January 18, 2017

"President Obama on Tuesday commuted the sentence of a man convicted for his role in a Puerto Rican nationalist group linked to more than 100 bombings in New York and other cities in the 1970s and 1980s."

The NYT reports:
The man, Oscar Lopez Rivera, was serving a 70-year sentence after being convicted of numerous charges, including seditious conspiracy, a charge used for those plotting to overthrow the United States government.

He was linked to the radical group known as the F.A.L.N., the Spanish acronym for the Armed Forces of National Liberation, and was one of more than a dozen group members convicted in the 1980s....

70 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dylann Roof's got to be feeling pretty encouraged right now.

Matt Sablan said...

Eh, he was friends with Ayers. I don't think Obama understands that most people view bombing people as not just an easily forgiven youthful indiscretion.

Matt Sablan said...

Like, I said I didn't think Obama was that tone deaf about pardoning Berghdal. But... I'm more and more thinking I was wrong. How tone deaf do you have to be, after having lost non-presidential elections for nearly 8 years for, among other things, being viewed as weak on international issues/terrorism, you wouldn't... release an international terrorist.

Clayton Hennesey said...

Together with Manning and the unprecedented 1,000+ other commutations, these are not the actions of a man seeking to forge a legacy but rather of one laying the groundwork for a future radical liberal political dynasty. The world need not wait for Malia or Sasha to embrace the first female black president, particularly with Mr. All There Is Left Of The Democratic Party leading the theme parade.

wendybar said...

So Obama is on the side of Traitors and Domestic Terrorists??? Tell us something we didn't know...Obama is an Extremist, but we couldn't call him out on it because we were RACISTS!!!

Fabi said...

I can't figure out why the democrats have lost more than a thousand elected offices under Obama.

jono39 said...

Of course he is. Our Reparations. The Worst in our history. We deserve it BUT America answered with Trump. Now we have to address how to bring the majority of African-Americans HOME.

Static Ping said...

Apparently Russian hacking is very important, until it isn't.

Apparently terrorism is very important, until it isn't.

rehajm said...

Jeez, is that real slimeball president stuff.

traditionalguy said...

Obama once again bends the curve towards Marxist Revolution in honor of the Dreams of his Father. But it is more likely just a distraction for theft, like the Criminal Robbery Gang in Die Hard planned it.

buwaya said...

Puerto Rican independence would go a long way to reducing the long term fiscal liabilities of the US government. Trump may want to consider supporting the FALN.

Considering the political climate in Puerto Rico these FALN people were after a rather Quixotic goal. The idea of bombing people in the US proper in pursuit of this seems, however, to have come out of pure ethnic resentment, as their true opponents were in Puerto Rico proper.

William said...

I get the sense that Obama is far more forgiving to those who trespass against white men than against those who trespass against him....Clever move, pairing the pardon with the Chelsea commutation. Chelsea is the media magnet.

David Begley said...

Should have pardoned OBL too. OBL just killed a few more Americans.

Gahrie said...

Meanwhile the new leader of Puerto Rico is trying to convince his people to vote in favor of becoming the 51st state.....

damikesc said...

He also heavily reduced sanctions on the murderous regime in Sudan.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I am seeing a pattern here.
Obama's next pardon will go to Dylann Roof.

David Begley said...

And it should be noted that the brilliant writer of the play "Hamilton" (Lin Manuel-Miranda) was reduced to tears of happiness over this.

damikesc said...

The biggest shame is that one of the people the terrorist didn't kill was the writer of Hamilton.

Meade said...

"Dylann Roof's got to be feeling pretty encouraged right now."

And OJ Simpson.

Robert Cook said...

"I don't think Obama understands that most people view bombing people as not just an easily forgiven youthful indiscretion."

The people we've been bombing in the Middle East in the past dozen and a half years sure don't think so.

Martin said...

Apparently all you have to do to get pardoned is act against the United States and be a member of a currently approved group.

The sad thing is none of this comes as a surprise, Obama is just doing what he's been doing fro 8 years.

MD Greene said...

Reports are that a final batch of commutations/pardons is due tomorrow, Obama's last day in office.

Larry J said...

Obama started his political career in the home of an unrepentant terrorist and is ending his career by pardoning an unrepentant terrorist. Symmetry.

Matt Sablan said...

"The people we've been bombing in the Middle East in the past dozen and a half years sure don't think so."

