Osler's Razor

At a meeting at the White House in 2016, I referred to the pardon power as the "soul of the Constitution."  It wasn't a throwaway line; It is something I deeply believe. Like the best things of this nation, the pardon power is rooted in individual conscience, favors liberty, and requires an intense engagement with deeply human values. It changes with time, and it is enduring even while under attack. Most of all, it is something more that mere words; by allowing grace and mercy, it is spiritual in a way that unifies rather than divides.

And now, like any great thing, it might be ruined in the wrong hands, in the hands of a President who probably cares nothing for what it is and should be. If he uses it for himself or his family, it will be like using a cross to stab someone.

I'm sad, and kind of crabby. I worked hard, for years, to return the pardon power to its rightful place as a principled tool of the president. That... well, it kind of worked, thanks to a lot of other people. And now, we face this. We paddle blithely into the storm.

I hate to see any soul extinguished.