[QUOTE=chalsall;464909]I think it is worth noting that President Obama couldn't pardon Snowden because he hadn't yet been convicted of a crime. He's been accused, (and is generally considered to be guilty) but not convicted.[/QUOTE]

Maybe an amnesty then:

[QUOTE]under Article II, Section 2 of the United States Constitution which states that the President "shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offenses against the United States, except in cases of impeachment". The U.S. Supreme Court has interpreted this language to include the power to grant pardons, conditional pardons, commutations of sentence, conditional commutations of sentence, remissions of fines and forfeitures, respites, and [B]amnesties[/B].[23][/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Amnesty: A pardon applied to a [B]group[/B] of people rather than an individual. President Jimmy Carter offered amnesty to anyone who had evaded the draft. Weapon amnesties are often granted so that people can hand in weapons to the police without any legal questions being asked as to where they obtained them, why they had them, etc. After a civil war a mass amnesty may be granted to absolve all participants of guilt and "move on". [B]Amnesties are typically applied in advance of any prosecution for the crime.[/B][/QUOTE]
edit:
Nixon was pardoned without conviction.
[QUOTE]With President Nixon's resignation, Congress dropped its impeachment proceedings against him. Criminal prosecution was still a possibility both on the federal and state level.[19] Vice President Gerald Ford succeeded Nixon as President and on September 8, 1974, he issued a full and unconditional pardon of Nixon, immunizing him from prosecution for any federal crimes he had "committed or may have committed or taken part in" as president.[20][/QUOTE]

[url=https://theintercept.com/2017/07/17/with-new-d-c-policy-group-dems-continue-to-rehabilitate-and-unify-with-bush-era-neocons/]With New D.C. Policy Group, Dems Continue to Rehabilitate and Unify With Bush-Era Neocons[/url] | Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept
[quote]It is, in fact, the ultimate union of mainstream Democratic foreign policy officials and the world’s most militant, and militaristic, neocons. The group is led by two longtime Washington foreign policy hands, one from the establishment Democratic wing and the other a key figure among leading GOP neocons.

The Democrat, Laura Rosenberger, served as a foreign policy adviser for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and chief of staff to two Obama national security officials. The Republican is Jamie Fly, who spent the last four years as counselor for foreign and national security affairs to one of the Senate’s most hawkish members, Marco Rubio; prior to that, he served in various capacities in the Bush Pentagon and National Security Council.[/quote]

Related:
[url=https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/05/neocons-leverage-trump-hate-for-more-wars/]Neocons Leverage Trump Hate for More Wars[/url] | Robert Parry, Consortium News

[QUOTE=ewmayer;464917][url=https://theintercept.com/2017/07/17/with-new-d-c-policy-group-dems-continue-to-rehabilitate-and-unify-with-bush-era-neocons/]With New D.C. Policy Group, Dems Continue to Rehabilitate and Unify With Bush-Era Neocons[/url] | Glenn Greenwald, The Intercept


Related:
[url=https://consortiumnews.com/2017/08/05/neocons-leverage-trump-hate-for-more-wars/]Neocons Leverage Trump Hate for More Wars[/url] | Robert Parry, Consortium News[/QUOTE]

at least trumps uniting them in one way ( if nothing else to throw him out)

[QUOTE=chalsall;464909]I think it is worth noting that President Obama couldn't pardon Snowden because he hadn't yet been convicted of a crime. He's been accused, (and is generally considered to be guilty) but not convicted.[/QUOTE]Nonsense. Richard Nixon was pardoned, even though he was never even formally [i]accused[/i] of a crime, let alone convicted (the closest the legal system ever came was a grand jury naming him an "unindicted co-conspirator"). Read [url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=4696]Proclamation 4311—Granting Pardon to Richard Nixon[/url].

