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>This is who republicans are quoting whenever they repeat the phrase that “you can indict a ham sandwich”. Do you think that only Republicans say this or somet

>This is who republicans are quoting whenever they repeat the phrase that “you can indict a ham sandwich”. Do you think that only Republicans say this or something?

pohl 1mo ago
No, but there’s more incentive to propagate the trope of you or your friends find themselves in a position where downplaying a federal indictment is a PR move you’d want to make. Yes, that could be anyone, but the indictment rate by party of administration sure is an interesting statistic.
- JuniperMesos 1mo ago
  The democratic party is the party in the US more often concerned with the interests of people accused of crimes by the criminal justice system. Republicans are more often concerned with the criminal justice system being insufficiently punitive and therefore tolerating crime.
  - dredmorbius 1mo ago
    Unless the crimes are alleged to have been committed by the political classes themselves. Lists of indictments (and convictions) by administration over the past 50+ years (dating to the Nixon administration) shows a sharp majority under Republican presidential administrations. <https://gigafact.org/fact-briefs/have-there-been-significantly-more-criminal-actions-taken-against-republican-presidential-administrations-than-democratic-ones/ https://gigafact.org/fact-briefs/have-there-been-significant...> For a longer history: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States#Dwight_D._Eisenhower_(R)_administrations_(1953%E2%80%931961) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scan...> Note that the US has had (by general consensus) six or seven party systems, with significant re-alignments occurring at several points. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_eras_of_the_United_States#Sixth_Party_System:_Divided_Government_under_conservative_dominance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_eras_of_the_United_S...> The two most recent shifts, which Wikipedia traces to roughly 1980 and 2016 have substantially changed what were traditional hallmarks particularly of the Republican Party. Whilst in rhetoric the GOP remains "tough on crime", in practice it rather more consistently hews to Wilhoit's Law: "Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." <https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288 https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progre...>.

>This is who republicans are quoting whenever they repeat the phrase that “you can indict a ham sandwich”. Do you think that only Republicans say this or something?

pohl 1mo ago

No, but there’s more incentive to propagate the trope of you or your friends find themselves in a position where downplaying a federal indictment is a PR move you’d want to make. Yes, that could be anyone, but the indictment rate by party of administration sure is an interesting statistic.

JuniperMesos 1mo ago
The democratic party is the party in the US more often concerned with the interests of people accused of crimes by the criminal justice system. Republicans are more often concerned with the criminal justice system being insufficiently punitive and therefore tolerating crime.
- dredmorbius 1mo ago
  Unless the crimes are alleged to have been committed by the political classes themselves. Lists of indictments (and convictions) by administration over the past 50+ years (dating to the Nixon administration) shows a sharp majority under Republican presidential administrations. <https://gigafact.org/fact-briefs/have-there-been-significantly-more-criminal-actions-taken-against-republican-presidential-administrations-than-democratic-ones/ https://gigafact.org/fact-briefs/have-there-been-significant...> For a longer history: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scandals_in_the_United_States#Dwight_D._Eisenhower_(R)_administrations_(1953%E2%80%931961) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_scan...> Note that the US has had (by general consensus) six or seven party systems, with significant re-alignments occurring at several points. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_eras_of_the_United_States#Sixth_Party_System:_Divided_Government_under_conservative_dominance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_eras_of_the_United_S...> The two most recent shifts, which Wikipedia traces to roughly 1980 and 2016 have substantially changed what were traditional hallmarks particularly of the Republican Party. Whilst in rhetoric the GOP remains "tough on crime", in practice it rather more consistently hews to Wilhoit's Law: "Conservatism consists of exactly one proposition, to wit: There must be in-groups whom the law protects but does not bind, alongside out-groups whom the law binds but does not protect." <https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progressives/#comment-729288 https://crookedtimber.org/2018/03/21/liberals-against-progre...>.