The Pardon Heard Round The World
On Monday, just before this humble blogger set out on the road for home, President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden. Historians say that a pardon has not been so sweeping since the blanket pardon Gerald Ford granted Nixon, according to a well-thought Politico piece I will link below. The move sparked a lot of fury, understandably, especially considering the following factors.
Much of the criticism of corruption and incompetence regarding the way in which Trump manages (or fails to) the executive branch comes from the public picture and political reality of employing close relatives for a President’s White House staff. It is commonly acknowledged among high ranking members of both parties, and confirmed by staffers during the January 6th special committee hearings, that the structure of Trump’s White House was very flat, and full of people unqualified to be in the position they held. People understandably attribute this in part to the fact that Donald Trump favors his family. The Democrat party has been singing that tune since Donald Trump’s first campaign, and this move from President Biden seems hypocritical at best.
The other factor that fuels the angry response to the pardon is that President Biden said emphatically, publicly, that he would not do such a thing. He has gone back on his word, and pardoned his son, not just for the crimes he faces charges for, but any crimes he may have committed in the past decade, if I am reading the articles right. Naturally, people are upset, and this reneging on the promise he made to the American people, that “no one is above the law,” is seen as the straw that broke the camel’s back. This is a problem because President Joe Biden achieved quite a lot in one term, and had what should be, on paper, one of the most successful terms from a one-term president that we’ve seen by any technical measure. The downfall is in his disastrous last 7-ish months. He failed to step down in time to give Harris the chance to campaign properly or at least have a second debate, and after his own catastrophic debate performance he sent prominent democrats out to talk shows to say that he is fit to lead for another term. Then, when Harris campaigned, she had no room to run and was dragged down by Biden’s “Garbage” comments. In other words, anything Biden may have done throughout his term will most likely not be reflected in his legacy, at least in the short term. However, I actually think that the pardoning of Hunter Biden is a positive in the long run, if Democrats can take advantage.
I believe that it’s okay, given the loss of legacy President Biden is already experiencing, the personal loss that he has suffered throughout his life, and the bleak future that the Democratic party faces in the coming years. President Biden’s political life is over. His time is short, given his rapid decline. He has lost two children and a wife, and if he wants to spend his remaining years with his children and grandchildren, then so be it. That part doesn’t really matter to me as much as what can be done with this information going forward. By pardoning Hunter, President Joe Biden has provided an avenue for any serious Democrat to define themselves as a potential leader of upright moral character, and anyone who wants to get in the race in 2028 can act now. Denouncing President Biden’s actions, reminding people that no one is above the law, and declaring the pardon disgraceful would be the perfect segue for a Democrat to step into the forefront of the race for our next President. It may seem early, but I have said in other posts that I firmly believe the lack of early start on selection and testing of potential candidates was one of the most significant failures of the DNC following the election of President Biden. If they didn’t want him to run again, he should not have been alone in the room when primary season was ramping up.
In order to give voters a primary election and their constitutionally guaranteed freedom of choice, an early start is what is needed. This is especially true for the Democrats now. Harris is a two-time loser, who does not make a good candidate for the top spot. Democrats are already begging her not to run again, if the unnamed sources are to be believed. The Democrats need to, in many ways, start over. If they can get a candidate who will stand up to the level of scrutiny that a Democrat presidential candidate must withstand now, it would be extremely beneficial to both party and country if the candidate pool also included Democrats who denounced President Biden’s pardoning of his son.
We should also be seeing candidates who are able to run the campaign Harris should have run, and that includes publicly declaring all the ways in which they are different from Joe Biden. Harris said repeatedly that she could think of nothing she would do differently from her predecessor. This was, I believe, her downfall. A comment made by AOC holds this up to be true, and I believe I have discussed it before. Essentially, she said that people in her district voted for both her and Donald Trump, not because they are at all similar politically but because they are both seen as agents of change. The path is now clearer for a new crop of Democrats to make a name for themselves in a similar fashion.
In pardoning Hunter, President Joe Biden has offered Democrats a way to prove that they are very different from him on a proverbial silver platter. I suggest that any Democrat who wants to be taken seriously ahead of the midterm and Presidential elections in 2026 and 2028 should get about the business of distancing themselves, loudly and proudly, from what is being viewed as a wholly corrupt and indecent act. The gifts don’t get any bigger than this. Hopefully the Democrats have learned a lesson and can take action now, and stop letting the pitch go by.
Here is the Politico article I mentioned in the first graph.
