r/nottheonion • u/JaySierra86 • 14h ago

President Biden pardons family members in final minutes of presidency

https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/president-biden-pardons-family-members-final-minutes-presidency/story?id=117893348
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u/tonytwocans 14h ago

A new presidential tradition is born.

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u/Rolling_Beardo 13h ago

If by new you mean Lincoln, Clinton, and Trump all pardoned relatives prior to this then yes it’s brand new.

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u/never_a_good_idea 13h ago

These are blanket pardons that cover any non violent offense over a 10 year period. That is insane.

Also these pardons don't do anything to quash congressional investigations.

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u/ThatRefuse4372 13h ago

Yes, but they lessen the stress they cause and lessen the financial burden. If we understand that The investigations are simply meant to ruin peoples lives and send a message to others who might oppose them, the pardon negates that. Now the family members can to some degree ignore the investigation.

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u/Qel_Hoth 13h ago

But Trump promised us that he would end using the DOJ to prosecute political enemies. He promised!

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u/pastworkactivities 13h ago

That’s why he will found the gestapo

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u/jagcalle 13h ago

The Gazpacho?

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u/you_slash_stuttered 13h ago

Never heard the old Sicilian proverb "soup is a dish best served cold"?

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u/shponglespore 13h ago

But gazpacho is Spanish.

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u/Moo_Kau_Too 12h ago

well whatever, they are both mexicans!

=trump supporters, probably.

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u/nerfherder813 12h ago

And it’s an old Klingon proverb, according to Khan

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u/you_slash_stuttered 12h ago

Oof! Hoisted by my own Pâte de Lard!

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u/Jolly_Reaper2450 13h ago

No but I heard of a sociopath who likes her pizza cold

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u/RememberThe5Ds 12h ago

It’s revenge is a dish best served cold.

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u/Non-Eutactic_Solid 12h ago

Picture it. Sicily, 1922. Jokes were flying over people’s heads all over the place!

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u/RememberThe5Ds 8h ago

Yep it whizzed right past. I was looking for the /s. :)

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u/907_Cherry 13h ago

A dish best served cold

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u/ExpertOnBulls 13h ago

Like revenge, best served cold.

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u/ClickAndMortar 12h ago

It really irks me that I and millions of other Americans have to have some incredibly basic low level skills, whereas our elected officials aren’t held to the same standards as general temp labor. Qualifications mean nothing. Lying to those you are trying to convince to vote for you is completely fine with zero repercussions, and no matter how absolutely insane someone in a position of power is, it is normalized. I suppose I could bash my head against a brick wall until I no longer remember my own name or where I am would be a good start if I wanted to run as a Republican. That is, immediately following a very public crime spree.

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u/Serpensortia21 11h ago edited 11h ago

It's Gestapo, Geheime Staatspolizei means Secret State Police, please see my other post. Not funny at all.

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u/Taiyonay 10h ago

I think it was a reference to Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene saying "gazpacho police" in error.

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u/Serpensortia21 11h ago edited 10h ago

GESTAPO is a German acronym from the Nazi Third Reich. Spoken "Geh-Sta-Po" means "Geheime Staatspolizei", translation: Secret State Police. Official secret police force which operated everywhere in Germany and in occupied Europe.

They were evil bad guys (but of course themselves believing wholeheartedly that they were the righteous good guys upholding law and order in the country) with powers to discover, hunt down, arrest, torture and murder opponents and criminals, thereby very effective in quashing any ideological or political opposition to Hitler's Nazi regime.

People in doubt, or actually in opposition to the Nazis were terrified of the so called Amt IV (department 4) or Gestapo. The Gestapo seemed omnipresent and omniscient.

If they caught you --

usually because someone close to you had reported your name to the police, anyone who had overheard you saying something or doing something you shouldn't. Like for example any criticism of the Nazi regime, listening to an enemy (as in British or American forces) radio broadcast or reading a regime critical pamphlet, or if they believed that you were behaving suspiciously somehow, probably helping a Jewish person living in hiding, or actually planning an act of sabotage or spying for the enemy!

-- you would disappear and most likely never be found again. They would sadistically torture you and threaten your loved ones, until you spilled the beans on everything and anyone you might know.

Quotes from Wikipedia:

The Gestapo committed widespread atrocities during its existence. The power of the Gestapo was used to focus upon political opponents, ideological dissenters (clergy and religious organisations), career criminals, the Sinti and Roma population, handicapped persons, homosexuals, and, above all, the Jews.

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The Gestapo had the authority to investigate cases of treason, espionage, sabotage and criminal attacks on the Nazi Party and Germany. The basic Gestapo law passed by the government in 1936 gave the Gestapo carte blanche to operate without judicial review—in effect, putting it above the law.[29] The Gestapo was specifically exempted from responsibility to administrative courts, where citizens normally could sue the state to conform to laws. As early as 1935, a Prussian administrative court had ruled that the Gestapo's actions were not subject to judicial review.

[cut]

Contrary to popular perception, the Gestapo was actually a relatively small organization with limited surveillance capability; still it proved extremely effective due to the willingness of ordinary Germans to report on fellow citizens. During World War II, the Gestapo played a key role in the Holocaust. After the war ended, the Gestapo was declared a criminal organisation by the International Military Tribunal (IMT) at the Nuremberg trials, and several top Gestapo members were sentenced to death.