President Pardons Turkeys Not Humans

TurkeyI am very fond of turkeys. They are nice animals. So I’m glad that President Obama pardoned not one but two turkeys yesterday. But this reminds a bit too much of Charlie Costello in Seven Psychopaths—the guy who will kill another human without a thought, but who dearly loves his Shih Tzu.

As I reported two weeks ago, President Obama has pardoned fewer people than any modern president. Out 1,041 cases that have come to his desk, he has found only 22 compelling enough for a pardon. When you consider just how much injustice is done in our so called justice system, the president’s lack of action is an outrage.

Let me list a few of the people via Propublica who President Obama didn’t feel as deserving of his attention as the turkeys Cobbler and Gobbler:

  • A former brothel manager who helped the FBI bust a national prostitution ring.
  • A retired sheriff who inadvertently helped a money launderer buy land.
  • A young woman who mailed ecstasy tablets for a drug-dealing boyfriend, then worked with investigators to bring him down.

We’ve had three consecutive presidents who committed felony drug possession. All of them seem to think that the reasons they didn’t do any time in a federal prison is their moral rectitude, rather than dumb luck. These men should have have been grateful to society for the grace that they were shown. Instead, they show the arrogance of the entitled. Instead of “There but for the grace of God” it is “Of course God protected me.”

It is nice that yesterday, President Obama pardoned more than the requisite single turkey. But it doesn’t do a thing for the unfortunate humans rotting in jail because the president wants to look tough or something.