Following the orders is not an excuse as Nuremberg trials demonstrates.
“I’m sorry, Donald, I can’t do that” is a perfect response if this means starting WWIII for no reason.
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It would also kill a lot of support for defunding the police, leading to an even more militarised police state.
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Because oft the corrupt liberal judges and the deep state, which would make up charges to bring him down? Or something.
It’s almost like the founders didn’t and couldn’t think of every corner case and maybe we shouldn’t look to a 230-year-old document to figure out the answer to every question that might vex us in 2020!
No, you’re right. That’s just crazy talk.
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Next you are going to be saying the one that is a couple thousand years old isn’t actually a perfect user manual either.
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Wasn’t this the plot of some movie? Probably starring Kurt Russel.
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I’m sure he’ll try something to clear himself, and everybody will clutch pearls and go durdeedurrr oh my god look what he’s doing! and not do shit about it because they haven’t the whole time he was president so fuck it
Government doesn’t govern ITSELF sillies!
You’re correct. That movie? The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes.
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You’re right about the Calvinball reference, but I don’t see anything stopping those in charge from allowing this, as the United States has always had a class of people who are functionally above the law, and it has always involved money.
Does the ruling class really want the precedence of a former president in prison? I don’t think so.
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The military largely loves the man.
Following the orders is not an excuse as Nuremberg trials demonstrates.
Who tries the order-following officers? Will the US run the Tramp trials as it did Nuremberg?
“I’m sorry, Donald, I can’t do that” is a perfect response if this means starting WWIII for no reason.
Which is immediate grounds to be hauled off to a brig, along with all other conscientious officers who defy the CIC, until he finds some who WILL obey orders. Think Nixon’s Friday Night Massacre. Took a few hours to get down to Bork.
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[cough bullshit cough]
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Personally, I’m not that bothered about the possibility that Trump will pardon himself, because he can’t pardon himself from state charges, and he can’t pardon himself for crimes that he has not yet committed. I mean he didn’t stop committing crimes when he became president, and he’s not going to stop after they frog march him out of the White House.
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I will admit that I’m doing a callback to the heyday of the court, under Warren and Burger, when the court was willing to fill in those gaps. Since then, the court has receded to (at best) literal interpretations or (at worst)regressive “originalist” perturbations. The current makeup is probably as regressive as it is possible to get while still having any power at all. The next step in regression would be wholehearted support for fascism, which would, ironically, make the court powerless. An ultimate executive doesn’t need a court’s approval and can safely ignore a court’s rebuke.
So from a practical sense, a hypothetical Biden-appointed AG, with a mind to prosecute 45 for his crimes in the face of a self-pardon, would slow play prosecution of those crimes until such time as the court could be re-shaped to reflect the will of the people - a.k.a. after packing the court.
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Fair enough. We’ll have to see, though. I don’t really think the military’s going to do much here.
I think that SCOTUS re-pack is likely a generation away at least.
Here’s a link to Josh Barro and Ken White (@popehat) talking about pardons on today’s “All the President’s Lawyers”. I haven’t listened yet - but whatever Ken says, it’s more right than whatever I said and I agree with it proactively. 
I mean, once you’ve done co-conspirators and lackeys - which he has, in spades - would anything be a surprise?
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There’s a lot in the Constitution that’s half-baked or open to interpretation, this is just one of those many things. That being said, clearly the founders didn’t envision such a corrupt use of the pardon power. The irony is that the founders seemed to guess impeachment would be used more than pardons which is likely why there’s a special emphasis on that.
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Considering that the constitution very clearly states that Congress, and empathically not the President are who are granted the power to declare war, the Military could very easily state that any action clearly intended as an act of war requires a formal declaration of such before they can act. So they have not only cover, but a Constitutional requirement to require congressional approval before any such action.
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Then Biden, and the country, is doomed. This SCOTUS was hand-picked to backstop a GOP Senate in case they fall to the minority. They will block everything he tries to do, until even the most centrist of centrists agrees it has to change.
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