"Vic: Time change. WHY!!! WHEN DOES THIS END!!!" (opens in separate window)

the fault is in yourselves

friday, december 6th, 2024

The Democratic election postmortem immediately descended into public blame-gaming -- as expected. When Joe Biden was forced off the ticket in late July, the conspirators issued a party line that he was to be praised as a veritable George Washington -- in the spirit of Washington’s farewell address of 1796 about why it was a good thing for the first president not to run for a third term.

[FULL TITLE: "The Fault, Dear Democrats, Is in Yourselves."]

So, we were lied to that Joe, the sitting President of the United States, was not forced out by Nancy Pelosi, the Obamas, George Clooney and the celebs, and the billionaire class. We instead were lectured that Biden, magnanimously as the neo-father of our country, selflessly bowed out to ensure Kamala Harris’s elevation as the nominee and, with it, a sure Democratic victory.

Men at some time are masters of their fates: The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves. They had learned nothing and forgotten nothing.”

But now? After the Democratic train wreck, half the party is suddenly damning George Washington Joe for sticking around too long, even though party grandees cooked up the scheme in the first place of nominating the cognitively challenged Biden in 2020 to shut out his radical (and supposedly unelectable) primary rivals.

Now that his successor Harris has bombed, in the leftist mind, Joe has gone from a Washingtonian Olympian to a veritable selfish Richard Nixon who clung to office far too long and supposedly ensured his party’s defeat.

Yet still, others now blame incumbent Vice President Kamala herself. The once “joyful” candidate, after the coup to remove Biden, was once praised to the skies as a “turn the page”/”move forward”/“change” candidate—only then to be damned as an insipid loser.

So, one postelection narrative was that Harris -- we were told to recall -- was always known as inept and thus originally picked as Joe Biden’s Spiro Agnew insurance policy, who would prevent his indictment, impeachment, or medical removal.

But never mind blaming either Biden or Harris or both. The left cannot fault either a lack of funds; they raised a billion dollars more than Trump. Leftists also cannot complain about 95 percent favorable media coverage, supposedly worth billions of dollars in free advertising.

They cannot regret that they did not do everything imaginable to destroy the Trump monster—given they had impeached him twice and tried him as a private citizen. They cooked up the Russian collusion and laptop disinformation hoaxes, raided his home with a SWAT team, and unleashed five criminal and civil suits designed to bankrupt, demonize, and jail him. They tried to remove him from at least 16 state ballots and daily smeared him as a fascist, dictator, and Hitler -- even as two would-be assassins tried to shoot him.

In the aftermath of the election, Democrats are engaging in public blame-shifting, while avoiding accountability for their own policies and elite disconnect, which alienated voters and led to defeat.

So, we are witnessing the rich Democrat-media fusion blame and fault everything but themselves. In truth, whether Biden or Harris ran -- it never really mattered.

Even an open convention with a “moderate” veneer nominee like a Josh Shapiro would not have saved them. The fault was in themselves: a radical Democratic agenda actualized by Joe Biden, who will leave office with an approval rate under 40 percent, and two-thirds of the country believing the country was headed in the wrong direction under his tenure.

So, what lost the election for the Democrats? Both substance and style.

The proverbial people may have agreed that Trump was sometimes crude, but they knew in his prior four-year tenure that food, gas, rent, power, and insurance were affordable. The border was finally secured. Trump did not welcome in 12 million unaudited illegal aliens. Nor did he oversee a disastrous flight from Afghanistan or watch two theater-wide wars blow up Ukraine and the Middle East as a derelict America became irrelevant.

Boys did not spike volleyballs down upon the heads of girls nor did male boxers pound the brains of women.

Nor did teenage biological males shower with young girls.

Nor did the Trump tenure witness institutionalized anti-Semitism spreading throughout the nation’s elite campuses and onto the streets. Nor did Republican party grandees obsess on race, promote reparations, demand unlimited abortions until the moment of birth, or trash fracking.

So, the message -- not just the messengers -- was toxic. But that said, the message was also delivered by a bicoastal elite, exuding hubris and superciliousness. This election, the left committed the two cardinal sins of American politics: one, never talk down to the American people as too stupid to appreciate the wisdom of their supposed elite betters; and two, never abandon the upwardly mobile aspirations and real struggles of the middle class.