-- The bombing/military campaign in the Middle East is in no way the same as terrorist bombing that deliberately targets civilians. If you refuse to acknowledge this, then there's no way to have a discussion with you on this in an intelligent way.

FIDO said...

So...the Democrats are quite happy to portray themselves as rioters, conspirators to instigate public disturbances, and as Anti-White Men and Culture.

Why, oh WHY don't they win elections?

Trump had better be a Modern Day Nero or Caligula to give them a prayer of seeming 'adult' after all this ridiculous hyperventilating.

Maybe that is how Trump will stick it to them: by being moderate and nice to make them look like the biggest fools around.

It is nice for the Left to constantly try to top their prior levels of foolishness. It shows dedication.

Some Seppo said...

What was it that "idiot" Sarah Palin said? Something something terrorists?

n.n said...

FIDO:

Democrats are Ant-White Men (e.g. [class] diversity) only because of demographics that interfere with establishment of monopolies and practices. If anything, their anti-native, female chauvinist, selective-chid policies have been economically, spiritually, and academically more destructive to black men, which explains the concentration of violence, drug, and criminal abuse in urban ghettos.

Jason said...

The FALC murdered several New Yorkers and maimed dozens in bombings.

Mayor DeBlasio tweeted:

"Thank you @POTUS for freeing #OscarLopezRivera. Congratulations to all who fought for this day, including Speaker @MMViverito."

Real New Yorkers should be chasing him down with tar & feathers.

Jane the Actuary said...

Yeah, there was an article in the Chicago Tribune today, all about how happy all Puerto Ricans are about this, as if he was imprisoned for holding rallies or something. The article even says that his cause was a "free Puerto Rico" implying that Puerto Rico is, as it stands, unfree. And it says that he was the only one still imprisoned, as if this furthered the injustice of it all -- but the others (except one) were all granted clemncy by Clinton in the first round of offensive FALN pardons, and he rejected it either because he refused to renounce terrorism or because his last comrade (released in the meantime) wasn't also released, or because he demanded a full pardon rather than just commutation of his sentence. (Wikipedia gives multiple reasons.)

It's horrifying to see a man who killed people via bombings being celebrated as a hero.

Only one day left. What's on Obama's agenda for tomorrow? Bergdahl? Clinton?

Jane the Actuary said...

Nidal Hasan was also fighting for a cause he believed in. Does that make him a political prisoner?

Sebastian said...

FU, US.

damikesc said...

It's horrifying to see a man who killed people via bombings being celebrated as a hero.

Progressives don't seem to mind too much.

If McVeigh targeted the RNC, he'd be a damned hero to them.

damikesc said...

FU, US.

Well, it was our fault. We elected him and didn't sufficiently question his legitimacy through the peaceful route of rioting.

Pete said...

I dunno. Althouse says Obama is a lovely man.

lgv said...

He likes organizing and helping young people. Another community organizer. No wonder Obama was empathetic. Can't wait to see him work with young people. Teaching them how to bomb things.

Matt Sablan said...

"Progressives don't seem to mind too much."

-- For all their fear of right-wing militias using violence for political reasons, you'd think they'd hesitate to let out unrepentant terrorists or hitch their wagons to people like Bill Ayers who have actually tried or succeeded in killing people for politically reasons.

AlbertAnonymous said...

My money is on Bergdahl, Bill & Hill and Lois Lerner.

I don't see a pardon for Nidal Hasan. But then again, if Obama wants to make sure every last member of the military hates him, even those still clinging to fantasies that Obama's "not that bad", then a Nidal Hasan pardon would probably do it.

Puten Curry said...

This is a very strong argument for the death penalty.

Looks also like a serious enough reason to rethink presidential pardon powers --- maybe the overall number of pardons should be limited, or the power to pardon should be in the hands of the electorate or a council of some sort, either to which the president can make a recommendation for consideration.

(if only to avoid the potential horse trading improprieties)

FIDO said...

I can see a pardon for Bill and Hillary Clinton, just to smear them with innuendo without actually proving anything.

But then again, unlike the Clintons, Obama is not independently wealthy (yet), so maybe he will join the long list of leeches who cling to the Body Politic of the Clinton Rear End.

Matt Sablan said...

"Looks also like a serious enough reason to rethink presidential pardon powers --- maybe the overall number of pardons should be limited, or the power to pardon should be in the hands of the electorate or a council of some sort, either to which the president can make a recommendation for consideration."

