[When I read the title I was not sure whether to agree or disagree, but the rationale and arguments in the text are very valid imo.]
People need to stop asking Democrats to play by different rules than Republicans, and they need to stop asking Biden to be a worse father than any of us would be in his place.
[…]
Biden’s detractors argue that his use of the pardon for Hunter somehow cedes the mythical “high ground” to Trump and clears the way for him to pardon the January 6 terrorists.
Fundamentally, these pundits are committing the same mistake that has plagued American media for at least a decade: demanding that Democrats play by a set of rules that Republicans have long rejected. And I am tired of it.
[…]
Trump will have all the power soon, and we don’t have to guess how he’ll use the pardon power, because he’s already used it for his own, corrupt ends. You know what’s “worse” and more corrupt than pardoning your family members? Pardoning your criminal coconspirators. That’s what Trump did […] the list of Trump’s pardons from his first term […]includes his former national security adviser Michael Flynn, who lied for Trump to the FBI; former foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, who lied for Trump to the Robert Mueller investigation; lawyer Alex Van Der Zwaan, who lied to Mueller; dirty trickster Roger Stone, who literally tampered with witnesses; and Trump’s former campaign manager Paul Manafort, who was engaged in an international conspiracy to obstruct justice and commit tax fraud.
[The article goes on with some more ‘Trump pardons’.]
The problem I’m supposed to care about is that Democrats have abandoned some ephemeral high ground that would have allowed them to object to Trump’s pardons of terrorists. Who are these people who think that bitching from a slightly elevated position is more effective at restraining raw political and military power? Do they also think there are magical bears out there who shit rainbows and that we can overcome authoritarian regimes with the power of friendship?
If institutionalists would really like to have an institutional solution to the problem, I have one: The pardon power is anachronistic bullshit and should be stricken from the Constitution.
[…]
Presidents (and governors) should not have the power to overturn convictions based on their feelings. If the justice system gets it wrong (as it does all the time), there should be a process freely and equally available to all to reverse convictions, without needing to have special access to the thought bubbles of the most powerful political figure in the land.
[…]
People need to stop asking Democrats to play by different rules than Republicans, and they for sure need to stop asking Biden to be a worse father than any of us would be in his situation.
This is a good pardon. Trump’s pardons were bad and will be again. If you can’t spot the difference between pardoning your son who was persecuted because of your job versus pardoning your criminal coconspirators or pardoning terrorists who attacked the Capitol at your request, you should take your head out of your ass.
I don’t want them to play by the same rules as Republicans, I want them to fucking hold the Republicans accountable for not playing by the rules.
This.
Your criminals are dragging our ratfuck conservatives down with them. It’s shifting our politics toward a meaner, dirtier way of doing things, and I think we should avoid that.
It’s hard to call out the selfish conservatives and hold them to an actual answer when they can whine about mean press and such rotten badgering for the smallest tidbit.
I’ve said this before, but this article is a complete straw man. I’m not saying he’s ceding the moral high ground or whatever. I’m saying that if he’s willing to do this, he should be going many steps further. The issue is that he’s now shown that he’s willing to go back on promises/use his office for personal gain (I don’t care if you think it’s justified, this is personal gain regardless). If he’s willing to do that I’d love to see him try and make my life better before he lets his and his party’s decisions ruin it. This is realistically the only way he or his family would suffer under Trump and he waves it away with a pen. I don’t want him to suffer under Trump, but I also don’t want ANYONE to suffer under Trump. He could be doing much more to make that the case. If he’s garnering hate/no longer has the moral high ground, he could at least use it to fight dirty for OUR rights, since Trump will be so willing to fight dirty against our rights. People are making this seem like it’s about something it’s not so they can whitewash this act and treat anyone holding Biden accountable like a child. I don’t want him to be a bad father. I’d just like him to be a better president.
He’s an old man with no more fucks to give. 80 yr old energy is its own thing and it can be glorious. Biden wields it publicly on occasion. There is impulsivity to 80 yr old energy.
I think this act was simply that. Biden wanted to spend Christmas with his boy and had the means to make that happen. He’d just missed Thanksgiving with his boy. I can’t imagine that didn’t impact his decision.
80 yr old energy is its own thing and it can be glorious.
A buddy of mine has a story about how his great grandma told him “When you’re old, you can do whatever you want,” and then tripped his shitty, obnoxious cousin who’d been bullying him and picking on him all day and said “Stop being mean to your cousin dear.”
When the cousin’s mom came to see why he was freaking out, he said “Grandmom tripped me!” And his mom said, “Oh honey, you know Grandmom doesn’t see very well…”
