that Trump promised in he won the election. And as you've already observed, he's begun that retribution process. You should take a close look at yourself before telling your constituents how they should behave. You should have spoken out strongly about Trump BEFORE he was returned to office, not now when we can't do a damn thing about it. I am ashamed of you.
Totally agree with you Hugh (and I read your articles in the Ellsworth American). All anyone has to do is read history. How democracies fall. The press is silenced; the constitution is disregarded. Trump's heroes are Hitler, Putin, and Orban of Hungary. How do autocracies come into being? Dismantle the legal system (Trump has put many Maga judges in place); change the election system by manipulating voting districts (gerrymandering), put a lid on the free press (Trump threatened Bezos of The Washington Post and Zuckerberg on FB (who then announced he was stopping fact checking). Zuckerberg was being punished for closing Trump's account and recently paid Trump$25 million and a vow of no longer fact checking to get onto Trump's good side. It's disgusting. An now we have Elon Musk and his hackers who have access to a lot of sensitive information on the US citizens. And he's illegally fired the Inspectors General who were created to be nonpartisan and to provide oversight of government actions. Jared - you and your colleagues must take actions to stop his overreach or we will be no better than a banana republic. Oh and Jared, you're in favor of tariffs. Trump's actions of yesterday are going to increase goods and services. That's inflation.
Hugh, I disagree with you about your characterization of Trump's action about the J-6ers. Have you taken the time to look into some of the individuals who were convicted, to see that their cases were truly Biden's DOJ vendettas against the MAGA right. Hundreds of these folks were being patriotic americans using their First Amendment rights to protest peacefully. (I am not talking about those who did violence at the capitol, but those who were innocent bystanders who did nothing wrong). For those who did lash out at the Police and did damage to the Capitol, I would say that they should have to pay a penalty, but many did enough time and Trump was right that the whole day was planned by the Dems and many of those at the Demonstration were entrapped. I would encourage you to take off your filters and look deeper into the J6ers and research the new information that is coming out. Hope you have a great New Year.
Sorry to disagree with you, John. I watched that entire J-6 debacle unfold and the notion that it was planned by Democrats is absolute bullshit. If they meant to be peaceful and were innocent bystanders, as you claim, those hundreds of "patriotic Americans" could have departed just as soon as things turned violent. There damn sure was no entrapment.
I'm 82 now and I spent many years as a Republican before the party went off and left me. And I cannot, for the life of me, believe that hundreds of so-called Republicans in Congress, both House and Senate, are so scared that they dare not lift a finger to prevent Trump from appointing a mass of people who are without qualifications for major leadership positions and for myriad other atrocities too numerous to mention in the two weeks since he's been in office. It is absolutely appalling!
Congratulations on being targeted by a Trumper letter writer in the Ellsworth American. An honor to be spotlighted for critiquing the Trump administration. I will keep looking for your LTEs.
Either the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are the foundation for the Rule of Law, or they are not. Biden is already out of office and gone, but Trump is a felon to begin with. How is he even holding office? And when Presidents break the law they are as responsible as the rest of us and need to be held accountable. No exceptions.
Yes Term Limits. In my little town. The people wanted Term Limits and those in the Alderman seats voted to not put it on a ballet. So they stay in office again and again. And they are all in the pockets of developers.
Susan Collins is well passed her term date. She should have retired graciously like Olympia Snowe. And I fault these politicians for not mentoring another generation to take their place. They have to hold on forever.
The point is to be bipartisan! This side or that side is NOT the people side. The purpose is that you work for the people. Not a party. They is why I hate parties. Even the Independent choice has became a party. Unfortunately Bernie Sanders chose that for his party. He should have made a Socialist party and run on that. He ruined it. Even Ralph Nader ran on the Green Party. I voted for him 2 times. I hated the other choices.
Your attempt at bothsiderism is frankly nauseating. Biden did in fact peacefully transfer power including participating in all the ceremonies and rituals that demonstrate such to the public at large. There is no justifiable comparison to fomenting an insurrection by armed thugs, then pardoning those convicted criminals. The people Biden pardoned were not convicted criminals, but rather citizens who have been threatened by the convicted felon presently occupying the presidency. Imagine the now elderly Dr. Fauchi, who has devoted a lifetime to improving the health of our citizens, spending his retirement defending himself from baseless legal harassment. Similarly, there is no legitimate comparison to be made regarding infringing on the constitution. The equal rights amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states, and significantly, the constitution itself makes no mention of time limits. That the enabling legislation did, and was the basis of the archivists opposition is a reasonable point to be resolved in the courts. But there is no equivalence to usurping the power of the legislative branch to control spending, attempting to deny birthright citizenship, or loading up the corrupt Supreme Court with the expressed purpose of stealing the constitutional right to control their own bodies and reproductive lives from half the country’s citizens. There is indeed a need for bipartisanship, but more importantly, there is such a thing as honestly standing up for truth. You are sadly lacking.