-- The idea of the pardon is a check on the judiciary. I think it would be fine if President recommends pardon, Congress approves. It also means no midnight pardons like this, as Congress could not approve them in time, which is the biggest abuse of the pardon power that presidents can use. It also prevents signing a bunch during a lame duck session to have no one who the electorate can hold responsible for the pardons.

MountainMan said...

"Only one day left. What's on Obama's agenda for tomorrow? Bergdahl? Clinton?"

As I said in a similar thread over on Powerline, Bergdahl on Thursday and Clinton on Friday morning, just before he is done.

harkin said...

O'Failure just showing his radical hate-America roots.

David said...

Less than 24 hours to go.

Meade said...

"Less than 24 hours to go."

What? For Obama to resign so Biden can be president for a day?

Sebastian said...

"Althouse says Obama is a lovely man." She advance-misses him. If only he had a little more time to free traitors and terrorists.

Meade said...

I'm pretty sure "lovely man" does not equal "lovely president."

I hope that helps.

Michael K said...

I don't see a pardon for Nidal Hasan. But then again, if Obama wants to make sure every last member of the military hates him, even those still clinging to fantasies that Obama's "not that bad", then a Nidal Hasan pardon would probably do it.

Yes, even the most pacifist "corpseman" might resent that level of mendacity.

Roughcoat said...

I'm pretty sure "lovely man" does not equal "lovely president."

"Pretty sure"? You mean you don't know?

Meade said...

Roughcoat, look — I only know the things I know. Those are known knowns, the things I know I know. I also know there are known unknowns. That is to say I know there are some things I do not know. But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones I don't know I don't know.

So yeah... I'm pretty sure.

David said...

But Meade you know you don't know the unknown unknowns. It's a bit like infinity, hard to grasp in the daily frame of reference. Or those damn mirrors on opposite walls of the barber shop, which used to suck me in when I was a kid.

MayBee said...

DIdn't Bill Clinton leave the Marc Rich (and more!!) pardon on his desk on his way to the inauguration?

rehajm said...

What? For Obama to resign so Biden can be president for a day?

Don't give them ideas. Biden's president for one official work day then gets a president's wage scale for the year, a pension bump from the new salary, the lifetime Secret Service Protection, and on and on and on...

It's a very leftie thing to do. 'King for a day' they call it.

ddh said...

Biden as president for one day would still be a step up.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Help me out on this one, Robert Cook: they intentionally murdered, via bombs, civilian American citizens in the name of non-American socialism, right? So is that ok, or what? I mean, does that make this guy a hero--he worked to kill Americans and hated the American government, right? So he's on the correct side according to you fellas, yeah?

Timothy McVeigh could not be reached for comment.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Just some guy from the neighborhood, probably.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Oh, in case I forgot to mention it: fuck you Leftist terrorist-loving assholes. And thanks, fellow American citizens, for giving us this Leftist jackass as President. "He's such a cool guy, so great with his kids!" Thanks, ladies.

Add one to the list: Lin-Manuel Miranda Cheers Pardon, Promises to play Hamilton for Rivera

'Member when those upright, moral Hamilton people scolded the VP-elect and gave him lessons in decency? Yeah, I remember.

It'd be a real shame if some terrorist blew them all the fuck up, wouldn't it? A reeeeeal shame.

Seeing Red said...

Pollard?

BN said...

"-- The bombing/military campaign in the Middle East is in no way the same as terrorist bombing that deliberately targets civilians. If you refuse to acknowledge this, then there's no way to have a discussion with you on this in an intelligent way."

1. Harkens back to yesterday's quote of O on the necessity of agreeing on a "common baseline of facts" in order to have an "intelligent" discussion.

2. I've never understood why civilians are considered innocent in war, as they are simply the societal support system for the "war mongers," the supplier of the guns if you will, for those who just happen to be unlucky enough to be young men at the wrong time. Everybody's got a job in a war. The principal object of war is to make it hurt really really bad. So, equality for all, I say!

IOW, I don't agree with "just war" theory. I agree with Sherman... and Nagasaki... and winning.

From a terrorist's point of view, everyone on the other side is the enemy, and you either fight asymmetrically or you lose or you don't fight. The terrorists do the best they can and I don't blame them for that. I do blame them for their will to power. And I blame us for hiring lawyers to tie our hands before responding.

Now i could be wrong, maybe it's the terrorist angle that differentiates it in your mind from the state-sanctioned collateral death paradigm, and this is supposed to be self-evident to us all. But please don't discuss it with me "in an intelligent way." Because virtue.

