'Beg your pardon?

Yesterday, Donald Trump used his pardon power to void the convictions of Dinesh D’Souza, who illegally and knowingly circumvented campaign finance laws by promising to reimburse individuals who made individual political donations to Wendy Long's Senate 2012 Senate election campaign. Trump is reportedly considering pardoning Martha Stewart, convicted of insider trading, and commuting the sentence of Rob Blagojevich, convicted for trying to barter his choice of successor to President-elect Obama's soon to be vacant seat in the Senate.

Trumps acts and statements are revealing. First the common threads; all three, D’Souza, Blagojevich and Stewart were guilty of violating both the law and the public trust for personal gain, demonstrating clearly how little regard Trump has for either the rule of law, his level of comfort with self-serving greed as a guiding principle, and his contempt for the optic (and reality) of violating societal norms. Second, it reveals who he thinks matters - all are well known "celebrities". This could reflect, as CNN seems to be suggesting, a preoccupation with fame and notoriety. But a more likely explanation is that he see this as  a way of achieving four goals; the boosting of some high-profile Obama critics and vocal Trump supporters; a signal to those who might be ready to testify against him that if they have his back he will have theirs; a further jab to undermine public confidence in the judicial system; and a signal that he is above partisanship (Blagojevich being a Democrat).

That he is commuting Blagojevich's sentence isn't simply about Trump showing generosity to the opposition. Rather, it could be interpreted as an indication that he considers both parties' platforms inconsequential, mired as they are in what they see as political and economic reality and he sees as needless quagmire; he is untethered to the past, to precedent, or the norms that have governed Washington for decades; the only voices he listens to are his own and Fox and Friends.

The country is at an inflection point; the Obama years steered the country gently in a more compassionate, centrist direction. Lots of folk, particularly the whites in the red states, feeling let down by decades of unfulfilled promises and a feeling that the political system was paying too much attention to fringe groups (like climate scientists) and minorities, decided to "stick it to the system" by electing a crude, misogynistic, racists, ignorant, dishonest, vain, paranoid, greedy, materialistic, self-serving huckster. Whatever the economic and security gains are made, on trade and in the international order,
that choice will resonate down the ages, a choice the unintended (and some intended) consequences of which we will be living with at least until after I'm long gone.

The question is: how does the country respond; and the signs aren't good. The left, rising to the bait with each insult spewing from the White house on a daily basis, is blinded by such anger and contempt that they seem unable  to focus on the issues the country faces. The right sees that as a direct attack on their (lack of) values and responds with nonsensical "what-aboutisms", distortions and lies with increasing impunity. Increasingly divided, siloed by social and cable media, the opportunity for seeing common ground is fast disappearing. If the next few years are filled with the same degree of division and disdain for "the other", many will turn away to focus on the daily grind, leaving public policy in the hands of those arguably least suited act in the interests of those they are supposed to represent.