"Suite Judy Blue Eyes" (opens in separate window)

nobody knew (except most did!)

friday, december 13th, 2024

Media mouth-breathers are shocked that Dementia Joe Biden would pardon his son for eleven years’ worth of crimes against the United States. He said he would do no such thing! He gave us his word — as a Biden!

Yeah, about that last bit — I don’t know exactly when Child-Sniffing Joe started referencing his family name as a way to assure the public that his promises are always kept, but the word “Biden” has been synonymous with corruption at least since the Delaware Dimwit first entered politics a half-century ago. Personally, I think Liar Joe watched too much Game of Thrones and appropriated a version of “a Lannister always pays his debts” for his own crime family motto.

“A Biden always pays his debts” doesn’t quite work, since prodigal son Hunter owes drug dealers, pimps, property managers, business associates, foreign governments, an ex-wife, forgotten children, and the IRS, so Slow-Joe just says, “I give you my word as a Biden” and hopes the propaganda press will cheer like peasants watching the diabolical Lannisters steal the Iron Throne. Because the corporate news profession (which has a lot in common with the world’s oldest) is filled with fools and sycophants, “reporters” repeat Biden’s obvious lies as sacred truths.

President-in-Name-Only Biden gave his “word as a Biden” to protect U.S. service members leaving Afghanistan, struggling families crushed by inflation, and blue-collar towns enduring both “green energy” regulations and increased crime from Democrats’ open borders. Joe repeatedly promised to keep Americans safe, lower household costs, and create an economy that works for everybody. His “word as a Biden” was as trustworthy as Hunter’s promises to pay rent, alimony, child support, and taxes.

Now that Quid-Pro-Quo Joe has pardoned his son after giving his “word as a Biden” that he would never do so, the usual suspects have quickly come to his defense. White House press prevaricator Karine Jean-Pierre assures Americans that her boss didn’t lie; he simply changed his mind over the weekend. That’s kind of like the fifty-one “Intelligence experts” who told the American people that Hunter Biden’s “laptop from Hell” was really “Russian disinformation.” They didn’t lie, either; they simply changed their minds after the 2020 election.

Biden’s pardon flip-flop is just the latest example of broad government deception that I throw in a gargantuan file under this catchall heading: “Nobody Knew (Except Most People Did!)” Of course the White House spent the last six months misleading the public about the “president’s” intention to pardon Hunter. Every thinking person in America knew that corrupt Joe Biden would cover for his equally corrupt son. (Perhaps a better family motto would be, “A Biden always gets paid for his corruption.”) Yet the corporate press repeatedly assured voters that he would never do so. Why? Because “journalists” needed to make criminal defendant Trump look bad while doing their best to pull Rigor Mortis Joe (and then Drunk Kamala) across the finish line. The only way for “reporters” to “save democracy” was for them to pretend that nobody knew Joe was lying (except everybody did!).

Government propagandists play this game every day. Nobody knew that COVID came from a U.S.-funded bio-weapons lab in Wuhan, China, even though the outbreak occurred just down the street. Nobody knew that flooding nursing homes with sick patients would end up killing thousands of elderly people. Nobody knew that flimsy masks and six-foot distancing rules would be entirely ineffective. Nobody knew that lockdowns and school closures would do nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Nobody knew that travel restrictions would wreck the economy. Nobody knew that isolating children would harm their cognitive and social development. Nobody knew that experimental “vaccines” might not work or that they might come with numerous unknown side effects. (Except a lot of people knew all of these things!)

Just as “reporters” have twisted themselves into knots trying to defend Joe Biden’s pardon for his criminal son, government “scientists” have twisted themselves into knots trying to justify their unscientific proclamations and medical quackery. “We were working at the speed of science,” they often defensively say, like brainwashed cult members repeating the same dubious lines. Does working at the “speed of science” deprive “experts” of common sense? If so, they should slow down!

Since young people are predominantly safe from COVID, it made no sense for colleges to close and send students back home to infect local communities. Since viruses are smaller than the holes in masks, it made no sense to require masks. Since pathogens do not spare multinational conglomerates, it made no sense for Walmart to remain open while mom-and-pop stores were shuttered. Since the long-term harms from experimental medical treatments cannot be known, it made no sense for governments to mandate their widespread use. Is it too much to ask the medical community to engage in remedial scientific scrutiny and maintain a modicum of common sense during a health emergency? “Nobody knew!” the CDC lemmings protest. (Except a lot of people did!)