I think you are drawing a false equivalency between what President Biden did in the final days of his administration and what the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania has done in the last 12 days. I have no insight into President Biden's inner thought processes but certainly appeared that he acted only after seeing increasingly threatening messages come from his successor.
I would hope that you can recognize that granting a preemptive pardon to Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney is not equivalent to pardoning January 6 convicted violators. I am disappointed, not that you may have a legitimate criticism of Biden's use of a pardon regarding his son, but that you equate it to rewarding individuals who were convicted of acts of violence against the Capitol police and against United States itself. Furthermore, Biden's declaration regarding the ERA was not rewriting the Constitution. The deadline for ratification was a Congressional enactment, not a constitutional provision. The requisite number of states approved the ERA, they just did so after the statutory time limit had expired. Legally birthright citizenship has been a constitutional provision at least since the adoption of the 14th Amendment. Both proclaiming the ERA as an adopted amendment and trying to negate birthright citizenship in an executive order are in my opinion losing arguments. Nevertheless, only one of them involves rewriting the Constitution. It is up to the Congress, the Executive, and Judicial branches of government to follow the rule of law as they understand it. You took the same oath as most people who have worked in any of the three branches of government, "I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; …" Cheney and Kinzinger took that oath seriously. Gerald Ford took that oath seriously when he pardoned Richard Nixon to end a "national nightmare" and as angry as it made some people, I don't think anyone in Congress characterized it a "rogue presidency." Biden did the same thing in essence when he pardoned those on the Jan. 6 committee and others who worked on behalf of his Administration. Any President has a right under the Constitution to issue pardons that no one else can issue and thus the act of issuing a pardon is not a "rogue act." It is a discretionary Article II power of the President, any President. I hope you take your oath as seriously as Cheney and Kinzinger did and stop creating false equivalencies in conduct that is vastly different.
I am all for bipartisanship, but it has to be just that- bipartisan. It seems that not one member of the Republican Party has the guts to call Trump out. His vile comments regarding the flight disaster have been left unanswered. While he is doing this, the slight majority in the House is looking to cut services to the needy, ruin what is left of public education in this county, and enrich themselves… how about you bipartisan your way into preventing this from happening. I think Biden pardoned his family because he knew that Trump would do all he could to ruin them…and look who Trump pardoned. There is plenty of blame to go around but you need to realize that if Democrats keep sitting still and keeping quiet, they will be as responsible for the demise of this country as the republicans…do your jobs.
Jared, it's time to get off the fence and stop trying to score above-the-fray bi-partisan political points with what-about-isms comparing Trump's first days in office with Biden's last. Let's stipulate the issues you cite.
It's time to start educating your constituents about how actions taken by the Trump presidency will affect Mainers. Might want to start by telling us how tariffs on Canada (including the 10% across the board tariff you advocate) will impact the Maine lobster industry. Or the implications of the Trump administration's freeze on federal spending for the healthcare, childcare, etc., of your constituents (and be sure not to duck the question with "the freeze has been rescinded").
Glad you're my representative here in Hancock County. It's hard to avoid "false equivalence" criticisms but it is, as you say, essential to point out when someone in a position of great power strays.
It is also important to measure the manner in which someone has strayed and the effect it has on our society and nation.
Presidents have long wrangled with Congress. But Trump's Project 2025, by fiat, takes away Congress' power of the purse and allows the president to impound funds appropriated by Congress. This is of a magnitude incomparable to anything any other president - including Richard Nixon - has done.
Jared,please let us hear you stand up loud and clear for the Separation of Powers whenever the opportunity presents itself in Congress. You are a Mainer after all.
