– when they’re begging for pardons before they’re even charged with anything.

With six months to go before President Bush leaves office, the White House is receiving a flurry of pardon applications. The New York Times reported that “several members of the conservative legal community” are pushing for the White House to grant pre-emptive pardons for officials involved in counterterrorism programs. Wait—can a president really pardon someone who hasn’t even been charged with a crime?

 

(emphasis mine)

If you read on you will find that Bush can indeed issue pre-emptive pardons.

How royally f*cked up is a system when it allows the leadership to essentially say, ‘it doesn’t matter what they charge you with, or even if you’re found guilty, you’re my buddy and I’m gonna make sure you never do time‘.

Hooray for the rule of law!