I Beg Your Pardon?

By Ben Trott

The Guardian's Martin Kettle has a piece on the paper's Comment is Free site discussing not only the possibility of President Bush's extensive pardoning of members of his administration, the civilian population and the military before he leaves office in January, but also of pardoning himself. Kettle speculates that the unprecedented measure would not only carry obvious advantages for Bush, but also Obama and his incoming administration which may not want to be 'blighted by the legal cleaning-up operation that might ensue.'

The measure would, of course, Kettle points out, 'send waves of outrage through America and the world.'

Indeed.