I'm not celebrating the Hunter Biden pardon. [View all]

[BlueCheeseAgain]

I'm guessing this is an unpopular opinion on DU, but I don't see President Biden pardoning Hunter Biden as something to celebrate. I think it's a complicated issue, with arguments to both support and oppose the pardon. In terms of fairness and justice, I can see the pardon as maybe a necessary if unpleasant act brought on by a politicized prosecution, but also a case of the privileged getting away with something. In terms of politics, for Democrats, the benefits are basically non-existent, and the costs could be fairly large.

A lot of things can be true at the same time:

* Yes, it is within a president's powers to pardon anyone for any federal crimes.

* Yes, Hunter Biden would very likely not have been prosecuted if he were not Joe Biden's son.

* Yes, Donald Trump has many worse things with regard to pardons, and will likely do many more worse things in the future.

* Yes-- and to me this is the strongest argument-- most parents would do whatever they can to protect their children.

So to leave Hunter Biden in jeopardy and the whims of the incoming Trump administration seems somehow inappropriate. But also...

* Hunter Biden did actually commit the crimes, and was convicted of them in a jury trial, even if they are rarely prosecuted to the extent that he was.

* He is hardly the only person who has been unfairly prosecuted by the federal government. There are almost certainly a fair number of people serving time who are actually innocent.

* President Biden promised multiple times, including after the election, that he would not pardon his son. When he did so, we pointed to that and argued that this made our party a better guardian of equal justice under law.

* Donald Trump's level of corruption should not be a standard for any acceptable behavior. Saying that this is okay because Trump does it too is a terrible justification for any behavior.

So a president pardoning his son of crimes for which he was found guilty isn't great either.

All of which makes me think there was no clear right or wrong answer here.

So it really surprises me to see such celebration. What did we really accomplish here? This is the kind of reaction I'd expect if we passed some major liberal legislation. Here, the only people really better off are Hunter Biden and those who love him, and I'm happy for them. It must be a big relief. But like it or not, a lot of people are going to look at this and say-- look, they're all the same. There's one standard for those with connections, and another for people like me. If we ever want to point out how corrupt Trump is, they'll point to this and say-- you do it too. So the party as a whole will take the hit.