Pardon...er, Excuse me...

Given Mr. Bush's deep religious beliefs and his special obligation as a Methodist to be merciful, one might expect Mr. Bush to lend a receptive ear to pleas for pardons.
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The six pardons Mr. Bush granted in November raise his first term total to 25. His father granted more than three times as many in his one term. That is remarkable in itself as George Bush, the elder, granted fewer pardons than any president since Zachary Taylor in 1850.
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With the exception of the current President's father, all of the Presidents since 1900 have issued [at] least eight times as many pardons (not adjusting for number of terms) as George W. Bush.
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Here is the list:
T. Roosevelt 981, Taft 758, Wilson 2480, Harding 800, Coolidge 1545, Hoover 1385, Roosevelt 3687, Truman 2044, Eisenhower 1157, Kennedy 575, Johnson 1187, Nixon 926, Ford 409, Carter 566, Reagan 406, G.H.W. Bush 77, Clinton 456, G.W. Bush 25
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Having a family member who recently benefited from a reprieve which allowed an early parole makes me a biased observer. I dare not comment much, but I am left wondering what might be the meaning of that phrase "compasionate conservatism."

I recall a discussion once arguing whether capital punishment was a deterrent to crime, someone concluded that "following an execution, there is at least one identifiable individual who is deterred from any further criminal activity."

Quite so.