Nepotism
Pardons, Turkeys and Class War
Morning Comrades.
From a linguistic point of view nepotism has plenty of room for interpretation. For example, I often worry that my son is a nepo baby only because he is the first of our long line of peasants that isn’t one. Unlike the 6 generations of Vogel men I can trace back, he will not and does not suffer want and realistically, will have a plethora of choices to take once he finishes school. There isn’t a day that I think on that and worry about what impact that will have on his psychological development only to immediately arrive at today’s topic: Nepotism. The practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives, friends, or associates is a brutal tool of class warfare that only is exercised by our ruling class in their favour, but also against us.
Take the above example, 6 generations of men that have been beaten, have suffered in poverty with god knows what detrimental effects on their psyche and here I am, the first one with an education, the first with access and usability of therapy and I worry that giving my son opportunities those 6 generations before did not have while doing my best to mentally equip him with the ability to reflect and have kindness, and it gives me the guilt trip of the decade. Obviously, a subjective reality and quite likely very specific to the English working class experience ( obedience and downtrodden acceptance of class and our place in it ) but one given to expand into rage, material analysis and sharpening of our collective mind and tools, having woken and grudgingly being given this piece of information.
Now, in the grand scheme of things, who fucking cares, right? It’s just another bit of corruption and hypocrisy that we expect from these ghouls- and Biden is representative of the entire Ruling Class, even if he is a nefariously evil fucker at that. There is an entire backlog of dispatches that I could be sharing yet here we are.
Sure, it’s easy to rage at this singular piece of information, and for the sake of catharsis, maybe that’s a good idea. However, the point is to take these singular middle fingers in our struggling faces and recognize patters and realities obscured, purposely by the ruling class so that they can continue to fuck us, without consent and get away with it.
Every year around Thanksgiving the entire West is involuntarily reminded of the Presidential Pardon when whatever President currently sits in the White House pardons Turkey’s - this genuinely makes the news around the world, and everyone sort of scratches their head and goes back to work. Yet, this made me think on these constitutional powers granted to the President and how they are used.
Again, we are arguing from the reality of their law- which, yes, affects us all, and we have many times argued over its non-existing morality. We have also argued over and over again how legality and law in their current form are nothing but tools in their class war against us. And Biden, the person responsible for suffering around the world, but specifically in relation to pardoning his son, the architect of the infamous, deeply racists and class waring Crime Bill chooses to do this. To be clear, The Crime Bill has also become emblematic of a shift towards mass incarceration in the United States. The Justice Policy Institute stated in 2008 that "the Clinton Administration's 'tough on crime' policies resulted in the largest increases in federal and state inmate populations of any president in American history" - predominately non-whites busted on bullshit drug charges. Add to that, the reality that well over 200 people have been executed by the Federal Government that have then been found innocent after that fact, aside from the question of morality in regards to the death penalty, hey, let’s pardon my kid rather than do anything else, oh wait, start WW3 in the Middle East, because “vibes”, pave the way from more criminal buddies like Trump to run the US and fuck over the rest of the country you are entrusted with to lead to prosperity and safety, let alone address the thousands of case of desperately needed collective, from pandemic protections, debts, natural disasters and so on, all of which are the purpose of government.
Occasionally, the class waring “fuck-yous” from above are so glaring that we have to point them out. As with all rage, it has to be focused, analytical and consequential, because, the above is not a singular event, is systemic. It’s how the ruling class oppresses us, and despite their lip-service to “the greater good”, they are all, our enemy simply by the nature of their violent oppression of those that guarantee and produce their wealth. With that, nepotism, when connected to presidential pardons, reflects class warfare by prioritising the protection of elites over systemic efforts to address the injustices affecting the working class. By using executive clemency to shield the politically connected or powerful rather than the marginalised, U.S. presidents reinforce the privileges of the ruling class, perpetuating their dominance. Below are ten examples since 1945 where presidential pardons reflect this dynamic:
Harry S. Truman - Pardoning War Profiteers (1947)
Truman pardoned several individuals convicted of defrauding the U.S. government during World War II, including influential corporate figures. These individuals had exploited wartime contracts for personal profit, while Truman ignored clemency petitions from low-income draft resisters and imprisoned labor leaders.
Gerald Ford - Pardon of Richard Nixon (1974)
Ford granted a "full, free, and absolute pardon" to Richard Nixon for any crimes committed during his presidency, including the Watergate scandal. This act shielded Nixon, a member of the political elite, from accountability. Meanwhile, Ford took no significant action to pardon Vietnam War draft resisters en masse, leaving many working-class individuals criminalized.
Jimmy Carter - Limited Pardon for Draft Resisters (1977)
While Carter is often credited for pardoning Vietnam War draft resisters, the measure excluded many who had already been imprisoned or who had fled to countries outside the U.S. In contrast, Carter issued selective pardons for influential figures, such as Watergate conspirators.
Ronald Reagan - Pardoning Mark Felt and Edward Miller (1981)
Reagan pardoned FBI officials Mark Felt (later revealed as "Deep Throat") and Edward Miller, convicted of illegal surveillance during the COINTELPRO program. These pardons excused crimes against civil rights activists, labour organisers, and political dissidents, signaling deference to state power over justice for marginalszed groups.
George H.W. Bush - Iran-Contra Pardons (1992)
Bush pardoned six officials involved in the Iran-Contra scandal, including Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, who had obstructed investigations into the Reagan administration’s covert arms sales. This protected high-ranking officials while Bush ignored systemic clemency reforms that could have helped incarcerated workers or nonviolent offenders.
Bill Clinton - Pardon of Marc Rich (2001)
Clinton pardoned Marc Rich, a billionaire commodities trader and Democratic Party donor, who had fled the U.S. to evade charges of tax evasion and fraud. Rich’s ex-wife, a significant donor to Clinton, lobbied for the pardon. Meanwhile, Clinton’s administration contributed to mass incarceration policies that disproportionately harmed working-class people.
George W. Bush - Pardon of Scooter Libby (2007)
Bush commuted the sentence of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Vice President Dick Cheney's chief of staff, convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in a case involving the leak of CIA agent Valerie Plame’s identity. This pardon protected a political insider while Bush continued policies that exacerbated economic inequality.
Barack Obama - Pardoning James Cartwright (2017)
Obama pardoned General James Cartwright, who had pleaded guilty to leaking classified information about U.S. cyber operations against Iran. While justified as an act of mercy, it demonstrated leniency toward powerful military figures. At the same time, Obama left unaddressed numerous clemency applications from low-level, nonviolent drug offenders until the final months of his presidency.
Donald Trump - Pardoning Political Allies (2020)
Trump pardoned a series of loyalists, including Michael Flynn (national security adviser), Paul Manafort (campaign manager), and Roger Stone (longtime confidant), all convicted of crimes related to the Russia investigation. These pardons emphasised the preservation of elite networks while Trump’s policies neglected systemic aid to working-class communities.
The list is endless and only aims to offer one interpretation, it’s one big club and none of us are ever going to be in it, yet we get to pay for it. Nepotism, in a long list of tools at use and available to the ruling class is employed willingly and consciously not only for their benefit but equally to our disadvantage. When their entire system is so utterly skewed against those, us, that provide the ways and means for their power whilst we suffer, it is imperative to understand that the tools for changing this are there.
We don’t need to reinvent the wheel, only to realize how few of them there are at fault for our oppression.
Yours, ragingly.
V