He who is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone… John 8:7, New Testament
President Biden pardoned his son Hunter, which set off a tsunami of commentary.
I had decided to take a break from heavy political topics … but then President Biden pardoned his son Hunter, which set off a tsunami of commentary and coverage by pundits and talking heads as well as by reporters. For a few days, you would think nothing else was happening in the country or the world. For example, the network posing as a news outlet, Fox, ran over 80 stories covering the Biden pardon in one week. Mainstream news outlets also reveled in the Biden-pardon frenzy. The day the Biden pardon was announced, the New York Times devoted nearly its entire front page to the issue and published 28 stories on the Biden pardon in a single week.
President Biden’s action also set off a maelstrom of condemnation by both Democrats and Republicans. I am not a Biden sycophant. I don’t agree with everything Biden has done, but on this matter, I believe Biden is getting a raw deal.
He ain’t lying…
Several high-profile Democrats – most of them elected officials – took to the airwaves to criticize Biden’s pardoning of his son. In their comments, the same mantra emerged, viz.: Biden is a good and decent man who loves his son, etc. But then these Democrats accused Biden of lying to the American people because he previously had said he would not pardon his son.
Accusing Biden of lying is unjust and too harsh. A lie is defined as an untrue or inaccurate statement made with the deliberate intent to deceive or mislead … as something someone says (or writes) which he or she knows is untrue with the intent to deceive.
Frankly, I don’t believe Biden set out to deceive the public. What he did was change his mind, something every elected official – Democrat and Republican – has done in his or her political career, and that in fact all of us have done at one time or another. Indeed, as the Good Book instructs, let whoever has never changed his or her mind cast the first stone at President Biden.
What Biden did was change his mind, something every elected official – Democrat and Republican – has done in his or her political career.
Besides the lying accusation, the Biden-condemning high-profile Democrats also threw in insinuations about the evils of nepotism. My sense is that these Democrats were subconsciously – or even consciously – wanting to appease the Republicans-MAGA folks.
What they didn’t mention…
A couple of things the pundits, news anchors and reporters didn’t bother to mention:
* Virtually none of the Biden pardon coverage mentioned that legal experts note that Hunter Biden was pardoned for offenses that are rarely prosecuted. In that he was in recovery and not using drugs at the time, Hunter Biden answered “no” to a gun-permit application question dealing with drug addiction. Per the legal experts, hardly anyone gets prosecuted for “iffy,” or even false, answers on a gun permit application.
As to the tax issue Hunter Biden was pardoned for: while in the throes of drug addiction, Biden did not pay taxes for 2017 and 2018. After sobering up in 2019, Biden filed his overdue tax returns and voluntarily paid the IRS millions in back taxes, penalties, and interest. Again, per the legal experts, charges are rarely brought in these situations and when they are they almost never result in jail time.
* In their condemnation of nepotism, the Biden bashers forgot to mention that Trump, in his first term, pardoned Charles Kushner, the father of his son-in-law Jared. Charles Kushner pleaded guilty to 18 federal charges including witness tampering, violating election laws, and tax evasion. And to boot, Trump has announced that he will appoint Charles Kushner to the highly prestigious Ambassadorship to France.
Trump pardoned Michael Flynn (former Trump National Security Adviser) who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI regarding contacts with a Russian official.
* In the realm of political nepotism, Trump pardoned: militant Trump supporter Joe Arpaio (arguably the most racist Sheriff in America), convicted of running a racial-profiling campaign against people who looked like Mexicans and who on national television boasted that he was “honored” to be compared to the KKK … Michael Flynn (former Trump National Security Adviser) who pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI regarding contacts with a Russian official … Trump ally Roger Stone, convicted of lying to Congress regarding his attempts to contact WikiLeaks after the website released damaging emails about Hillary Clinton, Trump’s 2016 election rival … Paul Manafort (former Trump campaign Chairman) convicted of financial fraud, alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S. election and conspiring to obstruct the investigation … Steve Bannon (former Trump adviser) charged with fraud related to a border-wall fundraising campaign … George Papadopoulos (former Trump campaign adviser) convicted of lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries prior to the 2016 election. And Trump has said he will pardon Peter Navarro (former Trump trade adviser) who served a four-month prison sentence after being found guilty of contempt of Congress – he defied a congressional subpoena regarding the investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection.
