I'm glad the president did this. We're about to enter a very dangerous 4 years, where Trump is installing loyalists in key law enforcement agencies who will stop at nothing to investigate and try to prosecute people he perceives as enemies, members of Congress, top military leaders, and the media and journalists. The Republican Party has been obsessed with trying to to find some evidence of a crime in the Biden family since the day Joe Biden became the presumptive nominee in 2020, and Trump appointed the special counsel who investigated Hunter Biden for 5 years.
A million thanks for making the Kash Patel connection. Ron Filipkowski at MeidasTouch led the way, pointing out that the pardon -- which covers the period January 1, 2014, to December 1, 2024, and not just offenses that Hunter Biden has already been charged with or convicted of -- will greatly limit the scope of Patel's vindictiveness if he becomes head of the FBI. I came of political age during the last years of JEdgar Hoover's reign so I remember very clearly how much damage a person in that position can do.
To the cruel people who say Biden "lied" when he said he wouldn't pardon Hunter: you're idiots. He didn't lie, he's changed his mind in light of the impending mayhem that will be visited on 45/7's enemies--especially Biden's own family--without rational cause. What you said ("Democrats complaining about Biden's pardoning of his son tells me how deeply many are misjudging the danger and urgency of this moment.") again illustrates the lack of courage and real understanding that runs deep in the Dem party. I can no longer support them. They are the ones bringing a knife to a gunfight and the rest of us, without their money and power, will be the ones who suffer the most. I'm deeply horrified at what's coming and there are only a few people in the Dem party who understand the gravity and I fear we do not stand a chance.
I agree that Biden did not lie, as you wrote, he changed his mind. I am also terrified at what we are facing, but I firmly believe we stand a chance, a solid chance, of getting our country back on track. I will remain a cup half full & continue to believe there is more good in the world than evil (although I continue to feel trounced from the election results.., every day I get feel that pit in my stomach.. similar to 2016 but worse). We cannot obey in advance, it will be a struggle but we have no option but to prevail.
Thank you, Hunter should not have been prosecuted and would not have been were he not President Biden’s son. You are spot on. The outrage from holier than thous is truly maddening.
I am thrilled the President did this. Hunter’s situation was exactly the kind that deserved a pardon. Selective prosecution with political motivations.
Thank you! It's mind boggling how so many people still don't understand our situation. Also, it's always been that the media covers and attacks Biden for all sorts of things while ignoring pretty much everything that Trump does, or plans to do. Remember how bad it was to have an "old man" as a president? That disappeared as soon as the demented and doddering Trump was elected. Even though I'm sure there are many wonderful journalists working them, as a whole, the NYT is definitely in Trump's pocket. Correction: I should have said the old man news disappeared as soon as Biden dropped out.
Beyond the reporting it’s the deluge of right wing talking points in the opinion pieces. At least 3 yesterday in NYT. Jeffrey Toobin is not an unbiased voice; Bret Stephens is nauseating, and a joint blathering by Mr. Douthat and Mr. French.
All fail to mention that career prosecutors have repeatedly said that these charges are never prosecuted in this way. They’ve never seen a firearm form violation prosecution when there was no violent crime attached. No one is criminally prosecuted for an IRS debt paid off in full. Criminal charges are not the first “go-to” anyway. Civil charges are used because the object is to obtain payment. (Which pretty much proves that was not the object here.)
Like Jeffrey Toobin is a real saint. He should have the dignity to stay out of any respectful arguments. His past is extremely disgusting. He has nothing respectful to add in a character argument.
I suppose that the owner of the NYT has realized that his gamble to support trump before the election has paid off. Now all he has to do is continue his Hail Trump policy and he'll be sitting very pretty, indeed.
Again, thank you, Steven, for always having the perfect words to describe my anger in the blatant hypocrisy of people. May Joe and Hunter Biden cherish their remaining lives together and independently.
I could not agree more! How do we get this message out to more people? The absurdity and hypocrisy of both Republicans and Democrats is unbelievable. Sometimes I am shocked how our members of Congress are so reactionary instead of responding with critical thinking!
Yes, we lost the election. Yes, we should stay in the fight to protect our democracy in these next 4 years. I am still stuck on how we got here! I am furious that Trump was not disqualified from running. I do not understand how Trump was able to repeatedly delay the court hearings without more push back from the legal world. I am appalled given how deeply serious Trump’s crimes were against this country, especially January 6th and the classified documents, that ANY norm from DOJ could be strong enough to prevent Trump from being tried and convicted! The fact that he was running for President should have been SO important that everyone who cares about this country should have demanded a trial prior to being able to run again.. The rule of law was broken; it did not survive, in my opinion. He is not a President but a King. I worked in the criminal justice system for 40+ years. Only those with money and connections , are mostly (99%) white, get any of the breaks Trump has gotten. Once again, the myth Americans have been taught is that those beneath you in our class divided country are considered dangerous, like street crime, while those with power and money are never considered dangerous to our well being, as if they are exempt because of another myth that they are smarter than us! Trump with his lies, chaos and crimes has done significant, long term damage to our country but is not being held accountable. While our jails and prisons are overloaded with small time drug offenders! What can our young people be thinking? Sorry, i got carried away. I am shocked that he is going to be our President. NOT because half of the country thought he would be good for the country, but because he has been allowed to legally escape all accountability.