Instead, during the campaign and after the election slaughter, Democratic grandees screamed against a supposedly racist, sexist, homophobic, nativist electorate—as if these critics were a mummified Hillary Clinton circa 2016 still pontificating about the deplorables and irredeemables or a calcified Obama lecturing on the pathologies of the clingers.

Indeed, the epitome of such hypocrisy was the late entrance of the now-plutocratic Obamas. The pair variously private jetted in from one of their four mansions to “save” Harris from her incompetent self by diagnosing the skeptics of her hard-left message as ignorant, illiberal, and suffering from Marxist false consciousness.

Thus, a week after the election, Democrats are still trapped in La La Land.

Blue-state governors now posture and brag that they will stop the newly elected Trump -- but from what exactly? Will they refuse his tainted federal funds? Spit at him when they ask for disaster relief help? Declare blue America “sanctuary states” that will nullify federal law and not pay federal taxes?

What does California governor Gavin Newsom mean by calling to session the California legislature to “resist” Trump? Will he order another Steele dossier pee-pee tape? Another Hillary Clinton 2016 call to join La Résistance?

What does Illinois Governor Pritzker mean by warning Trump he will have to go through the ample governor to get to “his people?”

Coordinate more local and state prosecutors to resume where Fani Willis, Alvin Bragg, and Letitia James left off?

Mimic Madonna and threaten to blow up the White House?

Emulate Kamala Harris and warn weeks of violent protests that won’t and should not stop?

So how exactly is the elected president actually stripping away the rights of their liberal residents -- three months before he even sets foot in office? And what might such illiberal or extralegal Trump efforts entail?

Find another Andrew McCabe to weaponize the FBI to go after his enemies?

Discover another Anthony Fauci to stealthily send American cash to a leaky Chinese virology lab run by the People’s Liberation Army?

Draft another Lois Lerner to politicize the IRS to deny left-wing groups nonprofit status?

Rehire James Comey to get the FBI and social media together to censor the news?

Maybe rehire Loretta Lynch or Merrick Garland to sic the Department of Justice on political enemies at school board meetings?

Bring back Confederate-style nullification of federal law and open the border?

Or are Trump’s threats likely to be more existential and cosmic -- like packing the court to ensure another six conservative justices?

Or, as the right takes control of the Senate, will the damnable new conservative majority abolish the ancient filibuster?

Perhaps the left is worried that now that a vengeful Trump has handily won the popular vote, he will most likely remove the 237-year-old Electoral College by sidestepping the constitutional amendment process?

Or will a dastardly Trump bifurcate some blue states to ensure their red halves become two new states and with them four conservative senators?

In sum, the left will not recover by blaming the American people and the voters for their loss. Nor will they regain power by caricaturing the supposedly illiberal and unappreciative middle class.

Nor will they reboot by blustering that they are at war with a president before he takes office as if he was not just elected by a clear majority and an overwhelming electoral college vote.

Nor will they find salvation today by blaming the “messaging,” or tomorrow Kamala Harris, or next week Joe Biden -- rather than looking in the mirror and acknowledging the fault, Dear Democrats, is “in ourselves.”

A Day In The Life.

Up at 8a on Friday, I went thru my finger stick to check my BSL (Blood Sugar Level) and recorded it on my Diabetes 2 chart, made coffee and delayed breakfast, skipped the two 50mg Tramadol but took a 300mg Gabapentin for various neuropathy pains, fired-up the Win-7 Pentium HP Desktop to let 32 million lines of code load, had a couple smokes in the garage and checked the leftover errands list.

So much for Thanksgiving.

A cold 39°F, cloudy. snow showers forecast and a meager high of only 44°, snow squalls from 'lake effect' snow, were heavy just to our north and northwest, but not so much in this area. The "almost-Winter" weather is finally here, for the near future. It's needed to kill bacteria, viruses, insects and to force dormancy on perennial plants -- trees, shrubs, perennials -- as part of their DNA. It was freaking BITTER COLD outside, as damp, snow squalls moved thru the area, mid-morning, as temps dropped to 37°, but it felt much, much colder, due to the unfrozen moisture. After Creamed Chipped Beef w/ 2 Poached Eggs for a very late breakfast, I re-checked the nearby Rite Aid for some way overdue Rxs -- especially Combivent Respimat emergency inhaler -- and they just reported "on back order", and not available until next week. DAMN. I grabbed a 2hr nap until 3p.

