Articles like this make a pretty good case against "only slightly less corrupt than this", the difference in scale really is extreme: https://reason.com/2026/07/09/the-most-corrupt-presidency-in...

I never saw anything remotely close to the Trump 2 level of corruption in any previous administration, Democrat or Republican.

It really is mind boggling to watch a months long committee investigation of Jan 6th and then Merrick Garland just nopes out.

>> only slightly less corrupt than this

The values do not bare comparison. Lookup the whitewater controversy (Clintons, 1990s). The loans in that fiasco were in the low hundreds of thousands of dollars. Trump just earned over 2,400,000,000$ in one year as president. One man. One year. And only the money he felt the need to report. There is simply no meaningful comparison to any previous corruption scandals. Nothing touches the numbers 10-digit gain numbers spiraling around the current administration.

I am not sure the old pardon system will function here. The second half of that system involved the pardoned people slipping into a quiet retirement. The extended Trump clan is not going to go quietly.

> Most of them are only slightly less corrupt than this, and definitely not enough to actively punish corruption.

This feels like one of those "and that's why I blame the Democrats for everything Trump does, so I guess I have to vote for Trump's enablers" bit of horseshit, fwiw.

Both parties are completely in the pocket of special interests (billionaires, Israel, among others), however on the corruption file the GOP has an absolute monopoly. The corruption in the modern Republican party is simply off the charts. And this presidency has turned the corruption to the max, in the open. Every criminal knows that if you think you're going to get caught, the first thing to do is profess your love of Trump and declare yourself a Republican, and in a moment your crimes will be exonerated and it will all be called "lawfare".

> Most times they just say "let's move on" and grant a pardon.

The Democrats have constantly tried to be the "high road" party. The law and order, let the process run out party. The "let's make bridges and not walls" party. The Republicans have completely taken advantage of it. If they take power -- which I think there is going to be a "Surprise" by this criminal fascist -- they need to go absolutely scorched Earth. And screw slow walking with some Merrick Garland type of snail, speed-run sending every Trump and enabler to jail. Hegseth needs to spend his remaining days rotting in a dungeon.

I mean, Trump still sincerely calls Democrats "divisive". From the guy who gets his chuckling audience of halfwits to cheer on blowing up American cities, and who constantly attacks and disparages "blue states" and their residents.

I cannot for the life of me understand how Americans in the better states aren't talking about secession. You simply must send some of the ignorant, garbage states packing.

And seriously, the "both parties are the same" trope is so transparent now. It's a coping mechanism that terrible people use to try to justify why they're how they are.

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