SCOTT LUDWIG: An unforgiveable act of forgiveness

By Scott Ludwig

Donald Trump, the self-proclaimed “president of law and order” his first time in office, immediately removed any and all doubt that the moniker still applies his second time around.

That’s because on his very first day in the White House (“a dictator on Day 1,’ remember?) he granted a blanket pardon to more than 1,500 people facing prosecution for the attack on the U.S. Capitol four years ago.

He went on to defend himself by stating that many were serving sentences he found ridiculous and excessive, as if he might have a more appropriate punishment in mind. An all-expenses paid two-week vacation at Mar-a-Lago, perhaps.

After all, they weren’t attacking the Capitol for personal reasons. They were doing it for him.

All Trump had to do was ask. His wish was their command. And as everyone knows, if you’re willing to kiss the ring, you will be rewarded. And, as anyone living in a democracy knows, freedom is the ultimate gift.

Thank you for your service. You’re free to go.

Trump’s Day 1 act of unwarranted forgiveness hit me pretty hard. I felt exactly like I always imagined the family of Nicole Brown Simpson must have felt when the jury acquitted O.J. Simpson.

Forgiveness is a blessing. Can I get an amen, Michael Flynn? How about you, Charles Kushner: You get to be the new Ambassador to France. Let’s just hope Sean Hannity doesn’t come looking for a job. Trump might put him in charge of holding the nuclear briefcase.

Besides being a slap in the face to our judicial system, what Trump did is also a slap in the face to the brave men and women who were on the receiving end of the flag poles, knives, fire extinguishers, brass knuckles, batons, firearms, bear spray, tasers, and assorted makeshift weaponry from whatever the attackers could get their hands on.

Not to mention a slap in the face to the labor-intensive and expensive process it took to put the offenders behind bars for their crimes, the extensive damage caused by the assault, and the traumatizing impact and long-lasting effect the incident had on the lives of every single person living in this country – whether they know it or not.

(According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, the estimated cost – for damage to the Capitol building and grounds; costs borne by the Capitol Police, the District of Columbia, and federal agencies; and estimated expenses to address security needs and investigations – was in the neighborhood of $2.7 billion.)

And we can never forget the fact that five officers from various police departments lost their lives from the events of Jan. 6: one from a stroke the following day, and four by suicide in the days and weeks that followed.

It’s a good thing Trump wasn’t in office when Timothy McVeigh bombed the Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City: he may have just brushed it aside as nothing more than a case of a fine young man having a really bad day.

Yes, it’s an ugly analogy, but it hits pretty close to home.

But yet, despite the intentional slap at justice, the extraordinary expenses incurred, and the unnecessary loss of human lives, every single one of the insurrectionists received a get-out-of-jail free card, courtesy of their favorite felon. A felon, incidentally, who just so happens to be the President of the United States.

Trump has referred to Jan. 6, 2021 as ‘a day of love.’ That’s like FDR calling what happened at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, an air show. Or George Bush referring to 9/11 as pilot error.

It’s fairly obvious I’m pretty angry. Heck, aren’t we all? If not, we certainly should be.

If this message was contained in a letter written directly to the president — and he had someone read it to him — at first he might think of it as hate mail. But if Trump really thought about it, he’d realize that, in his vernacular, this could be considered a love letter.