Trump has also said he will pardon the more than 1,250 people who have been convicted or have pleaded guilty in the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The insurrectionists assaulted and attempted to kill police officers. One hundred and forty (140) police officers were injured that day. Some died later as a direct result of the Jan. 6 events. The insurrectionists also set out to murder Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, failing only because they didn’t find Pelosi or Pence.
One of the insurrectionists was found guilty at trial of conspiracy to murder federal employees – he had developed a list of officials he intended to kill for investigating him in connection with the Jan.6 insurrection.
Another of the insurrectionists taunted the federal judge presiding over his case, saying, “Trump’s gonna pardon me anyways.”
Trump refers to the imprisoned insurrectionists as “hostages” and as “patriots.”
Republicans’ response to Biden pardon: nauseatingly hypocritical…
The Washington Post Fact Checker team catalogued 30,573 untruths – aka lies – uttered by Trump, orally or in writing – an average of about 21 lies a day.
The Republicans’ condemnation of Biden’s pardoning of his son was nauseatingly hypocritical. Republican office holders condemned Hunter Biden for being a felon and excoriated President Biden, calling him a liar, corrupt, and accused him of wanting to have Hunter avoid accountability. Trump himself called the Biden pardon an abuse and miscarriage of justice.
This, coming from people who support and kiss the behind of someone who has gone to extremes to avoid accountability for his actions and who is a profligate liar, someone whose native language is lying. Just during the four years of his presidency, The Washington Post Fact Checker team catalogued 30,573 untruths – aka lies – uttered by Trump, orally or in writing – an average of about 21 lies a day.
And Trump supporters – elected officials and regular voters as well – know that:
* A jury of regular people found Trump liable for sexually assaulting a woman. The presiding judge characterized what Trump did as “rape.”
* A Manhattan jury of regular people found the Trump Organization guilty of felony tax fraud for having falsified business records so as to defraud tax authorities by failing to report and pay taxes on compensation for top executives.
* A jury of regular people found Trump guilty of 34 felonies having to do with falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels so as to influence the outcome of the 2016 election.
It is a grossly false equivalency to equate these with innocuously saying “no” to a question about drug addiction.
Let whoever has never changed his or her mind cast the first stone…
Some of today’s most prominent Trump sycophants (aka sniveling cultists) have experienced drastic mind changes including Ted Cruz.
Some of today’s most prominent Trump sycophants (aka sniveling cultists) have experienced drastic mind changes. These include Marco Rubio, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Lindsay Graham, J.D. Vance, and Nikki Haley. Here’s a sampling of some of their past characterizations of Trump:
a con artist … utterly amoral … a wrecking ball … stupid … offensive … a race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot … a sniveling coward … utterly amoral … a despicable human being … ill-tempered … unfit for office … immoral … lacks moral clarity … self-absorbed … cultural heroin … a cynical a##hole … America’s Hitler.
These MAGA-cultist mind changers are the people demonizing President Biden for changing his mind about pardoning his son, protecting him from future persecution – President-elect Trump has said outright that he intends to pursue his obsession with what he calls “the entire Biden crime family” and has singled out Hunter Biden in this regard. Trump’s top law enforcement nominees have indicated they would carry out their cult leader’s obsession.
Biden already lost one son – and as a result of his service to his country at that. And he is to be demonized for protecting his last surviving son? Who amongst us would not do whatever was in our power to do to protect our children?
As my saintly Nana (she of blessed memory) would say about the Trump cultists: ¡Que nervio de esta gente! – These people have their nerve! And she would follow that up with ¡Descarados – toda la bola! – They’re shameless, the lot of them!
I end as I started: Let whoever has never changed his or her mind cast the first stone at President Biden. c/s
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Copyright 2024 by Salomon Baldenegro. To contact Sal write: Salomonrb@msn.com
Image of Hunter Biden used under “fair use” proviso of the copyright law and as allowed by the government of India. All other images in the public domain.