It’s not ”just optics”. Per your source he did pardon 6,500 individuals, which the Last Prisoner Project described as “progress for those eligible for relief.”
Now they do argue that the Biden administration should go further by pardoning 3,000 additional people, which I agree with. But to call this step forward “just optics” is at best disingenuous.
There are different opinions about who has the power to deschedule cannabis, but Biden has not even tried. He is working on rescheduling, but that seems to be an “incremental step” that would also cause problems
I think that boycotting a vote on Democrats until they adopt leftist politics is a completely valid way to move the party. Republicans have essentially done the same, remember the Tea Party movement? It worked for them. The “incrementalist” approach has left us with a president who won’t even say the word Genocide, worse is activity funding genocide.
It’s not ”just optics”. Per your source he did pardon 6,500 individuals, which the Last Prisoner Project described as “progress for those eligible for relief.”
Now they do argue that the Biden administration should go further by pardoning 3,000 additional people, which I agree with. But to call this step forward “just optics” is at best disingenuous.
It’s not nothing, but it’s barely anything. He could also deschedule cannabis.
Tell that to the 6,500 people that got their freedom back.
And I reject your assertion that it’s barely anything: by your source’s count he pardoned 2/3 of the people caught up in these archaic cannabis laws.
Referencing back to OP, would you rather have 2/3 of an ice cream cone or go off a cliff?
No, he likely cannot unilaterally do that: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/can-president-biden-legalize-marijuana-1220802/
Do you at least acknowledge that slow incremental progress, while admittedly not nearly enough, is definitely better than going backwards?
There are different opinions about who has the power to deschedule cannabis, but Biden has not even tried. He is working on rescheduling, but that seems to be an “incremental step” that would also cause problems
https://www.forbes.com/sites/sarahsinclair/2024/03/18/biden-says-hes-taking-care-of-federal-cannabis-laws-but-is-rescheduling-enough/?sh=290affc94e8d
I think that boycotting a vote on Democrats until they adopt leftist politics is a completely valid way to move the party. Republicans have essentially done the same, remember the Tea Party movement? It worked for them. The “incrementalist” approach has left us with a president who won’t even say the word Genocide, worse is activity funding genocide.