President pardons turkeys, not humans

By Frank Moraes

I am very fond of turkeys. They are nice animals. So I'm glad that President Obama pardoned not one but two turkeys the other day. But this reminds a bit too much of Charlie Costello in Seven Psychopaths -- the guy who will kill another human without a thought but who dearly loves his Shih Tzu.

As I reported two weeks ago, President Obama has pardoned fewer people than any modern president. Out of 1,041 cases that have come to his desk, he has found only 22 compelling enough for a pardon. When you consider just how much injustice is done in our so-called justice system, the president's lack of action is an outrage.

Let me list a few of the people, via Propublica, whom President Obama didn't feel as deserving of his attention as the turkeys Cobbler and Gobbler:

• A former brothel manager who helped the FBI bust a national prostitution ring;
• A retired sheriff who inadvertently helped a money launderer buy land; and
• A young woman who mailed ecstasy tablets for a drug-dealing boyfriend, then worked with investigators to bring him down.

We've had three consecutive presidents who committed felony drug possession. All of them seem to think that the reason they didn't do any time in a federal prison is their moral rectitude rather than dumb luck. These men should have have been grateful to society for the grace they were shown. Instead, they show the arrogance of the entitled. Instead of "There but for the grace of God," it is "Of course God protected me."

It is nice that President Obama pardoned more than the requisite single turkey. But it doesn't do a thing for the unfortunate humans rotting in jail because the president wants to look tough or somethin g.

(Cross-posted at Frankly Curious.)