In a move calculated to distract people from Biden's convention, and to appeal to women voters in a most cynical fashion, President Trump has decided to pardon Susan B. Anthony for voting illegally. His announcement comes across as flippant, the sort of sneering delivery that a guy who thinks it's all a joke:
Trump's announcement that he's pardoning Susan B. Anthony is met with laughter pic.twitter.com/ycIFtFtQOQ
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 18, 2020
It's my contention that Susan B. Anthony needs no pardon, the real crime was the illegality of women voting. By pardoning her, Trump is attempting to remove her agency posthumously. He even admits to this in his announcement: "You know that she got a pardon for a lot of other women and she didn't put her name on the list, so she was never pardoned." She did not request a pardon, having her 'crime' listed on her curriculum vitae was a lot more powerful testament to her life's work than accepting a pardon from a man for having the temerity to exercise a right which should have been hers could ever be.
Donald Trump even violates a dead woman's consent.
1 comment:
I can imagine her protesting his pardon from beyond the grave: "This was my good trouble, sir, and worth more to me than your bad faith." It would have been better had he made a meaningful gesture regarding voting rights (such as she demonstrated for) in general, perhaps by suggesting Mitch McConnell put forward and encourage passage of the voter rights bill the House left on his desk (insert hollow laughter) but of course neither are in favor of voting, or really of women. It was a pandering gesture as designed to draw attention and landed like the awkward compliment of a catcaller: "Hey Susan B--nice movement!"
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