Yes, there was a difference: The people Trump pardoned were nearly all convicted criminals, acting on his own behalf to reinforce his lies about the election being stolen, which I know you know is not true. Comparing that action to Pres. Biden protected those people who, except for the one grossly over-harrased Hunter Biden were NOT criminals, from the certain targeting of donald trump. Wake up, Rep. Golden. Trump is a felon who wants to destroy the fundamentals of the longest tenured representative democracy in history in favor of an authoritarian, if not outright fascist oligarchy. Comparing him to Former President Biden in any way is a shameful attempt to both-sides issues for your own political safety. Instead, why not codify the use of the presidential pardon power, to further clarify what it was intended to do.
Biden was a disgusting president and traitor! His son Hunter will be found in the not so distant future for child sex trafficking. Oh! Such an honorable family.
Yes. I think Dan's comment is simply an illustration of the problem Golden is pointing out. I haven't read the numerous comments, but I suspect a lot of them are either illustrative of his point or attacking its general idea of partisan-blindness as unacceptable (also illustrative of his point). I've really appreciated Golden's thoughtful approach to issues. I don't always agree with him (am I also an illustration in those cases?), but I sure do appreciate the fact that he's doing it.
Sorry Dan, You are not correct. If you look at the 1500+- J6'ers, the judicial process was not fair nor impartial. I would suggest you spend more time looking more deeply into that, and you will find Trump did the right thing in those pardons. In fact, as the J6'ers start a reverse process to sue the fed govt we will find out even more how corrupt the Biden and Biden Judicial system really is, especially in Wash D.C. And did you not even see what was on Biden's Sons laptop...outstanding corruption. Wishing you well in the New Year.
I live in Maine, and I am an independent, but I truly do agree with you on both presidents’ signaling that they expect things outside the law. What is a horror though that you do not address are all the GOP lawmakers who are turning a blind eye to cabinet members who are unqualified and giving up the power of Congress to check rogue behaviors. That has already cost the lives of 67 people as the current president’s team had already invaded the operations of the aviation system — without any care or forethought. PLEASE, stand up for sanity in Congress and for checks on presidents who go outside the constitution.
Exactly.
Tragically appropriate that this deadly crash happened at Reagan Nat'l. Before TrumpMuskVought set out to trash the civil service, Reagan busted the air-flight controller union. Since then, they've been working under terrible conditions. The other night one person was trying to do the work of two. In December, Musk was already driving out the FAA chief because he was trying to hold Musk's space business to the law. If Russell Vought goes back to OMB then FAA, the National Safety Board, and other regulatory agencies which are now investigating the crash will also be gutted.
sorry but they did violate the law by going on strike in the first place. They were at fault. That is why they were all fired. It could have been different if they did not strike.
Wait - they work under difficult conditions for years and are understaffed ( and it sounds like ignored?). What should they have done when they will be blamed for failures?
President Reagan stated: "They are in violation of the law and if they do not report for work within 48 hours they have forfeited their jobs and will be terminated." Wikpadia ". In addition, PATCO wanted to be excluded from the civil service clauses that it had long disliked. In striking, the union violated 5 U.S.C. (Supp. III 1956) 118p (now 5 U.S.C. § 7311), which prohibits strikes by federal government employees. Anthony Skirlick of the Los Angeles Center warned that these "Unrealistic demands in the face of this change is suicide".[9] Despite supporting PATCO's effort in his 1980 campaign, Ronald Reagan declared the PATCO strike a "peril to national safety" and ordered them back to work under the terms of the Taft–Hartley Act. Only 1,300 (10%) of the nearly 13,000 controllers returned to work.[4] At 10:55 a.m., Reagan included the following in a statement: "Let me read the solemn oath taken by each of these employees, a sworn affidavit, when they accepted their jobs: 'I am not participating in any strike against the Government of the United States or any agency thereof, and I will not so participate while an employee of the Government of the United States or any agency thereof.'"[11] He then demanded those remaining on strike return to work within 48 hours or officially forfeit their positions."
They did violate their terms of working. Reagan needed to prevent a huge issue. I think if they did not push for the removal of the non strike requirement it could have turned out better. Air Traffic Controllers issue has been going on for years. And it is an on going problem in many other services. Shortage of workers qualified to fill critical positions. You do not just go off the street into this job. You have to lots of training. And learning new tech equipment.
Please read this: there are others involved hiding behind the blame too. https://open.substack.com/pub/meidastouch/p/180-republicans-voted-against-funding?r=3jamj&utm_medium=ios
I tend to be on the fence until I read the full Bill and see what negatives there were in it that the GOP did not support it.
