In an interview published Friday by New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR), US navy veteran Jason Riddle said: “It’s almost like [Trump] was trying to say it didn’t happen. And it happened. I did those things, and they weren’t pardonable.
“I don’t want the pardon. And I … reject the pardon.”
Riddle entered the US Senate parliamentarian’s office, drank a bottle of wine, stole a book and inflicted damage at the Capitol when Trump supporters attacked the building on 6 January 2021 in a desperate attempt to the then president in office after he lost the presidency to Joe Biden weeks earlier, according to court documents. He received a 90-day prison sentence and was fined $750 in April 2022 for pleading guilty to committing misdemeanors in an attack that was linked to several deaths, including officer suicides.
People who reject the pardon are ironically the only ones who would deserve them.
I like your logic, but I disagree, they don’t deserve pardons either. Pardons are for correcting unjust convictions. Just because they dude repents doesn’t mean his conviction was unjust. Pardon power is absolutely abused by presidents.
Theyre the ones who deserve a comfortable bed and good food. Maybe house arrest under the right circumstances.
Note im not for giving prisoners bad accommodations just that there a difference between a bed of questionable quality and a decent one. Same with food theres a difference between forever sloppy joe and pasta alfredo.
The moment you start thinking about prison in terms of punishment and who deserves worse, you’ve missed the mark. Rehabilitation should be the purpose. There’s a reason other countries have much lower recidivism rates and some of their prisons are like resorts. The point is to nourish the mind, soul, and body to make a BETTER person - not to continue the beatings until morale improves.
Prisons are working exactly as designed in the US: “undesirables” used as slave labor to earn profits for private prisons.
Thanks Negative Nancy. Not the point here tho.
I’m glad his perspective has changed, but no one deserves them.
Depends on your perspective on prisons. If they are about punishment, yeah. But if they are about rehabilitation, denying those pardons kinda proves you are ready to be part of civil society again.
These people have very short sentences that might already be served. The pardon is more about lending credibility to what they did in the first place. I am 1000% in favor of prison reform, but this isn’t that.
Yeah, parole might be a better option.
That said, most of the pardonees are unrepentant nazis so obviously the pardons are not going to be for the common good.
I’m kind of amazed any time anyone in America feels guilt or shame or regret based on their actions at this point, but especially Trump’s fans.
the lesson is that there are still sleepwalkers to awake. i don’t know how we do it, but it’s possible
It’s hard.
My brother was deep in to this shit when our mom died. He was living with her and had no where to go.
So he started living with me.
I had to be an asshole about it at first. IE: in reference to the conservative media he’d watch all day I said something to the effect of “turn that hateful shit off or find somewhere else to fucking live” at one point.
Once I got him to reduce the amount of bullshit he watched it was easier to point out a couple things that would resonate with him. Like:
How the media he’s watching is always telling you how you should feel about the news. I didn’t tell him what to watch, but explained that journalists aren’t supposed to be telling you how to feel about the news, this is a manipulation tactic.
I also pointed out that the media he was consuming was constantly telling you what “the leftists” think. I told him that if he wants to know what leftists think, he should listen to leftists, not the people trying to manipulate him.
I also have gay friends. When some of them were coming over for a get-together I said, “if that’s going to be a problem, stay in your fucking room.”
I kept pointing out how corporations are fucking us over and asking why the media he was watching never talked about that.
I got him spending more time outside and just generally being away from technology for a few hours every day.
I’ve also been helping him learn to live with a disability. Having to help navigate government supports for him is a good thing to reference when conservative views on health care come up.
He’s not a card-carrying leftist yet, but he doesn’t get mad about gay people existing any more, so that’s a win. He now acknowledges that it’s the corporations fucking us with the help of both parties. It’s been almost 3 years now and he’s stubborn, but I keep at it.
I think the short version is: get them to realize they’re being manipulated and get them to start questioning the conservative narrative, but make sure they know you care about them at the same time.
Editing to add: using their language helps a lot too.
Don’t say: “Trans rights are human rights” Say: “Those are your countrymen fighting for the freedom to live their lives as they see fit, just like you.”
Definitely, although the link to alcoholism is an interesting one. The other person who did this was also an alcoholic and said that the 12 steps made her admit she was wrong.
I really have a lot of issues with AA and NA and other groups that use the 12 steps for a lot of reasons, but I’m glad it helped at least one person in this way.
Definitely, although the link to alcoholism is an interesting one.
Indeed. I’ve often half-joked that the bulk of the MAGA movement is just a huge meth problem hiding in plain sight. It definitely stands to reason alcohol could have a similar effect on some people.
they’re desperate and will latch onto anything that gives them relief from their daily lives. throughout human history that’s been vice and extremism. a small number of gross looking men have directed that extremism towards the right wing to the detriment of the left. they got us here because the left too often said “these are the weapons of the enemy. i do not need them. i will not use them.”
well.
we lost the war because we refused to pick up any weapons. or at least the politicians we’d most be able to help did. the right monopolized violence, technological mass media, and populism. the left saw this, and just as in the 1920s, refused to push the extremists, the fascists, nazis, bolsheviks, and militarists, out of power. too much of the focus was placed on following the proper order of procedure. none was placed on “how do we hold government accountable”
why?
nacy pelosi doesn’t want an accountable government. these nut jobs have tried to kill her and her husband, but ooooh that stock portfolio tho. and she’s not the only one
Might be. But I was in DC on the 6th, and let me tell you that the people I saw wearing the red hats were “normal”. Older couples, people you’d see at the highway gas stop restaurant. They might be from areas with a rural meth problem, but they were people the caricature comes from. Working class, rural, red-staters that gobble down the fear and rage in their Fox News and Truth Social echo chambers.
But I was in DC on the 6th, and let me tell you that the people I saw wearing the red hats were “normal”.
Having grown up with a meth addict parent, you may not know what to look for in otherwise “normal” adults who are meth addicts. If they have the self control not to let the drug take over, they can live for years without showing any outward signs of their habit. It’s amazing how long some people can be functioning adults and addicted.
Good for him. He’ll never have my forgiveness, but I appreciate that he understands he doesn’t deserve it either.
Edit: I don’t forgive traitors. Some things are unforgivable and 1/6 is one of them. I owe these traitors nothing and they’ll receive exactly that. I hope they live with the shame of their actions for the rest of their lives.
I dunno, if he’s truly remorseful and has changed his ways from being a blind zealot, I think he deserves some degree of forgiveness. But if others don’t feel the same, that’s fine.
People can only improve if we allow them to and give them the opportunity. You have the right mindset.
I think people can learn empathy and change their views.
Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future. If we stay stuck in this mentality we can’t move forward as a nation. The guy is already remorseful for his actions.
I mean he served the 90 day sentence and is already free. Makes sense he would reject it.
Especially because it was only misdemeanors. If he’d had the chance to get a felony off his record he might’ve had to think about it a bit more
Interesting that the only two so far that I’ve seen that have rejected them, are people who served like 3 months and paid a fine.
Not saying it’s a bad thing, but it’s not exactly life altering.
I think it’s a symbolic gesture that speaks volumes. This country needs to get together somehow
Yeah. You take the pardon if you’re in jail.
Yeah this dude got off pretty easy.