After brunch, I took a 2hr nap, went thru 2 closets to see what items I could bag-up and donate to the Salvation Army, fed the squirrels again, and had a leftover Turkey/filling sand on toast. Discovery's "Gold Rush" was on and I watched that until midnight, with a break for the news, and unplugged.

Up at 8:30a on Saturday, a very bright, sunny, clear sky, COLD 24° morning -- could be worse -- I fired-up the furnace to 75°, made coffee and had a smoke in the cold garage. Cold days are coming; hey, it's Winter! With delicious Kona Coffee, I checked Fox News and AccuWeather, on my HP Desktop, for a while. I made Poached Eggs In a Bowl w/ Toast, got ready for the day, and went thru the front hall closet to select and list, overshirts and coats to donate; upstairs closets are next.

I got the Jeep's red Christmas bow installed on the front grill, just under the Jeep logo -- harder than I remember from last year -- put away 2 boxes of Monarch Kona Coffee (5lbs) and a very LARGE box of 5 6-paks of Gold Peak Tea and Areds2 and Prevagen X-Strength, cleaned-up the kitchen and made another carafe of Kona, and by 2p, I was too wired to lay down and take a nap. ZZZZZZ!

By 4p, temps had dropped into the bitter mid-20s, and I closed down, no nap, and broke out some BUTTER Chardonnay vino. I watched Discovery's "Expedition Unknown" until 12midnight, and bagged it.

I slept-in until 9a on Sunday, a cloudy, cold 28°, windy morning, upped the heat to 75°, made coffee and fired-up the desktop to check news headlines and the weather forecast. I opened the garage door to feed the squirrels, and get some fresh cold air. Nice. The penultimate F1 Grand Prix Race at Qatar was on at 11a, but with all the day's chores and projects, I'll catch the replay on F1-TV later today or tomorrow. Sherry's here around 2p -- we haven't seen each other for well over a week -- so the day revolves around her visit. Everything else can wait.

She arrived around 2:15, we had a couple hours together, and she left before it got dark. I closed the condo, turned-up the heat against the dropping and bitter temps, watched the news and had some dinner. I watched the replay of the morning's missed F-1 Qatar Grand Prix, and some episodes of Discovery's "Homestead Rescue", and called it 'Yankee Doodle' at midnight.

Up at 8:15a on Monday, a bright, sunny, bitter cold 24° morning, I bumped the heat to 75°, made coffee and had a smoke in the garage. After opening Thunderbird email to 1`51 new messages, I tried to wade thru it all, and delete the crap, saving friends' notes and certain other missives, for later today replies. I fed the squirrels (3) and bluejays (14), enjoyed the hot Kona Coffee and a smoke, got ready for the day, and left for points south of York, for my usual 2-3 errands.

Back around 2:30p, with an added stop and heavy traffic, I unloaded, had a Grilled Cheese & Tomato Soup for lunch, and worked on the growing pile of paperwork on my desk. I watched the evening news, switched to History's "Ancient Aliens" until 11p, and unplugged.

Up at 8:30a on Tuesday, it was a sunny, very cold 21° morning, with trucks full of lawn care workers running around with weed whackers, leaf blowers and leaves blown, plus trees/shrubs being hacked-to-death, at the condo complex, across the road. I made coffee, warmed-up the garage with the small, oscillating heater, tuned into the "CP Show LIVE", and held-off on breakfast until a little later. I got a call from Rite Aid that my much-needed Rx of Combivent Respimat (emergency inhaler) is finally ready for p/u; it was due a week ago. I left at 11:30 for the pharmacy.

Hells bells, who didn't expect this crap, from Lunch Bucket Joe, to happen?

Back at 12:30p, after a BLT-Egg Salad Sandwich, I finished-off the rest of the paperwork pile, and did some other condo chores until dark descended at 4:45, and as temps dropped below 32°, closed the place down. I watched the evening news and got a call from Sis, on her way back from Lancaster hair app't, with a load of food from Wegman's, and she stopped for a visit to give me half the load. Later, I tuned into History's "Curse of Oak Island" until 11:45, and unplugged.

Nowhere to go, nothing to do, and no one to do it with.