"What do LGBT rights and a pay raise for U.S. troops have in common? By Rob Hotakainen rhotakainen@mcclatchydc.com Updated November 02, 2016 1:16 PM|
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics-government/article111846642.html#storylink=cpy "
Congress has a bad habit of adding unpopular legislation in an important spending bill. In this case the military had not had a pay increase.
Bills should be clean and clear and on the topic. Passing a good piece of legislation and pulling along on its coattails is a travesty. If the legislation would not pass on its own then it should not have been included. My personal opinion on this has no baring on this issue. Just presenting a fact.
The 67 lives lost was due to yesrs of understaff of our Aviation. There was only one person in the tower dealing with both the helicopter and the plane. There was supposed to be two in the control tower. We can't blame present Presidents for what has been going on for years.
Ok that’s fair but he did just randomly dismiss FAA staff that are part of aviation safety without excluding that group from the firings and freezes. We will have more plane crashes if this continues instead of governing.
It’s also true that these GOP members have systematically stripped the system as you pointed out — and they too are taking no responsibility. https://open.substack.com/pub/meidastouch/p/180-republicans-voted-against-funding?r=3jamj&utm_medium=ios
Oh, and Biden's appointees were well qualified? And you dare say that the tragic crash was Trump's fault. Unreal.....
Yes, I think you’re straddling the fence to appease the Republicans in your district.
There is ABSOLUTELY NO COMPARISON to Trump pardons of 1500 plus people that were convict if violence against police and sedition and Biden’s pardons of people that Trump promised to go after.
You got this so wrong. Disappointing.
I couldn’t have said it better Janice. Word for word is how I would’ve put it. Thank you for making this point. No comparison to the pardons. The One leaving did a DEMOCRATIC caring act to protect the people from the incoming president who was going to take out his revenge on….. the one coming in did his act of pardons to put his ButtKissing criminals back on the streets. walking that fine line doesn’t look good on you.
as if the previous administration did not do that. Look who he pardoned. That just show that they were all criminals. And the point is that he did not pardon himself. And why....in his own words he did nothing wrong. That truly shows that Fauci Miley and the rest would be found guilty if not protected by those pardons.
they were not all violent. Why would you go in the middle of the night , use a swat team to arrest the little old lady from Pasadena who was taking selfies in the capital. really. That is sick.
I think you’ve already seen the videos of what we are talking about.
Now Show us the video with the date of Jan 6th that you are talking about.
Once the administration releases all the videos, you will see the amount of misinformation we have been fed about the J6 day. However, it will mean you will have to spend the time to do your own research. The problem I have had with folks like you, Judith, is that you seem to not look at both sides of the information stream, and rely solely on news and information streams that only twist the information. I have been watching both types of streams for a number of years and it is amazing the amount of BS that is spewed from the MainSteamNetworks, NPR etc. Once the Truth comes out, it is amazing how wrong they were. Good luck to you in the New Year.
Now who said "If you speak a lie often enough, it will become truth" And that is all that has been happening for a long long time. But it is getting perfected now with AI.
Typical Golden 'both sides' BS.
Shameless. Recall, Golden capitulated to Trump before the election and has continually downplayed the unique threats of Trump Project 2025. Look at the chaos of last week when the Project 2025 OMB unconstitutionally impounded funds appropriated by Congress. And Elon Musk sent out emails intending to gut the federal work force. Evidently without the White House's knowledge. Musk also drove out the FAA chief - because he wanted to hold Musk's space ship business to the law. Then there was the deadly crash at National Airport. Where one controller was trying to do the job of two. This goes back to Reagan busting the air-controllers union.
You are right. I think your comments are a political ploy. Calling out Biden's pardons as rogue behavior equivalent to Trump's is either cynical or embarrassingly naïve. I think it's the former.
You left out unethical.
Jared, my name is Hugh Bowden and I live in Ellsworth. I agree with some of the things that you have said in this piece. But I am disgusted that it comes only a few months after you refused to endorse Harris and stated publicly that you really didn't care who you might be working with in the White House. And for you to suggest that Biden's pardons were as inappropriate as Trump's is outrageous. Trump pardoned hundreds of people who were convicted, many after pleading guilty, for trashing our Capitol, threatening the life of the vice president and trying to overturn an election. By contrast, Biden's were aimed at providing safety for people who were fearful of the retribution that Trump promised in he won the election. And as you've already observed, he's begun that retribution process. You should take a close look at yourself before telling your constituents how they should behave. You should have spoken out strongly about Trump BEFORE he was returned to office, not now when we can't do a damn thing about it. I am ashamed of you.