[QUOTE=rogue;463553]One could argue that the media focus on Russian involvement is a good thing for everyone in Washington, including Trump. It masks the bigger problem of corporations having a more significant sway in new laws than the electorate.[/QUOTE]Perhaps you have in mind something like the following quote from an
[url=https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/08/03/al-gore-climate-change-inconvenient-sequel-carbon-polluters-hacked-american-democracy-before-putin/23061830/]August 3 AOL News piece[/url][quote]"Our democracy has been hacked by big money and lobbyists for polluters long before Putin hacked our democracy," Gore tells AOL News. "And too many politicians bow down to the large big money contributors because they feel like they have to beg them for money to buy TV ads."[/quote]

[QUOTE=Dr Sardonicus;464944]Read [url=http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=4696]Proclamation 4311—Granting Pardon to Richard Nixon[/url].[/QUOTE]

I sit corrected! :wink:

I was thinking about [URL="https://www.theverge.com/2016/11/21/13697072/obama-snowden-pardon-nsa-trump-pompeo"]this interview[/URL] with President Obama WRT Snowden.

Clearly, the times be a'changing....

Mike Pence Considering Running for President in 1820
 

[URL]http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/mike-pence-considering-running-for-president-in-1820[/URL]
[QUOTE]Vice-President Mike Pence is seriously considering running for President in 1820, various sources confirmed over the weekend.

According to several prominent Republican donors, Pence is already laying the groundwork for such a campaign, outlining what he believes are the most serious challenges facing 1820 America.[/QUOTE] :cmd: :rofl: :cmd:

[QUOTE=kladner;465137][URL]http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/mike-pence-considering-running-for-president-in-1820[/URL]
:cmd: :rofl: :cmd:[/QUOTE]
I know this is probably all comedy ( author is a comedian apparently), but they should at least have said 2180, instead of a comment about the century 1820 is from...

[QUOTE=science_man_88;465139]I know this is probably all comedy ( author is a comedian apparently), but they should at least have said 2180, instead of a comment about the century 1820 is from...[/QUOTE]
It is satire. I am quite sure that Andy meant to say 1820.
[Comment from Reader Supported News:
[QUOTE]Pence in 1620 makes a huge amount of sense! The challenge is for science to work on a time machine to make it happen![/QUOTE]I see the point as "Pence is "antediluvian"[COLOR=Red][B]*[/B][/COLOR] in his attitudes."
([COLOR=Red][B]*[/B][/COLOR]this usage is purely figurative.)

Silicon Valley techno-mega-douchetard Mark Zuckerberg is apparently gearing up for a presidential run in 2020. No clue as to whether the following has been allowed to filter up FB's proprietary news-ranking algos - not that an eminently trustworthy and transparent media corp. like FB might ever consider tweaking its sekrit algos to skew its news results in any way, or anything - but these cleverly non-obscene posters have started appearing at bus stops and such in FB's backyard of San Francisco:

Yesterday's events in Charlottesville, VA got me to thinking...

In 1973, the [url=https://www.clearinghouse.net/detail.php?id=15342]DOJ sued the Trumps[/url] over racial discrimination in housing, which resulted in a [url=https://www.clearinghouse.net/chDocs/public/FH-NY-0024-0034.pdf]Consent decree[/url].

Since 1989, Trump has also repeatedly said [url=http://theweek.com/articles/653840/donald-trumps-30year-crusade-against-central-park-five]the Central Park are "guilty"[/url], despite their convictions being vacated 15 years ago, and another person having confessed (and whose DNA was found on the victim).

He prefaced his run for president by being [url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/09/politics/donald-trump-birther/index.html]birther-in-chief[/url]

But here is a question for those who would claim that he isn't a racist: why do so many [i]avowed racists[/i] think he's so wonderful?

[url=http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/trump-supporters-neo-nazis-white-nationalists-kkk-militias-racism-hate/]Racists enthuse about Trump's candidacy[/url]

In particular,

[url=http://www.snopes.com/2016/11/02/kkk-newspaper-backs-donald-trump/]KKK's [i]The Crusader[/i] praises Trump just before the election[/url]

And, after the election,

[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o6-bi3jlxk]White nationalists celebrate Trump's election[/url]

And now,

[url=http://www.businessinsider.com/neo-nazis-celebrate-trumps-remarks-about-charlottesville-riots-2017-8]Neo-nazis and white supremacists are celebrating Trump's remarks about the Charlottesville riots[/url]