Looking for some legal guidance:
Though Donald Trump extended pardons from federal crimes to January 6 offenders, could Capitol police assaulted that day file civil actions against them, much the same way Ron Goldman’s family sued O.J. Simpson in civil court for his death even though he was acquitted in state criminal court of killing Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson?
Unlike the O.J. case, evidence of the rioters’ culpability in attacking the police is already on the judicial record, as well as the visual recordings by networks and private cell phones. The pardoned wouldn’t be incarcerated again if found liable, but could financial penalties be assessed?
It would be an alternate, significant victory for truth and justice if they could be sued, especially considering the Republican House’s intention to convene another January 6 committee to reinterpret events of that day.
Wait Until the Cows Come Home: Roundups of migrants won’t turn people against Trump until their relatives are detained, sequestered in huge holding facilities and possibly deported. Or housekeepers, nannies or gardeners are taken and they’re forced to clean their own homes, change diapers, cook meals, mow their lawns, weed their gardens. …
If you think food prices are too high now, wait until migrant roundups strip farms of their workers, meat and poultry processing plants of their workers, restaurants of their workers. …
Similarly, housing costs will rise as undocumented workers no longer will be available to construction companies and contractors. …
Trump’s bluster about grabbing Greenland, the Panama Canal or Canada won’t bother people until Russia and China say they too have lands that should be part of their domain. So Taiwan should be invaded by China, while Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania should be part of Russia, as well as all of Ukraine. …
Boos and Bravo on Pardons: As usual, Trump ruined a generous moment by going to extreme. Even his vice president did not expect violent, police-beating January 6 rioters to be unconditionally pardoned alongside hundreds of more peaceful convicted demonstrators. But leave it to Trump to galvanize opposition. How any policeman, anywhere, can support him now is beyond my comprehension.
Perhaps Trump acted out of pique in light of Joe Biden’s preemptive pardon of those Trump continually ranted were in his sights for revenge. I take pride in being among the first to advocate for these pardons.
Here’s a thought—either his much admired chief of staff Susie Wiles either has no influence to temper Trump’s worst instincts or she too has become a Trump zombie. Either way, pity our Republic.
Profile in Courage: The Episcopal bishop of Washington’s National Cathedral, Mariann Edgar Budde deserves our blessings for calling out to his face during a prayer service Trump’s verbal assaults on all undocumented immigrants, as well as his actions against LGBTQ+ members.
“I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. And that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land,” said Budde (https://www.npr.org/2025/01/21/nx-s1-5270031/bishop-mariann-edgar-budde-confronts-trump-in-sermon).
Keeping in character, Trump later called her “nasty.”