Totally agree with you Hugh (and I read your articles in the Ellsworth American). All anyone has to do is read history. How democracies fall. The press is silenced; the constitution is disregarded. Trump's heroes are Hitler, Putin, and Orban of Hungary. How do autocracies come into being? Dismantle the legal system (Trump has put many Maga judges in place); change the election system by manipulating voting districts (gerrymandering), put a lid on the free press (Trump threatened Bezos of The Washington Post and Zuckerberg on FB (who then announced he was stopping fact checking). Zuckerberg was being punished for closing Trump's account and recently paid Trump$25 million and a vow of no longer fact checking to get onto Trump's good side. It's disgusting. An now we have Elon Musk and his hackers who have access to a lot of sensitive information on the US citizens. And he's illegally fired the Inspectors General who were created to be nonpartisan and to provide oversight of government actions. Jared - you and your colleagues must take actions to stop his overreach or we will be no better than a banana republic. Oh and Jared, you're in favor of tariffs. Trump's actions of yesterday are going to increase goods and services. That's inflation.
Hugh, I disagree with you about your characterization of Trump's action about the J-6ers. Have you taken the time to look into some of the individuals who were convicted, to see that their cases were truly Biden's DOJ vendettas against the MAGA right. Hundreds of these folks were being patriotic americans using their First Amendment rights to protest peacefully. (I am not talking about those who did violence at the capitol, but those who were innocent bystanders who did nothing wrong). For those who did lash out at the Police and did damage to the Capitol, I would say that they should have to pay a penalty, but many did enough time and Trump was right that the whole day was planned by the Dems and many of those at the Demonstration were entrapped. I would encourage you to take off your filters and look deeper into the J6ers and research the new information that is coming out. Hope you have a great New Year.
Sorry to disagree with you, John. I watched that entire J-6 debacle unfold and the notion that it was planned by Democrats is absolute bullshit. If they meant to be peaceful and were innocent bystanders, as you claim, those hundreds of "patriotic Americans" could have departed just as soon as things turned violent. There damn sure was no entrapment.
I'm 82 now and I spent many years as a Republican before the party went off and left me. And I cannot, for the life of me, believe that hundreds of so-called Republicans in Congress, both House and Senate, are so scared that they dare not lift a finger to prevent Trump from appointing a mass of people who are without qualifications for major leadership positions and for myriad other atrocities too numerous to mention in the two weeks since he's been in office. It is absolutely appalling!
Congratulations on being targeted by a Trumper letter writer in the Ellsworth American. An honor to be spotlighted for critiquing the Trump administration. I will keep looking for your LTEs.
Either the Constitution and the Bill of Rights are the foundation for the Rule of Law, or they are not. Biden is already out of office and gone, but Trump is a felon to begin with. How is he even holding office? And when Presidents break the law they are as responsible as the rest of us and need to be held accountable. No exceptions.
What a fool you are, Jared. You're going to "bipartisan" us to dictatorship.
Yes. Bipartisanship involves negotiation.
What Golden does is 'obey in advance.' Capitulation. Collusion.
Paving the way to authoritarian rule by a demagogue turned tyrant.
Let’s not forget Jared wants term limits (2) but he’s on his way to career politician🤥
Yes Term Limits. In my little town. The people wanted Term Limits and those in the Alderman seats voted to not put it on a ballet. So they stay in office again and again. And they are all in the pockets of developers.
Susan Collins is well passed her term date. She should have retired graciously like Olympia Snowe. And I fault these politicians for not mentoring another generation to take their place. They have to hold on forever.
The point is to be bipartisan! This side or that side is NOT the people side. The purpose is that you work for the people. Not a party. They is why I hate parties. Even the Independent choice has became a party. Unfortunately Bernie Sanders chose that for his party. He should have made a Socialist party and run on that. He ruined it. Even Ralph Nader ran on the Green Party. I voted for him 2 times. I hated the other choices.
