Broken Rule of Law

Dear Leader has pardoned former sheriff Joe Arpaio. Not only is von Clownstick untroubled by Arpaio's racist policies, by interfering on behalf of a political ally, he signals the intent to do the same for those involved in the Russia investigations.

Former ethics director Walter Shaub called the pardon "vile" and "a harbinger of worse to come".

Senator John McCain said the pardon undermines respect for the rule of law.

No one is above the law and the individuals entrusted with the privilege of being sworn law officers should always seek to be beyond reproach in their commitment to fairly enforcing the laws they swore to uphold. Mr. Arpaio was found guilty of criminal contempt for continuing to illegally profile Latinos living in Arizona based on their perceived immigration status in violation of a judge’s orders. The President has the authority to make this pardon, but doing so at this time undermines his claim for the respect of rule of law as Mr. Arpaio has shown no remorse for his actions.

Even Paul Ryan disagrees with the pardon.

Law-enforcement officials have a special responsibility to respect the rights of everyone in the United States. We should not allow anyone to believe that responsibility is diminished by this pardon.

Update (August 28):  Heather Digby Parton analyzes the reasons for the pardon.

[Von Clownstick] didn’t just pardon Arpaio to signal the base that he’s still the anti-immigrant xenophobe they voted for. He pardoned Arpaio to signal to the police in this country that the “law and order” president thinks it’s fine if cops ignore the courts and the law if they believe those things are inhibiting them from doing their jobs. 

When he says “law and order,” he means that police are the law and they can keep order by any means necessary. That’s the opposite of the rule of law, a concept for which [Fuckface von Clownstick] clearly has no respect.

Update (August 29):  Charles Kaiser sees the beginning of a constitutional crisis.

By pardoning a man convicted of criminal contempt for direct violation of a federal order, [von Clownstick] is now flaunting his eagerness to overturn the rule of law in America.

[W]hat we are now experiencing is exactly what incipient fascism looks like. The combination of [Fuckface's] relentless assaults on the free press, his open encouragement of Nazis — which is the only honest description of his initial refusal to condemn them — and now a pardon without even pretending to go through the normal channels of the Justice Department: These are all the acts of man who is blatantly defying his sacred pledge to uphold the Constitution of the United States.