I agree with the OP. This one is really, really annoying.
My guess: he said something about clemency, or getting these guys out of prison, or their sentence is bullshit, and someone drafted a document to the best of their abilities to meet his demand. He signed it, they released it, then he bragged about pardoning them, and someone told him he hadn’t actually signed a pardon. He flung a fresh turd at them and bared his teeth and hooted, and they drafted an actual pardon, and he signed that.
That first cite looks like it’s from the so-called Justice Department. Probably written by someone sitting on an island somewhere.
Not zany at all. He’s just making sure all his base are covered.
Of course he does; he called for Hillary to be murdered with a “Second Amendment solution” during the campaign. Support for political and religious terrorism is common among the Republicans and American right; everyone looks the other way because our entire society is devoted to sucking up to them.
I’m pretty sure he’s looking to pardon the people that will piss off liberals the most. His directive from his handlers is to sow as much chaos and internecine hatred as possible. Pretty much all of his actions can be seen to fit in that perspective.
I’m starting to think there may be a real intention here to provoke everyone into a civil war. If enough of the righties have bought into their own (or rather, the NRA’s) press, they may think that between lands held, sympathetic police agencies, and civilian firearms stockpiled, they can win. A clear and present danger, without a President to stop it, because he’s part of it. The scary idea is that if enough of Congress are as well, they’ll back it up. That could be the case if this has been in the works for the entire existence of groups the Federalist Society, of which I’m not convinced; or if the right wing just decide, “Hey, roll with it, we have the deviants where we can take them out now.”
Trump has repeatedly encouraged violence … but has not apparently had any guts to do it himself. He is a shit flinging, trolling coward. He wants his goons to do the fighting for him because he is a weakling and a coward.
If they’re white I believe the government approved term for them is patriotic “Freedom fighters”.
I would prefer the term Convicted Felon.
“If crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight?”
- George Carlin -
In other words, they are mini-me versions of HIM.