Your attempt at bothsiderism is frankly nauseating. Biden did in fact peacefully transfer power including participating in all the ceremonies and rituals that demonstrate such to the public at large. There is no justifiable comparison to fomenting an insurrection by armed thugs, then pardoning those convicted criminals. The people Biden pardoned were not convicted criminals, but rather citizens who have been threatened by the convicted felon presently occupying the presidency. Imagine the now elderly Dr. Fauchi, who has devoted a lifetime to improving the health of our citizens, spending his retirement defending himself from baseless legal harassment. Similarly, there is no legitimate comparison to be made regarding infringing on the constitution. The equal rights amendment was ratified by the requisite number of states, and significantly, the constitution itself makes no mention of time limits. That the enabling legislation did, and was the basis of the archivists opposition is a reasonable point to be resolved in the courts. But there is no equivalence to usurping the power of the legislative branch to control spending, attempting to deny birthright citizenship, or loading up the corrupt Supreme Court with the expressed purpose of stealing the constitutional right to control their own bodies and reproductive lives from half the country’s citizens. There is indeed a need for bipartisanship, but more importantly, there is such a thing as honestly standing up for truth. You are sadly lacking.
I think you are drawing a false equivalency between what President Biden did in the final days of his administration and what the current resident of 1600 Pennsylvania has done in the last 12 days. I have no insight into President Biden's inner thought processes but certainly appeared that he acted only after seeing increasingly threatening messages come from his successor.
I would hope that you can recognize that granting a preemptive pardon to Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney is not equivalent to pardoning January 6 convicted violators. I am disappointed, not that you may have a legitimate criticism of Biden's use of a pardon regarding his son, but that you equate it to rewarding individuals who were convicted of acts of violence against the Capitol police and against United States itself. Furthermore, Biden's declaration regarding the ERA was not rewriting the Constitution. The deadline for ratification was a Congressional enactment, not a constitutional provision. The requisite number of states approved the ERA, they just did so after the statutory time limit had expired. Legally birthright citizenship has been a constitutional provision at least since the adoption of the 14th Amendment. Both proclaiming the ERA as an adopted amendment and trying to negate birthright citizenship in an executive order are in my opinion losing arguments. Nevertheless, only one of them involves rewriting the Constitution. It is up to the Congress, the Executive, and Judicial branches of government to follow the rule of law as they understand it. You took the same oath as most people who have worked in any of the three branches of government, "I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; …" Cheney and Kinzinger took that oath seriously. Gerald Ford took that oath seriously when he pardoned Richard Nixon to end a "national nightmare" and as angry as it made some people, I don't think anyone in Congress characterized it a "rogue presidency." Biden did the same thing in essence when he pardoned those on the Jan. 6 committee and others who worked on behalf of his Administration. Any President has a right under the Constitution to issue pardons that no one else can issue and thus the act of issuing a pardon is not a "rogue act." It is a discretionary Article II power of the President, any President. I hope you take your oath as seriously as Cheney and Kinzinger did and stop creating false equivalencies in conduct that is vastly different.
Well written and balanced. Both red and blue will hate it, meaning it's probably exactly correct. Well done.
I am all for bipartisanship, but it has to be just that- bipartisan. It seems that not one member of the Republican Party has the guts to call Trump out. His vile comments regarding the flight disaster have been left unanswered. While he is doing this, the slight majority in the House is looking to cut services to the needy, ruin what is left of public education in this county, and enrich themselves… how about you bipartisan your way into preventing this from happening. I think Biden pardoned his family because he knew that Trump would do all he could to ruin them…and look who Trump pardoned. There is plenty of blame to go around but you need to realize that if Democrats keep sitting still and keeping quiet, they will be as responsible for the demise of this country as the republicans…do your jobs.
Jared, it's time to get off the fence and stop trying to score above-the-fray bi-partisan political points with what-about-isms comparing Trump's first days in office with Biden's last. Let's stipulate the issues you cite.
It's time to start educating your constituents about how actions taken by the Trump presidency will affect Mainers. Might want to start by telling us how tariffs on Canada (including the 10% across the board tariff you advocate) will impact the Maine lobster industry. Or the implications of the Trump administration's freeze on federal spending for the healthcare, childcare, etc., of your constituents (and be sure not to duck the question with "the freeze has been rescinded").
This! ThankYou.
Glad you're my representative here in Hancock County. It's hard to avoid "false equivalence" criticisms but it is, as you say, essential to point out when someone in a position of great power strays.
It is also important to measure the manner in which someone has strayed and the effect it has on our society and nation.
Presidents have long wrangled with Congress. But Trump's Project 2025, by fiat, takes away Congress' power of the purse and allows the president to impound funds appropriated by Congress. This is of a magnitude incomparable to anything any other president - including Richard Nixon - has done.
Jared,please let us hear you stand up loud and clear for the Separation of Powers whenever the opportunity presents itself in Congress. You are a Mainer after all.