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.
So you predict that about Hunter Biden, but you don't mind how much time Trump spent on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet and private island, even though Epstein was an actual convicted child sex trafficker? I would think you'd be more grossed out by the person who actually participated in child sex trafficking than the person you think might someday. I know I am.
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.
All of those indictments were handed down by grand juries made up of citizens chosen at random. All the perpetrators were either tried in courts of law and convicted unanimously by juries of their peers or pled guilty to the crimes they were charged with. The majority of the convicted got off pretty easy, considering the offenses; months in jail rather than years. So tell us how this judicial process was any different from any other legal proceeding under our system of laws. And then, please show us some evidence that would find the judicial process in these cases neither fair nor impartial. And then perhaps, cite one instance since Jan 6 '21 of the Biden administration interfering with any function of the Justice Department or the criminal courts system during the course of any of these trials or at any other time for that matter.
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.
Actually it showed that Biden is willing and able to defend himself for any and all things he has done and willing to accept any consequences a court would find appropriate for him. He BELIEVES in the integrity of his accomplishments. But he is NOT willing to leave people who have already sacrificed much in support of him and his efforts to the tender mercies of a vengeful hate monger who has vowed to wreak havoc on their lives. Trump pardoned lawfully convicted violent felons in the belief that they would due more violence at his request. These two things are not the same.
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.
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.
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.
Would you please share the BS that you have uncovered, with the rest of US. Please Enlighten ALL OF US HERE with THE TRUTH. THE TRUTH is what we are all here for, right? You also speak of ALL the videos. For you to tell me I am misinformed, tell me what network do I need to go to, to get the VIDEOS you are speaking about that evidentially have not been aired, thus leaving ALL OF US misinformed. Sounds like you have some INSIDE information that you would like to share WITH US? We're here to listen. 👍🏻
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.
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.
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!
These people were represented by attorneys. They were indicted by grand juries and they were convicted by citizens.
You are willfully ignorant if you truly believe that Democrats planned Trump's event. Trump and his campaign planned it; sent out the invitation; and blamed others for what happened. Didn't you receive that invitation? Those people were there for one thing only, to try to prevent Congress from doing its job. They were not there for the United States, but only for Donald Trump. The signs told it all. Fortunately, they did not succeed.
The January 6 committee had ample evidence to indict Trump, but Garland chose not to bring him to justice. Even the supposedly peaceful people carried their hateful signs and appeared to cheer on the violence. The confederate flag was paraded through the building; the John Lewis memorial was damaged; they shit and pissed on the floors, smashed windows and stole things. This was not a group of patriots. They were a mob bent on causing harm to legislators, especially Nancy Pelosi, and to Vice President Pence. They had a gallows waiting for him.
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.
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.
Even more so, if you ask me. If you have been elected to office and have taken the oath of office, you should be held to a higher standard than anyone else. The president should be held to account even more severely when he commits criminal or treasonous acts.
When you commit crimes as an elected official, you are harming every single one of us Americans. When you and your cronies smash and grab whatever you can get from the treasury, well, you are guilty of a great deal more than just unethical behavior. You are a traitor to this country and this should be punished not celebrated.
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.
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.
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.
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.
This is the worst kind of "both-sides-ism." Distinctions are important; the MAGA takeover has been horrifying and will continue to worsen unless our elected representatives stand up to the chief demagogue and his billionaire minions. It's time for some strong statements against what is happening right now. Can you speak truth to power? I used to count on you for that.
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.
I think you are wrong on several points. President Trump’s efforts to dig up dirt on Joe Biden and his family began when Biden was not in office or an announced candidate. His first attempt to coerce Ukraine into beginning an investigation led to his first impeachment. There is no logical reason to conclude that the persecution of the Biden family would end after 5 years of investigations without findings. And a near constant repetition of the phrase “Biden crime family”.
President Biden did not take any official action with respect to the ERA. He gave his opinion that the ERA “was the law of the land”based on consultation with a number of legal scholars. Those opinions are consistent with the published opinions of the American Bar Association, the American Constitution Society and eminent Constitutional scholar Professor Laurence Tribe. Look at Article V of the Constitution and see if you can find where it says that Congress can set a deadline on ratification of an Amendment.
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").
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.
