pardon bowe bergdahl.

[Travelman]

71. That's a political disaster

Pardoning him, first and foremost, is an acknowledgement that he did something wrong. If Obama did that, then he'd be effectively admitting that Bergdahl deserted (whether that's true or not).

Furthermore, if you think the shitstorm is bad now, it will look like freaking Armageddon if Obama did that pre-emptively. The meltdown would be absolutely beyond belief. November will be an absolute BLOODBATH if he did that. We're talking veto-proof R majorities in both houses. If this goes to an Article 32 hearing, and comes out of such a hearing for a court-martial, then maybe it's time to step in, But right now, pardoning him pre-emptively is signing a political death warrant. His Presidency is utterly and completely over before the ink dries on the pardon.

The best thing that Obama can do at this point is let this play out. That will allow him, no matter what happens, to say in the end that he "let justice take its course."

Bear ye in mind that IF this goes to an Article 32 hearing and subsequently to a court-martial, we're talking a year at a bare minimum before the court-martial is gaveled in. Probably more. What was it? Two years between arrest and sentencing for (then) Bradley Manning? And the likelihood is that during that time, Bergdahl would be free, not held in pre-trial confinement. If Obama pardons Bergdahl on his way out the door in January of 2016, then nobody really cares because all Presidents send off a flurry of pardons as they leave.