Under the guidelines of our new gunboat diplomacy in the war on drugs, a bit of a contradiction rises to the forefront. I am hoping some of the stalwart supporters of the President can explain the situation.

If you are SUSPECTED of being a drug dealer in a boat in international waters we will terminate you with extreme prejudice.

If, however, you are a CONVICTED DRUG DEALER like LARRY HOOVER, who once headed one of the most violent street gangs in Chicago (the Gangster Disciples, a gang that caused a significant amount of the murders and violence endemic to the drug trade which Mr. Trump would like to address with military force) you get a pardon.

Here’s the language from the petition by the Justice Department opposing the petition for a Supreme Court review of Hoover’s trial and conviction.

After a jury trial in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, each petitioner was convicted of drug conspiracy, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 846. Hoover, Shell, Howard, Strawhorn, and Wilson were also convicted of engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 848(a); two counts of using minors to further a drug conspiracy, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 861(a); 15 counts of drug possession and distribution, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 841(a)(1); 20 counts of using a telephone to facilitate a drug offense, in violation of 21 U.S.C. 843(b); and one count of using a firearm during and in relation to a drug offense, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 924(c). In addition to the conspiracy count, Edwards was convicted on three possession and distribution counts, 19 telephone counts, and one firearm count; and Branch was convicted on two counts of money laundering, in violation of 18 U.S.C. 1956(a)(1)(B)(i). Each of the CCE defendants and Edwards was sentenced to life imprisonment; Bradd was sentenced to 292 months’ imprisonment; and Branch was sentenced to 324 months’ imprisonment. Apart from vacating Branch’s sentence and remanding for resentencing, the court of appeals affirmed. Pet. App. 1-17.
1. Beginning in the early 1970s and for many years thereafter, the Gangster Disciples sold cocaine in Chicago, Illinois, and the surrounding area. The gang used violence when necessary to protect its territory from incursions by rival gangs. The gang also employed minors armed with guns to provide security for gang members.
Hoover was “chairman of the board” of the gang; Shell was Hoover’s second in command; and Howard was the third of the gang’s “directors.” Below them were several “Governors,” including Wilson and Strawhorn, each of whom was responsible for supervising the distribution of drugs in a specific geographic area. Governors supervised “Assistant Governors” and several “Regents,” and each Regent oversaw the work of several “coordinators” and “soldiers.” Edwards, Bradd, and Branch were “deeply involved” in the activities of the gang. The gang had approximately 6000 members and grossed approximately $100 million annually. Pet. App. 2; Gov’t C.A. Br. (Hoover) 2.

https://www.justice.gov/osg/brief/hoover-v-united-states-opposition

And then there’s this guy, Jonathan Braun. Another convicted drug dealer whose sentence was commuted by Trump in 2021, before Mr. Trump had to be dragged from the White House. Braun had been a high-ranking member of an international group that smuggled more than 100,000 kilograms (220,460 pounds) of marijuana from Canada into the United States, federal prosecutors said at the time.

 Braun was sentenced to 27 months behind bars. The Long Island man had been accused of swinging an IV pole at a hospital nurse and threatening to kill her, screaming at a member of his synagogue, groping his family’s nanny and evading bridge tolls.

I bet, once Mr. Trump finds out this new charge involved groping the family nanny (is that even a crime?) a new pardon will be on the way.

Can someone explain the logic, or lack thereof, for these striking contradictions?

Never mind, such idiocy and disingenuous actions are simply par for the course (which is another thing he never actually achieves through honest actions.)