Sleeping-in until 9:30a on Wednesday, a cloudy, windy, 29° morning, with snow in the forecast. I upped the heat, opened a new 1lb bag of a new variety ("Farm Hand") of Kona Coffee, tuned into the "CP Show LIVE" and scanned the news headlines. So much going on, everywhere. I rescheduled my 14 lab tests/blood work at the nearby Wellspan Lab, until next week and I feel better. I got ready for the day, and after a late breakfast, did some small, niggling condo chores. And a final load of laundry. I also finished gathering-up older clothes to be donated to The Salvation Army, before end-of-year.

With the cloud cover, it was dark around 4:15p, and getting much colder, so I closed the condo and watched History's "American Pickers" thru the evening, occasionally checking The Weather Channel for the snow report. *** WIND ADVISORY *** posted on weather-related media. Light snow arrived just after 6:30p -- our first snow of the year always gets me 'giddy' -- but the heavier accumulation was ~100 miles north. By 11, I was fading and needing to get up "early" tomorrow, so I unplugged..

Up at 7:30a on Thursday, it was a dark, cloudy, cold and VERY WINDY -- 25-30mph constant wind with 40-50mph gusts -- morning, as the show squalls moved thru and the heavy wind followed. I had a smoke in the garage, fed the squirrels -- bluejays have disappeared again -- made some breakfast, and tuned into the "CP Show LIVE" at 9. I scanned the weather and news headlines, while enjoying the new Kona Coffee, received a load of email on Thunderbird, and checked the day's schedule.

Sooooo, the Biden team reportedly considering preemptive pardons for Fauci, Schiff, Cheney other Trump 'targets'? Who didn't see this coming? Besides the Hunter Bidet scumbag criminal, others are going to walk scot-free, perhaps.

Sherry arrived just before 1p, and we had 3+ nice, relaxing hours together, before she had to leave and make a stop on the way home. I had 4 Cheese Ravioli and Bertolli® Sauce w/ Butter w/ Fresh Sweet Basil, watched the news, Ingraham, Watters and Hannity (sub on tonite, otherwise I can't stand the idiot) until 11. Lights out.

Tomorrow starts a new week here in the "Journal", and it's another clear one, except for the postponed 14 lab tests -- I have to get them done before the holidays. I'm seriously looking forward to some 40s & 50s weather coming again, as this unceasing, bitter cold and wind, is finally getting to me. I don't have the tolerance for it, anymore. Getting old(er) sucks.

9 Things Public Schools Won't Tell You About The First Thanksgiving.

It's Thanksgiving week, which brings back memories of what you learned in school about the first Thanksgiving, where pilgrim settlers and natives gathered in peace to eat food, debate about who the land belonged to, and watch the Macy's parade. But what about the things they didn't teach you in school?

The 'Babylon Bee' is here to fill in the gaps left by the things public school won't tell you about the first Thanksgiving:

• The Patriots defeated the Redskins 42-3 in the first Thanksgiving Day football game: It was just the first of what would be many slaughters.

• The turkey was carved by none other than a young Joe Biden: Historian accounts tell of how young Joe enjoyed sniffing the hair of young Indian girls.

• Even though they were starving, the pilgrims politely passed on the Indians' marshmallow jello salad: There are fates worse than death.

• French settlers in Canada got the date wrong and accidentally celebrated a month early: A tradition that continues to this day.

• Pilgrim wives rushed off following the meal to get doorbuster deals at Kohl's: Bonnets and shoes with large silver buckles on them were going for half price.

• Indians were suspicious of the hot dish labeled "smallpox": One Indian did politely end up taking some of it home, though no one is sure what happened after that.

• Scandal erupted after it was revealed that the pilgrims' potato salad was store-bought: The tell-tale clear plastic clamshell container was reportedly found in the trash can.

• Several pilgrims still ended up dying of starvation after they got tired of eating leftover turkey sandwiches: Even the hungry can only eat so much turkey.

• The holiday was later named for the man who came up with the idea, Bob Thanksgiving: And for Bob, we are all truly thankful.

Your public school education may have robbed you of this valuable knowledge, but now you know the whole story.

Hang in there, libtards! Those are some other things to be "thankful" for.

California Bans Everything – 2024 Edition.

California is where freedom goes to die. Its annual legislative orgies consist of politicians stealing billions of dollars for special interests and finding exotic new things to ban.

