Wajahat Ali: Please Spare Me All Hypocritical Outrage Over Hunter Biden's Pardon
Posted by
mud
Dec 2 '24, 05:57
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The same movement that supports and celebrates a criminal, vulgarian insurrectionist who pardons his criminal friends now feigns outrage. Here's me playing the world's smallest violin.
THE LEFT HOOK with Wajahat Ali
Dec 01, 2024
Predictably, President Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter Biden who was scheduled to be sentenced later this month for his trumped-up conviction on federal gun charges. He also was set to be sentenced on tax evasion charges. The only thing remotely surprising or controversial about this decision is that initially President Biden said he would not interfere with the criminal justice system. Both Republicans and Democrats have used political pardons in the past to help their friends and family members fail up in life.
I mean, we just have to look at Donald Trump. This man is a convicted criminal who incited a violent insurrection, stole and kept confidential documents, tried to interfere in our elections, was held liable for sexual assault and defamation, and committed fraud through his business organization, university, and charity.
Trump voters don’t care.
This is a man who pardoned his co-conspirators, including some of the vile, unrepentant individuals, such as Steve Bannon, Mike Flynn, Roger Stone, and Paul Manafort.
Trump voters don’t care.
This is a man who pardoned war criminal Eddie Gallagher, who murdered a detained prisoner of war and was criticized and condemned by his SEALs and described as “freaking evil.”
Trump voters don’t care.
Trump has given cabinet positions to criminals he has pardoned, including his son-in-law’s father, Charles Kushner, who was just appointed as Ambassador to France despite having no qualifications.
Trump voters don’t care.
Republican leaders follow their leader. Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who is chomping on the bit to run for President once Trump kicks the bucket, recently pardoned Daniel Perry, who murdered a BLM protestor and was convicted by a jury of his peers. Trump voters don’t care. Missouri Governor Mike Parsons pardoned the McCloskeys, who illegally aimed guns at peaceful BLM protestors.
Again, Trump voters don’t care.
But, with Hunter Biden’s pardon, now the GOP, MAGA media, and Trump voters all of a sudden care about the rule of law and accountability. If you fall for their bad-faith hypocrisy and fake outrage, then you also probably think Haitian immigrants are eating pets. After 9 years, please stop bending the knee or bringing a pencil to a knife fight. Trump was always going to pardon the January 6th insurrectionists, or, honestly, anyone he wants. He refers to these traitors as “political prisoners” and patriots. I know the civility police is now bemoaning that Trump will use President Biden’s pardon as an excuse to pardon the Mos Eisley hive of scum and villainy that surrounds Trump, but you just haven’t been paying attention. He doesn’t need an excuse. He’s going to do it regardless.
I’m glad Biden did this because, as he mentioned in his rationalization, MAGA maliciously focused on Hunter Biden as a way of distracting from Donald Trump’s numerous crimes and harming his presidency. Biden writes, “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.”
They couldn’t find anything with his “laptop” so they went for easy layups that they’d otherwise never even bother investigating or indicted. The DOJ did it purely due to pressure from MAGA. Also, Trump has promised vengeance and retribution against his critics, whom he has referred to as “the enemy from within,” and his pick for FBI director, Kash Patel, said he’d prosecute political rivals and the media in particular.
Ideally, it would be great if rich, privileged kids played by the same rules as the rest of us, but there’s always a two-tiered justice system in America. “The slap on the wrist” for the wealthy and white, and “the tough love” for the rest of us. With the incoming Trump Administration, the entirety of power shall now be used as a sword against any of Trump’s growing list of enemies and, tragically, it will shield his base, his family, his cabinet, and MAGA loyalists.
I’d love for President Biden to go HAM during the final month and use his powers to pardon innocent people on death row and proactively protect individuals who will be subject to malicious prosecutions from MAGA loyalists such as Kash Patel and others.
The time for “civility” is over.
With Trump’s ascension to power, the time for the rule of law, separation of powers, accountability, and fairness will be coming to an end as well. Can our damaged institutions hold the line? I don’t think most will. It’ll be up to the rest of us to do what we can to protect our own. President Biden used his powers to protect his son from future retribution. The same people who currently support and worship a criminal vulgarian are outraged.
I couldn’t care less.
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