Today is September 8, 2024 and fifty years ago on this Sunday, Gerald Ford pardoned Richard Nixon for his Watergate related crimes. Ford said he did so to put the past behind the country, but the pardon offended many and served to solidify the mindset of most finally and fully against Nixon and, by association, Ford.

The passage of two more years did little to assuage the resentment and led to the election of Jimmy Carter and the loss of many Republican seats in Congress. The Republican leadership vacuum led to the rise of Ronald Reagan and a refreshed new era for the party, for better or worse, or both.

One might wonder if Nixon’s crimes and his pardon were somewhere in the calculus of the Supreme Court in its ruling this year on Trump’s immunity claims. By most legal standards the decision went much farther than merely ruling on the questions before it, establishing not just new law, but Constitutional law that Congress, and as a practical matter the people, could not undo. In an all too real sense, the court seems to have attempted to pardon Trump.

Time and history take their time in unfolding, and I hope reason and justice will prevail for our country in due time. This election, though, seems an inflection point in history and a chance to reset our country’s path and assure its future.

Just my opinion. When all is said and done, we will see.