In 2024, California Democrats finally banned plastic bags to ensure that anyone who isn’t shopping with a car or with a bag can’t buy more than a handful of items in a supermarket.

They also made national news for trying to set the Constitution on fire by banning memes.

And just for the hell of it, they also banned octopus farming.

Octopus farming was banned on the theory that the undersea creatures, unlike California voters, are “highly intelligent” and have “long-term memory.” Also unlike California Democrats, octopi have “a high level of problem-solving ability” which means you couldn’t go wrong with replacing Gov. Gavin Newsom with an octopus. Unlike Gov. Newsom, octopi are also “known for their ability to learn, use tools, and exhibit behaviors that suggest a level of consciousness.”

So Dems are banning octopus farming to keep them from multiplying and learning to vote.

Most people had no idea that there was such a thing as octopus farming. Well there isn’t now. Other things that don’t exist anymore in California are affordable houses, affordable gas and crime free cities. But California Dems are focused on the big ‘octopus’ issues facing the state.

And it’s legal to steal items under $950 in California, as long as one of them isn’t an octopus.

60% of Californians believe the state is going in the wrong direction. Rather than try to fix that, the Democrat supermajority decided to pass the “California Racial Mascots Act” which outlaws calling any team the “Chiefs” (calling a team “Redskins” had already been banned under a previous ‘mascots’ bill passed by the hardworking California Democrat legislature.)

Poverty rates on California reservations are at 34%, but at least the state’s American Indian population can take comfort in knowing that the Santa Fe High Chiefs will have to change their name to something less offensive. Perhaps the Santa Fe Octopus Farmers.

Speaking of schools, they’re banned from notifying parents if the staffers have decided to transition their son John to ‘Jane’ and get him castrated as soon as he turns sixteen.

While California Democrats are happy to test out untested puberty blockers on little kids, they did express concerns for their fellow parasites by banning even more forms of rat poison.

Medieval rat-borne diseases like typhus have already made a comeback in the City of Angels. In an episode of poetic justice, typhus spread to Los Angeles City Hall which is currently infested with both kinds of ‘rats because California voters are dumber than an octopus.

Dogs are also dying of rat-borne diseases, but the rats always come first to Democrats.

California’s official policy is that the only lifeforms who can be subjected to poisons and medical experimentation are public school children. And in that spirit, schools have also been banned from removing graphic pornography from library shelves as long as it’s LGBTQ graphic pornography. This has been inaccurately described as banning book bans rather than the more accurate mandating the exposure of children to graphic identity politics pornography.

Along with the rest of the banning spree the corrupt political supermajority also banned legacy admissions in colleges (it’s still however okay to bypass the affirmative action ban passed by voters to accept unqualified students due to the exact shade of their skin), online sales of flavored tobacco and food dyes like the beloved Red 40. The basis for the ban is a mostly unsupported claim that food dyes cause autism. Even the FDA doesn’t believe it’s true.

Also California Democrats wisely banned Voter ID because honest elections would send them flying out of office faster than a dyed octopus with a plastic bag applying to UCLA.

Few of the bans make much sense.

California banned “sell-by” dates on products because Democrats claimed that discouraging people from eating spoiled food caused food waste. But manufacturers and supermarkets have no vested interest in throwing out good food. Democrats were concerned that consumers reading “sell-by” dates on the food they already bought and had lying around for years might then throw it out. They could have one of their multitudinous government agencies put out a guide to what food is safe to eat, when to eat it and let people make their own decisions.

But Democrats have as much faith in the free will of the public as they do in a higher power.

California Democrats are desperately running out of things to ban, forcing them to legalize the things they previously banned and then ban them again in order to have something to do.

After legalizing drugs (and then fighting a drug war over untaxed drugs), California Democrats turned around and banned CBD ‘medicinal products’ leading to a lawsuit by Cheech and Chong. This will be followed by the legalization of the banned products and then by banning them again.

The good news however is that there are plenty of things still legal in California. Like crime.

Go ahead, commit as many crimes as you want. California is opening up its prisons and even as it bans plastic bags, octopus farming and voter ID, it’s making sure that criminals can freely roam the streets and steal as much stuff as they want. (Preferably under $950.)

Hamas supporters assaulting Jewish students on campus is also considered a victimless crime and about the only ones who have been arrested were the Jewish students who fought back.

