I had not heard the news that Governor Polis (D) of Colorado, the home state of corrupt former election official Tina Peters (R), is considering clemency for the felon. Anthony Coley is outraged:
In September, Polis didn’t hedge when asked about Peters’ sentence. “In a past version of America, people have gone to jail for that,” he said. “Isn’t that something people should go to jail for?” That was the right answer. That was a governor who understood what was at stake.
Then Trump turned up the heat. He withheld disaster funding, attempted to cancel more than $100 million in transportation grants and vetoed legislation that would have created a new pipeline to carry clean water in the state. Now, Polis says Peters’ sentence is excessive. [MS NOW]
But not only are state legislators against clemency, Coley reports so are current election officials and even a GOP prosecutor:
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold and the bipartisan Colorado County Clerks Association sent a joint letter to the governor in January urging him not to release Peters from prison. Also, the Republican district attorney who prosecuted Peters and the state’s Democratic attorney general oppose clemency
“Ms. Peters’ sentence was not harsh by any reasonable standard,” Matt Crane, a former GOP clerk who now runs the Colorado County Clerks Association, has said. “Granting clemency to an unrepentant convicted criminal who deliberately sought to undermine our democratic system would be deeply concerning and risks further eroding public trust in the institutions Americans rely on for free and fair elections.”
Whenever I feel like I may be having a knee jerk reaction, I like to go over the situation again, arguing against the knee-jerk. This time I don’t see any real holes: appeased bullies simply go back for more; the support is bi-partisan; so what if she’s seventy, folks live longer now and she should have known better, so we can assume she committed the crime for personal gain.
We cling to principle in the belief that it’ll benefit all of us in the end, and Governor Polis needs to cling with both hands and his feet. Sure, Trump may continue to apply pressure. But each time he does, Polis’ defiance will make salient the antisocial, undesirable behaviors on exhibit by the current President, perhaps hastening the necessary impeachment and conviction this country needs.
Keep it up, Guv’ner.
