President Biden Pardons His Son

Two things can be true at the same time:

1)    Donald Trump is a corrupt conman, with no moral compass, adjudicated for fraud and sexual assault, twice impeached. He should never be allowed to come anywhere near the Oval Office again (I am aware that he is president-elect so he will fill the office again).

2)    Joe Biden and the Democratic Party have made a real mess of this election season and in so doing have helped make it possible for Trump to become president again.

Let me first say that I believe Biden has been a pretty decent president, policy-wise.

Over the last 30 years Democratic presidents have had to clean up economic messes left by Republican presidents. Clinton cleaned up after HW/Reagan, Obama cleaned up after W, and Biden cleaned up after Trump.

The American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the largest gun-safety bill to pass Congress in 30 years, the CHIPS Act, and the Inflation Reduction Act have all been passed during Biden's term. The Infrastructure Law and the gun-safety law were both bi-partisan (and Republican Congress-members who had voted against the law were front and center to receive praise when infrastructure projects were begun in their states and districts). It's hard to find a recent president with this kind of legislative accomplishment.

Since Biden’s run for president in 2020, I have believed that he should have stated clearly he is a one-term president and would encourage an open Democratic Primary to select the candidate to follow him. He didn’t do that, he left the race late, with no time for a primary, and as a result a fairly bad candidate lost the election to a man who should never be in the Oval Office again.

Now Biden has pardoned his son, a perfectly understandable thing for a father to do if he has the power to do so. The problem is, he promised over and over again that he would not pardon his son.

That he has done so now after so many promises not to is a stain on his character.

And his explanation for why he did it – “No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son – and that is wrong.” – is fodder for MAGA-world and the conservative radio and TV hosts. They will shout from the rooftops that that is exactly what the Biden DOJ has done to Donald Trump, the J6 defendants, etc. And their listeners, not given to facts or nuance, will believe them, thus deepening the divide that exists in our country.

There is much good to say about how Biden and the Democrats are working to strengthen the middle class and the economics are showing that it can be done, albeit not perfectly or completely (yet). We are moving in the right direction.

But for some reason the Party has mishandled almost everything it could around this election and sent so many terrible messages. The results are: Donald Trump back in the Oval Office, likely economic and environmental disaster, more deep division, and a deeper distrust of all politicians.

Biden could have pardoned his son in a way that any reasonable, loving parent - and citizen - would have understood.