Special interests stealing billions in tax dollars is not only legal, it’s practically mandatory.

And while it might seem as if California is running out of things to ban, its cities have recently banned everything from smoking in your own home to breeding French bulldogs to installing gas stoves to slaughtering meat. LGBTQ activists in San Francisco are trying to save gay people from smoking by banning tobacco and localities are trying to ban single family homes.

The future is bright for banners and bans. Just not for California.

What can we expect from the Left now?

As we wade into the political abyss of a lame duck Congress, the Democratic Party is in complete disarray. Add in a President who is mentally impaired, and an incoming President who is prepared to make sweeping political change; the atmosphere is ripe for chaos.

Four weeks out from the election, the Democrats still have no idea why they lost. The laying of blame, the ongoing finger pointing, the unwillingness to accept responsibility for their defeat, is daily news. The online temper tantrums of their proxies only serve to provide entertainment for conservatives. Hollywood personalities leaving the country does no damage and is a source of ongoing ridicule.

This is all smoke and mirrors for what is coming from the Left. Political parties rally remarkably fast, especially when given a common foe, and Donald Trump is a leader that galvanizes the Left’s unique brand of hate. So what can we expect from them in the weeks to come?

The Cabinet Approval Process from Hell. The Left will use the Presidential appointment/approval process as a grandstanding weapon to bludgeon Trump’s choices. They have already trotted out their lies about Russian collusion with Tulsi Gabbard, Pete Hegseth’s alleged sexual transgressions, and cries that many of the candidates are not qualified for their positions. The truth will be the first victim of these hearings, as digital lynchings have proven. You’ll hear “Project 2025” a great deal as the Left attempts to wallpaper cabinet members’ reputations with a document they had nothing to do with. What you can expect is that the Dems will turn this approval process into a political circus of lies, false witnesses, and outright character assassination. Furthermore, the goose-stepping Democrats will vote as a bloc against every candidate put forward, while demanding that the Republicans act in a bipartisan manner.

Leaks, Lies and Hearings. The first Trump administration was plagued with leaks intended to undermine his ability to lead. When the media couldn’t find a leaker, they simply made claims that came in from “unidentified White House sources.” The intent here is to spread dissent in the ranks of the Trump cabinet and create the illusion of chaos in the public’s eye. So-called whistleblowers will give Congress the impetus to poke and prod at every decision the administration makes. Hearings will be called in an effort to bog down the Republican-controlled House and Senate as well as the White House.

The Sob Stories. The local Washington D.C. media is already interviewing government employees that are frightened they will lose their jobs under a second Trump administration. Once the DOGE starts with cuts, the media will be trotting people out who will claim they can’t pay their bills or are about to be homeless by losing their jobs. Government employees who felt they were secure for life in their petty little positions will, for the first time, have to face the realities that everyday Americans do in regards to work. Inside the beltway, there will be pity, but outside, in the rest of the country, no one will shed a tear.

This will be amplified when the media starts parading those impacted by deportations. There are already cries that this will break up families. Be prepared to see a staggering number of news stories alleging hardship and even brutality with deportations. AOC will have another chance to stage a fake crying session in front of a chain-link fence at some point.

When All Else Fails, There’s Always Violence. The first Trump inauguration was marked with violent protests. There is little reason to believe that this won’t happen again. The Democrats suffered a devastating loss to Trump and they have little to lose with rioting in the streets. This may very well go beyond the swearing in of the President. Mayors of some sanctuary cities already have said they will be organizing resistance to deportations locally. Anyone believing these will be peaceful protests need only look back to 2020 for a glimpse of what the Left may attempt to muster.

An Attempt to Block the Certification of the Election. The certification of the election results will be seen as a chance to derail the Trump transition. Representative Jamie Raskin announced prior to the election that he would not certify Trump as the winner. He will not be alone. Wrapping themselves in a cloak of protecting democracy, more will step up with Raskin. The irony is that the party that claims they want to make sure every vote counts will be the one to try to take the election away from the citizens.

There has been no indication by the Left that they will adhere to the time-honored tradition of letting a President have a cabinet of his choosing. Still stinging from their complete defeat, they will see this as a chance at vengeance.