So you predict that about Hunter Biden, but you don't mind how much time Trump spent on Jeffrey Epstein's private jet and private island, even though Epstein was an actual convicted child sex trafficker? I would think you'd be more grossed out by the person who actually participated in child sex trafficking than the person you think might someday. I know I am.
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.
All of those indictments were handed down by grand juries made up of citizens chosen at random. All the perpetrators were either tried in courts of law and convicted unanimously by juries of their peers or pled guilty to the crimes they were charged with. The majority of the convicted got off pretty easy, considering the offenses; months in jail rather than years. So tell us how this judicial process was any different from any other legal proceeding under our system of laws. And then, please show us some evidence that would find the judicial process in these cases neither fair nor impartial. And then perhaps, cite one instance since Jan 6 '21 of the Biden administration interfering with any function of the Justice Department or the criminal courts system during the course of any of these trials or at any other time for that matter.
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.
Actually it showed that Biden is willing and able to defend himself for any and all things he has done and willing to accept any consequences a court would find appropriate for him. He BELIEVES in the integrity of his accomplishments. But he is NOT willing to leave people who have already sacrificed much in support of him and his efforts to the tender mercies of a vengeful hate monger who has vowed to wreak havoc on their lives. Trump pardoned lawfully convicted violent felons in the belief that they would due more violence at his request. These two things are not the same.
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.
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.
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.
Good morning John,
Would you please share the BS that you have uncovered, with the rest of US. Please Enlighten ALL OF US HERE with THE TRUTH. THE TRUTH is what we are all here for, right? You also speak of ALL the videos. For you to tell me I am misinformed, tell me what network do I need to go to, to get the VIDEOS you are speaking about that evidentially have not been aired, thus leaving ALL OF US misinformed. Sounds like you have some INSIDE information that you would like to share WITH US? We're here to listen. 👍🏻
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.
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.
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!
These people were represented by attorneys. They were indicted by grand juries and they were convicted by citizens.
You are willfully ignorant if you truly believe that Democrats planned Trump's event. Trump and his campaign planned it; sent out the invitation; and blamed others for what happened. Didn't you receive that invitation? Those people were there for one thing only, to try to prevent Congress from doing its job. They were not there for the United States, but only for Donald Trump. The signs told it all. Fortunately, they did not succeed.
The January 6 committee had ample evidence to indict Trump, but Garland chose not to bring him to justice. Even the supposedly peaceful people carried their hateful signs and appeared to cheer on the violence. The confederate flag was paraded through the building; the John Lewis memorial was damaged; they shit and pissed on the floors, smashed windows and stole things. This was not a group of patriots. They were a mob bent on causing harm to legislators, especially Nancy Pelosi, and to Vice President Pence. They had a gallows waiting for him.
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.
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.
Even more so, if you ask me. If you have been elected to office and have taken the oath of office, you should be held to a higher standard than anyone else. The president should be held to account even more severely when he commits criminal or treasonous acts.
When you commit crimes as an elected official, you are harming every single one of us Americans. When you and your cronies smash and grab whatever you can get from the treasury, well, you are guilty of a great deal more than just unethical behavior. You are a traitor to this country and this should be punished not celebrated.
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🤥
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.
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.
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.
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.
This is the worst kind of "both-sides-ism." Distinctions are important; the MAGA takeover has been horrifying and will continue to worsen unless our elected representatives stand up to the chief demagogue and his billionaire minions. It's time for some strong statements against what is happening right now. Can you speak truth to power? I used to count on you for that.
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.
Well written and balanced. Both red and blue will hate it, meaning it's probably exactly correct. Well done.
I think you are wrong on several points. President Trump’s efforts to dig up dirt on Joe Biden and his family began when Biden was not in office or an announced candidate. His first attempt to coerce Ukraine into beginning an investigation led to his first impeachment. There is no logical reason to conclude that the persecution of the Biden family would end after 5 years of investigations without findings. And a near constant repetition of the phrase “Biden crime family”.
President Biden did not take any official action with respect to the ERA. He gave his opinion that the ERA “was the law of the land”based on consultation with a number of legal scholars. Those opinions are consistent with the published opinions of the American Bar Association, the American Constitution Society and eminent Constitutional scholar Professor Laurence Tribe. Look at Article V of the Constitution and see if you can find where it says that Congress can set a deadline on ratification of an Amendment.
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.