O10 OTHEGLOBEANDMAIL | SATURDAY,FEBRUARY22,2020
EDITORIAL
PHILLIPCRAWLEY
PUBLISHERANDCEO
DAVIDWALMSLEY
EDITOR-IN-CHIEFT
here are many people in United States prisons de-
serving of clemency, and this week President Donald
Trump used his powers to help some of them.
One was Tynice Nicole Hall, who at age 23 was sentenced to35 years in a Texas prison because she let her drug-dealing
boyfriend use her apartment to stash his wares. Mr. Trump
commuted her sentence, setting her free after 14 blemish-
free years behind bars.
Another was Crystal Munoz, who has served 12 years of an18-year sentence in Texas for conspiring to sell marijuana.
Her crime was to draw a crude map for friends, who then
used it to avoid a police checkpoint. The President commut-
ed her sentence, too.
Freeing two of the hundreds of thousands of Americansserving draconian sentences for non-violent, drug-related of-
fences, most of whom come from the low end of the income
scale, is a compassionate act.
But whatever merit there was in Mr. Trump’s salvo of par-dons and commutations this week was sullied by the fact
that most of the other people who benefited were well con-
nected, wealthy Americans who abused positions of public
trust, and were convicted of fraud, lying and corruption.
Chief among them was Rod Blagojevich, a former Illinoisgovernor convicted in 2011 of 18 corruption charges, includ-
ing trying to sell or trade a seat in the state Senate for money
and favours.
He was impeached in the state legislature by a 114-1 vote; acourt later sentenced him to 14 years. But the remainder of
his sentence has been commuted, thanks to Mr. Trump. Leg-
islators in Illinois, both Republicans and Democrats, are fu-
rious about his early release. They hadn’t counted on the
President’s tendency to come to the rescue of people he hap-
pens to know and like.
Mr. Blagojevich was a competitor on Mr. Trump’s realityshow,The Apprentice, in 2010 while he was awaiting trial. He
earned the future President’s admiration by turning his im-
peachment and multiple indictments into a source of celeb-
rity, and using the attention to proclaim his innocence on
late-night talk shows.
“You’ve got a hell of a lot of guts,” Mr. Trump told him onan episode ofThe Apprentice.
Mr. Blagojevich insisted he had done nothing wrong up tothe moment he was convicted. When he came out of prison
Wednesday, he picked up where he left off, thanking Mr.
Trump for giving back the freedom that was “stolen” from
him, and calling his conviction an “injustice.”
The formergovernormay have been a Democrat, but he’sa Trump man to the bone: no remorse, utterly corrupt and
devoid of shame.
The President blessed other powerful white-collar crimi-nals with a full pardon. They included: Michael Milken, the
“junk-bond king” of the 1980s who served two years in prison
after pleading guilty to securities fraud; Bernard Kerik, a for-
mer New York City police commissioner who pleaded guilty
to tax fraud and to lying to White House officials; and Edward
DeBartolo Jr., a National Football League team owner who
pleaded guilty to concealing an act of extortion.
There are often valid reasons for the state to pardon con-victed criminals, or commute their sentences. But while hun-
dreds of thousands of non-violent criminals without connec-
tions to the powerful are being denied that opportunity, and
14,000 have petitioned for clemency, according to U.S. De-
partment of Justice statistics, Mr. Trump helped out a rogue’s
gallery of wealthy people who have his ear, donated to his
campaigns, or spoke well of him in public.
This pairs in a troubling way with Mr. Trump’s attacks onthe Department of Justice, which he falsely accuses of bias
against him, and by his demands to reduce the sentences of
his political allies – most notably Roger Stone, who was con-
victed of obstructing the Mueller investigation into collusion
between Russia and Mr. Trump’s 2016 election team.
This week, the emboldened Mr. Trump demanded that allcharges stemming from the Mueller investigation be thrown
out. He further claimed that he is “the chief law enforcement
officer of the country,” which is wrong, and also quite mad.
Mr. Trump’s messages are clear: that the U.S. justice sys-tem is out of line when it targets powerful politicians and
those, like Mr. Stone, who serve them. And that clemency will
be made available to the President’s criminal friends.
These are dangerous ideas. They are also unAmerican.DonaldTrump
thinkshe’sthe
law.He’snot
QUIET RESOLVERe The Long And The Short Of
The Blockades (Editorial, Feb.
21): Canada has been colonized a
few times, first around 12,000
years ago and then again a few
hundred years ago.
Irrespective of how we view
the land, we should acknowl-
edge that it has always been ex-
ploited to meet the needs of the
latest occupying population (a
visit to Head-Smashed-In Buffalo
Jump in Alberta is a visceral re-
minder of that).
As time carried on, the nature
of authority moved from local to
national in scope, and complica-
tions ensued as society tried to
balance local rights with the na-
tional interest.
The current railway blockade
seems symptomatic of the lack
of clarity on this issue, and no-
body – especially not Justin Tru-
deau – wants to be seen stifling
dissent with force.
Human populations have al-
ways been in tension when dif-
ferent views of land use are in-
volved.
