OWEN BENJAMIN: Scottish Communist Malcolm Caldwell who traveled to Cambodia to praise Pol Pot's regime in 1978. And Pol Pot just had him shot.

This is sooooooo him. Classic Pot. Textbook pic.twitter.com/shi53hZNSP

— Owen Benjamin 🐻 (@OwenBenjamin) October 24, 2024

The funniest was the Scottish Communist Malcolm Caldwell who traveled to Cambodia to praise Pol Pot's regime in 1978.  And Pol Pot just had him shot.  

Wikipedia, 

Caldwell was one of the staunchest defenders of the Pol Pot regime. He frequently attempted to downplay reports of mass executions by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and was widely criticised by many authorities for doing so.

In December 1978, Caldwell was a member, along with Elizabeth Becker and Richard Dudman, of one of the few groups of Western journalists and writers invited to visit Cambodia since the Khmer Rouge had taken power in April 1975. The three visitors were given a highly structured tour of the country. "We traveled in a bubble", wrote Becker. "No one was allowed to speak to me freely." On 22 December, Caldwell had a private audience with Pol Pot, the leader of Cambodia. After the meeting, he came back to the guesthouse in Phnom Penh where the three were staying in a mood described by Becker as "euphoric". At about 11:00 p.m. that night Becker was awakened by the sound of gunfire. She stepped out of her bedroom and saw a heavily armed Cambodian man who pointed a pistol at her. She ran back into her room and heard people moving and more gunshots. An hour later a Cambodian came to her bedroom door and told her that Caldwell was dead. She and Dudman went to his room. He had been shot in the chest, and the body of a Cambodian man was also in the room, possibly the same man who had pointed the pistol at Becker.

BOVARD: Ford’s expansive use of the pardon helped pave the way for George H.W. Bush’s Iran-Contra pardons which largely demolished the investigation of Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh. On Christmas Eve 1992, Bush pardoned six Reagan administration officials for their roles in Iran-Contra,

Nixon resigned because he knew that he would be demolished in a Senate trial. But President Gerald Ford compounded the damage from Nixon’s presidency when he issued a sweeping pardon of his predecessor that practically condemned future generations of Americans to being governed by lawless presidents.  --Jim Bovard

Nixon’s Resignation and America’s Impunity Democracy https://t.co/gSyjpO0W3B via @libertarianinst

— St. Michael, the Archangel (@aveng_angel) August 13, 2024

August 8 was the fiftieth anniversary of President Richard Nixon’s resignation. Unfortunately, that anniversary spurred little reflections or lamentations on how lawless the federal government has become in the subsequent half-century.

Aside from his Watergate abuses, Nixon was guilty of illegally invading a foreign country (Cambodia), perpetuating the war in Vietnam for political purposes and his 1972 reelection campaign, violating the rights of tens of thousands of Americans with the illegal FBI COINTELPRO program, sanctioning CIA violence and subversion around the globe, and many other offenses. Nixon also created Amtrak. 

Nixon resigned because he knew that he would be demolished in a Senate trial. But President Gerald Ford compounded the damage from Nixon’s presidency when he issued a sweeping pardon of his predecessor that practically condemned future generations of Americans to being governed by lawless presidents.

Ford’s rationale for the pardon deserves a place in the pantheon of American political bullshit. In his televised announcement of the pardon, Ford declared that, if Nixon were put on trial, “the credibility of our free institutions of government would again be challenged at home and abroad.” Ford also claimed that prosecuting Nixon would banish “the tranquility to which this nation has been restored by the events of recent weeks” after Nixon resigned. But Ford’s action made it easier for subsequent presidents to disturb “tranquility” and practically everything else.

Many people assume that President Ford pardoned Nixon only for Watergate. In reality, Ford’s pardon was so sweeping—forgiving Nixon for any and every possible crime he may have committed—that it would have exempted Nixon even from charges of genocide, 

“Now, therefore, I, Gerald R. Ford, President of the United States, pursuant to the pardon power conferred upon me by Article II, Section 2, of the Constitution, have granted and by these presents do grant a full, free, and absolute pardon unto Richard Nixon for all offenses against the United States which he, Richard Nixon, has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January 20, 1969, through August 9, 1974.”

Continue reading this excellent piece by James Bovard.

Find more by Bovard on Nixon here.

Find Bovard's books here.

Last Rights: The Death of American Liberty https://t.co/yBWhGdSQQH via @amazon

— St. Michael, the Archangel (@aveng_angel) August 13, 2024