Leadership Required in the Wake of Terrorism and Shady Politics
Addressing Public Safety, Pardons, and Terrorism in 2025
The Reality of "They Can’t Do That”
I can’t count the times when I have expressed a concern only to be told by people who consider themselves much savvier than me that ‘they can’t do that.’ Unfortunately, ‘they’ can do that, and have done that, and are going to do ‘that’ soon again in the future.
As our nation reels from two possibly coordinated terrorist attacks on New Years Day and a pro-Hamas demonstration calling for global intifada blocking Sixth Avenue in midtown Manhattan, it would be great to see a symbol of someone doing something right.
President Biden was benched by the Democratic National Committee for the third time in 38 years. His retreat from his presidential campaign was not without revenge when he cast his support behind his vice president. Suddenly, the American people were only offered the choice of a candidate who had never received a federal vote in a single campaign to being the DNC nominee. It was something that if I had suggested it as recently as a year ago, I would be told, ‘they can’t do that.’
Presidential Pardons: The Broad Reach of Clemency
Following the election victory of President-elect Trump, President Biden pardoned his son. He insisted that he would never do that, but when he did it, it was a retroactive blanket pardon to the last two years of the Obama-Biden administration. It also included two sets of federal charges with a tax case where Hunter Biden had pled guilty and was awaiting sentencing. Nearly until the day of the pardon, the White House press secretary stated that the president has ‘repeatedly’ stated that he would not pardon his son. Thomas Hogan writes in City Journal:
The president did not merely pardon Hunter for the two federal cases in which he already had been convicted but for any conduct going back to 2014—a postdated, decade-long get-out-of-jail-free card designed to shield Hunter from some unsavory financial transactions that might have implicated the “big guy,” a term that government whistleblowers claim refers to the president himself.
Has the president pardoned himself in pardoning his son? Prior to 2021 no one could imagine such a broad grant of immunity. Others would possibly have insisted to me that pardoning Hunter would in turn implicate himself. It just wouldn’t work. Yet here it is on full display. He also commuted the federal death sentences of 37 out of the 40 prisoners on federal death row, as well as 1500 other convicts. The three not commuted were somehow deserving of death, even while the impetus was the president’s moral objection to state executions.
Although Article II provides only a few exceptions, the complete exclusion of the legislative branch from the process of presidential reprieves and pardons highlights the significant and solemn responsibility entrusted to the president. For the president and Merritt Garland to receive from the new Department of Justice pardon attorney lists of offenders and grant clemency to offenders who victimized, up to and including murder, thousands of Americans, and undo the work of law enforcement and the courts, should not stand without some protest. We thought “they can’t do that” but no one has made any effort to challenge this.
Terrorism and Public Safety: A Chance to Restore Confidence
So far, all it has required for these unprecedented abuses to stand is for good men and women to do nothing. Those that hate our country and way of life have fired a shot across our bow and murdered more than a dozen Americans in the first moments of our new year.
Terrorism is defined as the use of violence for political purposes. The victory of the terrorists is causing Americans to fear for their safety in public holiday celebrations, in the lobby and valet stands of hotels, and to walk or drive in midtown Manhattan. In spite of the protest settlement, NYPD cannot keep letting supporters of a terrorist organization demonstrate in our streets. They aren’t peacefully gathering but instead unifying as a show of force. They have no grievance with the NYC government that they are petitioning They are not petitioning for any legitimate grievance with the NYC
All the terrorism task forces have cases that they are hoping will improve with age. Let’s not wait for perfection and take some of these bad actors off the streets today. Let’s let the American people and the potential terrorists know that we won’t hesitate to arrest anyone who threatens the security of our people. Let’s make some headlines that the good guys are winning. Let’s tell both our politicians and the terrorist with authority that ‘they can’t do that!’
Please keep all our nation’s peace officers in your prayers, especially JTTF members. Also, please remember all the families and victims of all those injured and killed in New Orleans and Las Vegas.
Roland Clee served a major Florida police department as a Community Service Officer for more than 26 years. His career included uniformed patrol, training, media relations, intelligence, criminal investigations, and chief’s staff. He writes the American Peace Officer newsletter, speaks at public safety, recruiting and leadership conferences and helps local governments and public safety agencies through his business, CommandStaffConsulting.com. His work is frequently featured on LawOfficer.com, the only law enforcement owned major media presence in the public safety realm.
References
Sobering thoughts for a period suddenly fraught with danger. Thank you as always for lighting our way. Prayers too for 47.
Thank you for clarity during these troubled times. What a horrible way to start the new year. Prayers indeed.