Press release producers. Crime scene tape reporters. We are the victims of lazy, often just stupid, people in broadcasting and, to a somewhat lesser extent, print media. Hand them a press release. Give them a spokesman/woman/person. No need to try to put what’s handed to them into perspective or even to ascertain its accuracy.
Thus, we get the squealing of the Maggas blended with the ignorance of too many Democrats. It’s noise that fills time and space. But don’t fret, Steve. A new shiny object will soon divert media attention from this example of the President’s realism – and compassion.
Other than being a Democrat, the only other thing I have in common with President Biden is that we are both parents who have lost a son. Mine died several months before the 2016 election so you can perhaps imagine what the last eight years have been like for my family. Like Hunter, my younger son struggled with substance abuse, alcohol in his case. And like Hunter, he now has over 2 years of sober living.
I view Hunter’s pardon more through the lenses of a grieving parent wanting my surviving child to be safe, healthy, and healed. Grief is a long and singular journey, yet not necessarily a lonely one. My son had my husband and me to support him; Hunter has had Joe and Jill. Were my son to have been targeted because of things he did when he was drinking and acting irrationally, I would have done anything in my power to protect him.
It breaks my heart that the Biden family has had their sorrow so publicly and maliciously exposed and manipulated for political purposes. But I have also used them as a North Star, as a guide to living my life as a grieving parent with grace, dignity, love, and compassion.
I'm glad the president did this. We're about to enter a very dangerous 4 years, where Trump is installing loyalists in key law enforcement agencies who will stop at nothing to investigate and try to prosecute people he perceives as enemies, members of Congress, top military leaders, and the media and journalists. The Republican Party has been obsessed with trying to to find some evidence of a crime in the Biden family since the day Joe Biden became the presumptive nominee in 2020, and Trump appointed the special counsel who investigated Hunter Biden for 5 years.
Bravo, Steve. The criticism is maddening, considering what’s in front of us.
We have met the enemy and he is us…again! 😱
A million thanks for making the Kash Patel connection. Ron Filipkowski at MeidasTouch led the way, pointing out that the pardon -- which covers the period January 1, 2014, to December 1, 2024, and not just offenses that Hunter Biden has already been charged with or convicted of -- will greatly limit the scope of Patel's vindictiveness if he becomes head of the FBI. I came of political age during the last years of JEdgar Hoover's reign so I remember very clearly how much damage a person in that position can do.
To the cruel people who say Biden "lied" when he said he wouldn't pardon Hunter: you're idiots. He didn't lie, he's changed his mind in light of the impending mayhem that will be visited on 45/7's enemies--especially Biden's own family--without rational cause. What you said ("Democrats complaining about Biden's pardoning of his son tells me how deeply many are misjudging the danger and urgency of this moment.") again illustrates the lack of courage and real understanding that runs deep in the Dem party. I can no longer support them. They are the ones bringing a knife to a gunfight and the rest of us, without their money and power, will be the ones who suffer the most. I'm deeply horrified at what's coming and there are only a few people in the Dem party who understand the gravity and I fear we do not stand a chance.
I agree that Biden did not lie, as you wrote, he changed his mind. I am also terrified at what we are facing, but I firmly believe we stand a chance, a solid chance, of getting our country back on track. I will remain a cup half full & continue to believe there is more good in the world than evil (although I continue to feel trounced from the election results.., every day I get feel that pit in my stomach.. similar to 2016 but worse). We cannot obey in advance, it will be a struggle but we have no option but to prevail.
Thank you, Hunter should not have been prosecuted and would not have been were he not President Biden’s son. You are spot on. The outrage from holier than thous is truly maddening.
Thank goodness. Biden stopped playing goody-two-shoes and got his son to safety.
AGREE!!!
I am thrilled the President did this. Hunter’s situation was exactly the kind that deserved a pardon. Selective prosecution with political motivations.
Thank you. Perfectly said.