Hunter Biden’s Pardon Is All About Protecting Joe Biden, Not His Son

President Joe Biden didn’t pardon Hunter because he’s a loving father who thinks his drug addict son was treated unfairly by the Justice Department. He pardoned Hunter to help cover up his own crimes, just as he’ll likely pardon other members of his family before he leaves office in January. He’s trying to protect himself, and this is one of the only ways he has left to do it.

After all, President Biden is the one at the center of the influence-peddling and bribery schemes that Hunter ran while Biden was vice president. Joe, not Hunter, was the one being bribed. It was his influence, not Hunter’s, that was being purchased by Ukrainian oligarchs and Chinese businessmen, both during and after Biden was vice president. There’s no Biden family business without “the big guy.” Focusing on Hunter’s crimes, and his pardon, is a distraction from the far more serious crimes his father committed.

By pardoning his son for more than a decade of potential crimes, the president is protecting himself above all.

Even Hunter’s prosecution wasn’t really about him or his misdeeds. The tax and gun charges were about protecting him from being indicted for more serious charges that would have implicated the president and forced him to answer questions about his involvement in Hunter’s overseas business deals. That’s why Special Counsel David Weiss never indicted the younger Biden for failing to register as a foreign agent, allowing the statute of limitations to expire on that and other serious crimes, and then trying to engineer a sweetheart plea deal that would have granted him blanket immunity — immunity he’s now gotten from his father in the form of a pardon that covers a jaw-dropping eleven years.

Why did Weiss do this? Because Hunter’s real tax crimes stem from failing to disclose the tens of millions he and his family raked in from the Biden family’s overseas influence-peddling operations in Ukraine and China. Weiss scrupulously avoided any investigation into those business dealings, and the tax fraud that resulted from them, because such an investigation would have obviously implicated President Biden.

Indeed, Hunter would have escaped any charges at all if the IRS whistleblowers Joseph Ziegler and Gary Shapley hadn’t come forward. Weiss only indicted Hunter after Ziegler and Shapley revealed that federal prosecutors in Washington and California had refused to bring charges despite ample evidence of crimes. So far from Biden’s claim that his son was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted,” Hunter received special treatment from Biden’s DOJ.

As Margot Cleveland noted in these pages on Monday, “the whistleblowers’ testimony established that Hunter Biden wasn’t unjustly targeted, but instead received unfair preferential treatment: The DOJ refused to authorize a search at his father’s house because of ‘appearances,’ witnesses were tipped to the FBI’s impending questioning of them, federal prosecutors allowed the statute of limitations to expire on the most serious criminal charges, and the DOJ entered into a sweetheart plea agreement calling for no felony charges pursuant to a deferral agreement that was so unusual, the federal judge asked for briefing on the propriety of the deal.”

Hunter’s guilty plea on felony tax charges suggests that a presidential pardon from his father was part of the plan once Weiss’s hand was forced by the whistleblowers, both of whom have said it was clear that Joe Biden was implicated in Hunter’s overseas business dealings, that he was “the big guy” mentioned in Hunter’s emails. The pardon, which extends back to January 2014 — far outside the purview of the straightforward tax and gun cases brought against Hunter — serves not just to keep Hunter out of prison but also to end the possibility that his influence-peddling scheme in Ukraine and elsewhere will ever be properly investigated.

Keep in mind, too, that getting to the bottom of the Biden family business in Ukraine was what then-President Trump was trying to do in 2019 when he asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to look into Hunter’s business arrangement with Burisma, the Ukrainian gas company that was paying him an $83,000 monthly salary (despite his lack of experience in the energy sector). Trump understandably wanted to know more about then-Vice President Joe Biden’s role in the firing of a Ukrainian prosecutor who was investigating Burisma, which Biden himself bragged about after threatening to withhold aid to Ukraine unless the prosecutor was fired.

For that, Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats impeached Trump. Put another way, the Democrats impeached Trump for wanting to investigate the alleged crimes for which Biden just pardoned Hunter.

Pelosi would probably not have gone to such lengths simply to protect Hunter. No, the real subject at the heart of all this—the impeachment, the slow-walked investigation of Hunter, the lesser criminal charges brought against him, the thwarted plea deal, and finally the pardon—was Joe Biden. All of this has been to protect him. His son has just been collateral damage in that effort.

In the end, the president might keep his son and other family members out of jail with last-minute pardons, but once the truth comes out, as it inevitably will, Biden will likely go down in history as one of the most corrupt presidents in American history.