There are a couple of dangerous treaties which the Senate may try to ratify this summer (Law of the Sea and others)--once they are ratified, they can't be un-ratified. We have to be vigilant on these since they can't get through without a fair number of Republican Senators voting for them.
“Does his pardon authority extend to local criminal cases?”
Sure, I think the president can pardon anybody. Not sure if he could pardon a person convicted of treason, but other than that, yes.
Most people that get presidential pardons are convicted on a state level, I don’t think there are all the many federal offenders.
I don’t know why presidents aren’t ever asked to issue pardons on death penalty cases. I remember the yammering about the woman executed in Tx, but I think that might have happened after Bush was elected but before he left office as Gov. of Texas, or maybe it was that he was being asked to use his influence on the next gov.
I don’t remember, maybe somebody will ‘splain it to us.
Perhaps not, but they sure as hell can be ignored! How's the UN going to enforce sanction's? Send in the "Blue Beret's"? What are a dozen troops from Sri lanka going to do, open a 7/11? If them try to fine us we just stop paying dues, that will make them stop and think.
US out of UN
UN out of US!
GtG