While his approval numbers with the electorate are upwards of fifty percent—due allegedly to his personal likeability—Barack Obama’s approval numbers with our military and veterans are less rosy. With record numbers of commutations, including for violent felons, coming fast and furiously from the Oval Office, one or two, and perhaps as many as three or more, controversial pardons could further cement his legacy as a president who was anything but a strong, effective Commander in Chief. So who could Obama pardon just before he vacates our White House? Well, along with others just as tendentious, only three of the most controversial figures imaginable:

Speculation Over Possible Obama Pardon of Edward Snowden, Bowe Bergdahl and Chelsea Manning #Obama #TruePundit https://t.co/mLl6X86Pmo

— True Pundit (@true_pundit) January 10, 2017

1. Edward Snowden

Edward Snowden is the current subject of a big-budget Hollywood film reportedly glorifying his actions. Loathed by millions as a traitor, and adored by just as many more as a patriotic whistleblower, Mr. Snowden is infamous for perhaps the largest intelligence leak in U.S. history. While working as an intelligence contractor, Snowden snatched 1.5 million classified NSA documents, and then leaked thousands of them, leading to the revelation of, among a litany of other subjects, what some deemed warrantless spying on American citizens. He was subsequently charged by the Department of Justice with violating the Espionage Act. (Sounds similar to one pant-suited presidential candidate, eh? The very same candidate that said this during a 2015 primary debate). You can read exactly why he’s a felon, and not a whistleblower, here.

2. Chelsea (formerly known as Bradley) Manning

Manning, a former Army analyst, was convicted and sentenced to a 35-year prison term for passing more than 700,000 classified documents and video to WikiLeaks, the largest leak in U.S. military history. Like Snowden, depending upon whom you ask, he’s seen by some as a whistleblower, and by others as a traitor to his country. Briefly:

The sentence marks the end of a long journey for the soldier, which began in late 2009, when he was stationed in the Iraq desert as an intelligence analyst. Disillusioned over the war, Manning, from Oklahoma, began downloading documents from classified computers onto CDs.

Manning passed 250,000 State Department cables and 470,000 Iraq and Afghanistan battlefield logs to WikiLeaks, as well as files pertaining to detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, and video of a 2007 attack by a US helicopter gunship in Baghdad that killed a dozen people, including two Reuters journalists.

Wikileaks founder, Julian Assange, and many on the political Left, have pushed for Obama to pardon both Snowden and Manning:

https://twitter.com/TransTroops/status/818627196180795396

Because transgenderism, not forgiving her admitted crimes, is by far the preeminent justification for pardoning Manning or something…I’m gonna go out on a limb and say she’s right where she belongs. And given that her actions were just as illegal, and just as detrimental to national security, Hillary Clinton should be Manning’s cellmate.

But perhaps the most notorious, and loathed, person on this less-than-stellar list of potential pardons is…drum roll, please:

3. Bowe Bergdahl

Bergdahl (I won’t grace him with any title), as you most likely know, deserted his platoon, reportedly sought out the Taliban, and found himself imprisoned by same for five years. It’s also believed by many that his actions lead to the deaths of at least six soldiers. He’s charged with desertion, as well as misbehavior before the enemy. That last charge is the most consequential because it could carry a life sentence, and in earlier days, death. The man—and I use that term loosely—belongs, not walking around free like those who have fought and served this nation with distinction, but in shackles. He’s a coward and a traitor, in my humble opinion, and precisely why Obama just may pardon him. For he’s displayed, for eight long years now, his chagrin for the valiant and patriotic, and his affinity for the lawless and disloyal. Look no further than his administration’s description of Bergdahl, following its illegal trade of Bergdahl for five dangerous Taliban members, as a man who served his nation with “honor and distinction.” To say that his platoon mates dislike him is the understatement of the year:

If Obama pardons any of these parasites, particularly Bergdahl—and that’s a big IF, because Mr. Egocentric is concerned only with how history will remember him, and he’s reportedly hinted he won’t pardon said traitors for this very reason—it will forever seal his legacy. Because as it stands today, the majority of our active military and veterans are already critical of his time as Commander in Chief, with the Marine Corps the most disapproving of his leadership:

As Obama exits, here's a look at how the military rates his time as Commander in Chief https://t.co/CA5v4cJCu8 with @George_Altman pic.twitter.com/58676wmsa6

— Leo Shane III (@LeoShane) January 9, 2017

@MilitaryTimes @George_Altman His numbers can't be that high. I'm in DOD no one likes him. NOBODY!

— Desertjohn2 (@desertjohn2) January 9, 2017

Fortunately, the next couple of weeks will usher in one of the most popular, and universally revered, military minds on Earth as the incoming Secretary of Defense: General James Mattis. Yes, I can see January 20th from my house!

Mr. Obama has just ten full days remaining in office (heck, yes, I’m counting!), so time will tell whether or not he hands Bergdahl and the others Get Out of Jail Free cards. And he just might, at least in Bergdahl’s case, because saying one thing and doing another, while awarding bad behavior (see not caring about the death of Kate Steinle at the hands of a criminal illegal alien to handing Iran literal planeloads of unmarked cash), is his true legacy, and should not come as a shock to anyone.