Rich fled the country because he was being hounded by the infamous Benito Giuliani, who afterwards, as dictator of New York City, made the buses run on time and cleaned the streets of the squeegee bums. But at that time, Benito was the overzealous U.S. prosecutor who was after Marc Rich s ass. As everyone knows, a prosecutor has to be a mean-spirited prick even to want to be a prosecutor. Anyway, it seems to be a requirement that all Repugnicants be mean-spirited. Besides, it s often said that a prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich if he wants to.
Prosecutorial abuse seems to be an occupational hazard that goes along with the job.
And sure, then-President Clinton pardoned some Hasidic scoundrels in exchange for votes for his wife, but that s politics. Almost every President before Clinton has used his pardoning powers for political gain. The United States Constitution gives the President the irrevocable power to pardon whomever he likes for whatever whim or reason or lack of reason that strikes his fancy. His pardoning powers are non-reviewable. He doesn t have to give any explanation as Bill Clinton has been bullied into doing by the Repugnicant clamor and the outrage of the liberal press.