“If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime.”

That old adage failed to take account of the crimes of those on the correct side of the political aisle. The days of personal accountability are all but a memory for those with ties to the American president. Today, the adage might more accurately read, “Do the crime, and a pardon will come in time.”

During his first day back in the White House, President Trump pardoned, commuted the prison sentences of, or dismissed the cases of all 1,500-plus Capital riot participants from Jan. 6, 2021.

These pardoned individuals were not political prisoners, hostages, warriors or whatever other revisionist term Trump and his ilk have called them. Make no mistake: A large number of the charged individuals were people who had committed acts of violence, causing nearly $3 million in damages that will likely never will be repaid.

There has arguably not been such a distasteful use of the presidential pardon power since President Gerald Ford preemptively pardoned disgraced President Richard Nixon after the Watergate scandal in 1974. Letting these people walk free and clear of punishment spits in the face of the deterrent effect........

© The Hill