BN said...

As far as the abuse of pardons goes, yeah, we need a constitutional amendment.

But we don't do those any more. A country has to be able to agree on something in order to do something major like that. At any rate, now there's the Supreme Penumbra shortcut, so it's not needed that we unify on anything.

Just as good probably. For a country ruled by lawyers anyway.

Roughcoat said...

Meade:

I thought you were saying that you were pretty sure that Ann believed that "lovely man" did not equal "lovely president" -- since the "lovely man" reference was hers to begin with. Which prompted me to ask, with sincerity, why you did not know with certainty what she thought in that regard. In other words: I wondered why she hadn't told you that she believed that being a lovely man was not the same as being a lovely president.

In any case: I don't believe the two can be separated. Unity of virtues and all that. See Plato.

In other words: if you're a son-of-a-bitch as a president, you're a son-of-a-bitch.

Stalin loved his daughter but not his sons; he was a son-of-a-bitch to the lads. Hitler was a lovely man in his relationship to Blondi, his Alsatian bitch. But he was ... oh, you know.

BN said...

"This is a very strong argument for the death penalty."

This.

"-- The idea of the pardon is a check on the judiciary. I think it would be fine if President recommends pardon, Congress approves. It also means no midnight pardons like this, as Congress could not approve them in time, which is the biggest abuse of the pardon power that presidents can use. It also prevents signing a bunch during a lame duck session to have no one who the electorate can hold responsible for the pardons."

And this. Although it still requires a Con Amendment. Good luck.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Matthew Sablan said...Like, I said I didn't think Obama was that tone deaf about pardoning Berghdal. But... I'm more and more thinking I was wrong.

I confidently predicted last week that Obama wouldn't be tone deaf enough to pardon Manning. There's really no telling.

Remember when Marc Rich's pardon was scandalous? Remember when Clinton commuted the sentences of 16 of these FALN terrorist motherfuckers in 1999 and made them renouncing violence a condition of that commutation, and how this Rivera asshole refused that clemency? Yeah, I remember--I remember in part because both chambers of Congress denounced Clinton on that and the House held hearings but the Justice Dept. wouldn't let any FBI agents testify (the FALN terrorists had been major FBI targets and breaking up their terrorist organization was something the FBI took a lot of pride in).

Hey, wasn't this Rivera terrorist convicted of federal weapons charges--gun crimes? Wasn't that something the Obama Admin and his cocksucking fellow Leftists said they cared deeply about--punishing gun crime? I guess we can ignore it when they talk about gun crime/gun crime convictions, now. Way to go, Barack.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Seeing Red said...Pollard?

Naaah, he stole US secrets for a cause and a reason he felt was just, and he admitted his crime and plead guilty. Wait, no, uh...he...um...he gave the stolen secrets to a US ally and not a group usually seen as a front for a US adversary. High ranking members of the intelligence community opposed pardoning him. Wait, um, no...he...oh! He wasn't mentally disturbed and wasn't a member of some minority group the Left loves! He didn't want to chop his genitals off, he was an admitted man/male person, so nope, nothing special there.
He served, what, 28, 29 years? Shoulda worn a dress, dude!

Meade said...

@Roughcoat,
I just now got a chance to ask. Lovely man? "Yeah, okay "
Lovely president? "No, not at all"

Let's hope your Plato reference is disproved by Donald Trump, shall we? Lovely man? Hardly. Lovely president? Please, Dear God, let it be.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats. - Mencken

Roughcoat said...

Meade:

Thanks for clarifying. Good point.

From your lips to God's ears.

Jupiter said...

BN said...

"IOW, I don't agree with "just war" theory. I agree with Sherman... and Nagasaki... and winning."

If terrorism is the killing of civilians in order to influence their government, then the US was certainly guilty of terrorism during the second World War. As Curt LeMay said, "Killing Japanese didn't bother me very much at that time... I suppose if I had lost the war, I would have been tried as a war criminal.... Every soldier thinks something of the moral aspects of what he is doing. But all war is immoral and if you let that bother you, you're not a good soldier."

Of course, we didn't lose that war. Curt LeMay saw to that.

Birkel said...

I never voted for the useless son of a bitch.
Other people did.
Fuck those people.
They were warned and were dumb as hell about it.

Dude1394 said...

You are judged by the company you keep.

Dude1394 said...

Just one more day of this yahoo. I expect he will drop a nuke on someone.