One way forward would be to
define hard and fast rules within
a single, indivisible Canada.
Massive surface-altering pro-
jects such as hydroelectric dams
should be able to survive chal-
lenges in the courts, but in turn
also be bound by reclamation
obligations.
And intensive, but temporary,
subsurface developments such
as pipelines should become the
exclusive domain of the federal
government.
Jackson von der OheEdmontonRe Trudeau Urges Patience, Not
Force, To Resolve Rail Blockades
(Feb. 19): I was so impressed
with the Prime Minister calling
for respect and communication.
I wish I knew how to help our
democracy build the respect and
communication he speaks of.
Instead I listen to and read so
many comments that do not
seem helpful, except to further
entrench polarizing views.
So how do we help?
I can’t help but think silence is
a huge part of the answer.
Is there any way we can be
quiet and letour government
and its Indigenous partners work
this out?
Kathleen Gallagher RossTorontoGOT MILK?Re The New Milk (Report on
Business, Feb. 15): I am puzzled
by those who resist inventions
such as lab-made milk.
After all, what we buy in car-
tons is not actually milk as it
comes from a cow.
No cow supplies liquid that
has, say, precisely 3.25-per-cent
fat; milk should not have a shelf
life of a month – unrefrigerated
raw milk turns sour in a day or
two; nor is what cows give us ho-mogenized or pasteurized.
All that engineering is all right
for dairy producers.
I see no reason why another
step should be reviled.
Stan SzpakowiczKamloops, B.C.IN DEATHRe Don’t Fear The Reaper – Or
The Dying (Opinion, Feb. 15):
Having received a dreaded call
that my overseas father was in a
hospital and not expected to sur-
vive, I embarked on a 20-hour
journey to be with him.
What would happen when I
got there?
What would I do about the
elephant in the room, that the
only reason I was there was be-
cause he was dying?
All of that vanished the mo-
ment I walked into the room.
He held my hand and we gave
each other a squeeze.
I climbed on his hospital bed
and we held each other.
Tears quietly streaming down
my face, we said everything we
never said to each other without
saying a single word.
That afternoon, a few close
friends joined us, and at one
point we were having an animat-
ed discussion about politics and
the fires in the Amazon.
Although in and out of con-
sciousness, my father was there
with us, and was dying as he
loved to live: surrounded by the
people and conversations he en-
joyed so much.
He passed at the end of the
day.
I can guarantee it was far
more important for my father to
have us there with him on that
day than to attend his funeral or
celebrate his life at a future
event.
While those functions have an
important role for those left be-
hind, what matters for the dying
person is showing up for them
on their homestretch.
Don’t let your loved ones die
alone!
Luciana BrasilWest VancouverRe MAID and Mental Illness (Let-
ters, Feb. 20): My daughter died
by suicide several years ago.
She was 18.
She had been in treatment for
three years and had a loving and
supportive family.
Aside from the excruciating
pain of losing her, the most diffi-
cult part was the fact she had to
do it by herself, with no comfort,
no one holding her hand.
For those who may not have
experienced mental illness, di-
rectly or indirectly, criticizing the
offering of medical assistance in
dying to those who choose it is
easy, but the individual choice to
end one’s life must be among the
most difficult decisions one has
to make.
Those suffering from mental
illness should have as much
compassion and support asthose suffering from pain-filled
terminal cancer.
Mary McLarenNakusp, B.C.THINK OF THE CHILDRENRe Empty Nest (Opinion, Feb.
15): The article on in vitro fertil-
ization by The Globe’s Melissa
Stasiuk was brave and raw.
I sympathize with her as I fol-
lowed that path some time ago
as well, but without success.
There will be many who are
unsuccessful in this or who can-
not afford to embark on this
journey in the first place, as she
points out.
I would like to raise the issue
of adoption.
Our planet is overwhelmed by
an ever-increasing number of
people.
In the meantime, there are so
many children in need, both in
our country and abroad.
The adoption process is also
very slow, complex and limited.
I would be grateful for more
coverage of the current state of
adoption in Canada that might
nudge the process to become
more available and affordable.
Families are made in all sorts of
ways.
Lori MooreWhitby, Ont.POP WILL EAT ITSELFRe Cancel Culture (Opinion, Feb.
15): Regarding contributor Marc
Weingarten’s diminishing view
of pop culture, that sort of dia-
logue seems long overdue.
For instance, pop culture may
be to blame for the decline of
newspaper sales in the Mari-
times, or the demise of much
classical music on the radio.
I am recently retired, and one
of the things I like best is not
having to listen my co-workers’
loud urban cowboy music, and
their endless talk about
television and who won the lot-
tery.
Don’t take me for a snob – I
just want something more inter-
esting.
Wendell Hughes MorellPEIROYALTIESRe Harry, Meghan to end royal
duties March 31 (Feb. 20): I think
I’ve finally figured it out: Megh-
an and Harry settled into a Van-
couver Island mansion to save its
owner from paying the vacant-
home tax.
Touché once again to the
machinations of the 1 per cent!
Sue ButlerVictoriaLETTERSTOTHEEDITOR
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