Thank you! It's mind boggling how so many people still don't understand our situation. Also, it's always been that the media covers and attacks Biden for all sorts of things while ignoring pretty much everything that Trump does, or plans to do. Remember how bad it was to have an "old man" as a president? That disappeared as soon as the demented and doddering Trump was elected. Even though I'm sure there are many wonderful journalists working them, as a whole, the NYT is definitely in Trump's pocket. Correction: I should have said the old man news disappeared as soon as Biden dropped out.
Beyond the reporting it’s the deluge of right wing talking points in the opinion pieces. At least 3 yesterday in NYT. Jeffrey Toobin is not an unbiased voice; Bret Stephens is nauseating, and a joint blathering by Mr. Douthat and Mr. French.
All fail to mention that career prosecutors have repeatedly said that these charges are never prosecuted in this way. They’ve never seen a firearm form violation prosecution when there was no violent crime attached. No one is criminally prosecuted for an IRS debt paid off in full. Criminal charges are not the first “go-to” anyway. Civil charges are used because the object is to obtain payment. (Which pretty much proves that was not the object here.)
Like Jeffrey Toobin is a real saint. He should have the dignity to stay out of any respectful arguments. His past is extremely disgusting. He has nothing respectful to add in a character argument.
He is grotesque. Why they put him back on CNN is a mystery to me.
I suppose that the owner of the NYT has realized that his gamble to support trump before the election has paid off. Now all he has to do is continue his Hail Trump policy and he'll be sitting very pretty, indeed.
Hope all those who will be similarly "sitting pretty" develop hemorrhoids.
LOL!
Again, thank you, Steven, for always having the perfect words to describe my anger in the blatant hypocrisy of people. May Joe and Hunter Biden cherish their remaining lives together and independently.
All the outrage is SO misplaced and infuriating!! I am GLAD President Biden pardoned his son and would have been disappointed if he hadn't!
I could not agree more! How do we get this message out to more people? The absurdity and hypocrisy of both Republicans and Democrats is unbelievable. Sometimes I am shocked how our members of Congress are so reactionary instead of responding with critical thinking!
Yes, we lost the election. Yes, we should stay in the fight to protect our democracy in these next 4 years. I am still stuck on how we got here! I am furious that Trump was not disqualified from running. I do not understand how Trump was able to repeatedly delay the court hearings without more push back from the legal world. I am appalled given how deeply serious Trump’s crimes were against this country, especially January 6th and the classified documents, that ANY norm from DOJ could be strong enough to prevent Trump from being tried and convicted! The fact that he was running for President should have been SO important that everyone who cares about this country should have demanded a trial prior to being able to run again.. The rule of law was broken; it did not survive, in my opinion. He is not a President but a King. I worked in the criminal justice system for 40+ years. Only those with money and connections , are mostly (99%) white, get any of the breaks Trump has gotten. Once again, the myth Americans have been taught is that those beneath you in our class divided country are considered dangerous, like street crime, while those with power and money are never considered dangerous to our well being, as if they are exempt because of another myth that they are smarter than us! Trump with his lies, chaos and crimes has done significant, long term damage to our country but is not being held accountable. While our jails and prisons are overloaded with small time drug offenders! What can our young people be thinking? Sorry, i got carried away. I am shocked that he is going to be our President. NOT because half of the country thought he would be good for the country, but because he has been allowed to legally escape all accountability.
Just another example of Republican greed, hatred, and cracked thinking.
And many Dems are now complicit in this cracked thinking.
Press release producers. Crime scene tape reporters. We are the victims of lazy, often just stupid, people in broadcasting and, to a somewhat lesser extent, print media. Hand them a press release. Give them a spokesman/woman/person. No need to try to put what’s handed to them into perspective or even to ascertain its accuracy.
Thus, we get the squealing of the Maggas blended with the ignorance of too many Democrats. It’s noise that fills time and space. But don’t fret, Steve. A new shiny object will soon divert media attention from this example of the President’s realism – and compassion.
Other than being a Democrat, the only other thing I have in common with President Biden is that we are both parents who have lost a son. Mine died several months before the 2016 election so you can perhaps imagine what the last eight years have been like for my family. Like Hunter, my younger son struggled with substance abuse, alcohol in his case. And like Hunter, he now has over 2 years of sober living.
I view Hunter’s pardon more through the lenses of a grieving parent wanting my surviving child to be safe, healthy, and healed. Grief is a long and singular journey, yet not necessarily a lonely one. My son had my husband and me to support him; Hunter has had Joe and Jill. Were my son to have been targeted because of things he did when he was drinking and acting irrationally, I would have done anything in my power to protect him.
It breaks my heart that the Biden family has had their sorrow so publicly and maliciously exposed and manipulated for political purposes. But I have also used them as a North Star, as a guide to living my life as a grieving parent with grace, dignity, love, and compassion.
Terrific summary of actual reality! Thank you!