Where does this know-nothingness end? Next we’ll find out that hiring engineers based on their sexual predilections and racial heritage isn’t the best way to ensure that aircraft don’t fall from the sky. Or what if it turns out that encouraging men to take over women’s sports means that soon there will be no women’s sports? Or what happens if adolescent children who were encouraged to undergo genital mutilation and sterilization grow up to discover that fantasy role-playing was all just a phase? Or perhaps national governments will learn that mass migration from hostile regions of the world means that home-brewed civil war is certain. Or maybe war hawks will realize that you can fire missiles into Russia only so many times before Western capitals receive a response. Or maybe central banks will be forced to acknowledge that rampant money-printing eventually brings the whole financial system down like a house of cards.

If any or all of these possibilities come to fruition, allow me to predict that the most prominent scientists, businessmen, economists, bureaucrats, and government ministers will all feign ignorance and claim: Nobody knew! (Except, of course, almost all of us did!) We can see the slow-motion car wreck happening all around us. The problem is that the people who claim to see nothing are the ones with all the power.

The institutions that run roughshod over us have a lot of plans. They just have no interest in sharing those plans with us. They seem intent on destroying national borders and erecting globalist forms of government that deny countries any self-determination. They seem intent on strictly managing food and energy production. They seem intent on censoring public dissent and flooding communication networks with government propaganda. They seem intent on using social credit scores and restricting access to banking institutions as part of a larger program for controlling social behavior. They seem intent on spying on citizens’ private lives and tracking their public movements. They do all these horrifically totalitarian things, and then they tell citizens, “We’re doing all this for your own protection. Trust us. We give you our word as...the FBI...the CIA...the Federal Reserve...the IRS...the CDC...the Deep State.”

In this way, the Biden Crime Family’s in-your-face corruption is a symptom of a much larger problem: our leaders and institutions lie about everything. Most people know that they are lying. Nonetheless, we are all expected to pretend.

For Deep State criminals, the most frightening thing about President Trump is his inclination to tell the truth no matter how ugly it is. “Nobody knew anything,” they will claim. Except...most of us did.

A Day In The Life.

Up at 8:30a 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 held-off on breakfast, skipped the two 50mg Tramadol but took a 250mg Bayer Aspirin for various 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 day's tasks.

A bright, sunny, windy, COLD 29°, with only a forecast high of 36° for the day. I upped the condo heat to 75°, made coffee and tuned into the "CP Show LIVE" for a while. After breakfast, I left at 11:30a to run 3 errands and to p/u 2 important Rxs at Rite Aid. Back home around 2:30p, I had a Ham & Swiss on Rye Sandwich & Chips, for a late lunch, took a 90 min snooze on the LR couch, and woke to find it already getting dark, at 4:30. DST truly sucks.

After the evening news, I tuned into the 5-part, 5hr+ horror movie, "The Stand", and watched until 2:30a, and finally bagged it.

Up at 4a on Saturday -- ZERO DARK THIRTY -- a cloudy, cold 28°, windy morning. I made coffee, had a couple smokes, tuned into iHeart for "CS Show Podcasts" for a few hours, did a couple minor condo chores, had 2 wonderful Maryland-Style Crab Cakes and a salad, for lunch. I called Sherry, left a voicemail, watched FNC's afternoon News, and hit the LR couch for a snooze. I have to keep looking at my desk's calendar to remember that it's Saturday; somehow it just doesn't 'seem' like it. Heh.

I had a 2hr snooze in the early-to-mid-afternoon, closed trhe condo when dusk set-in, and called Sherry. I skipped TV for the entire day, as my computer was enough ness, information and entertainment. By 10:30p, I was fading, and quit for the day.

I slept-in until 10a on Sunday, a bright, sunny, windless, 52° morning, upped the heat, made coffee, and tuned into F1-TV to find that I'd missed the 8a, final race of the 2024 F-1 season in Abu Dhabi, so I watched the replay in its entirety. I scanned the news headlines and weather forecast. While taking several smoke breaks in the open garage, I saw that the bluejays had returned inbetween the squirrels, for the piles of peanuts I'd just set out. The 'balmy' weather was nice, for a change from the bitter Winter cold, and I looked forward to being outside, for some of the day. At noon, I went upstairs to shave, get the morning shower and start a load of laundry. Hells bells, half the day's already gone.

I did a load of laundry, got the recycle bin, and garbage bag, ready to go out to the curb, around 4p. I had the garage open all day, enjoying the sun and warmth. That ends tomorrow as rain sets-in and cold temps return. Winter's only just getting started. After some dinner, I watched Discovery's "Homestead Rescue" until 12:30a, and bagged it.

Up at 9:30a on Monday, a rainy, not-too-warmish 52° morning, with lawn mower crews outside, blowing leaves and debris out of the condo gardens and lawns, and doing Fall clean-up. Nice day for it, guys. I scanned the news and weather, tuned into the "CP Show LIVE" until 12noon, and left for my usual 2-3 errand trip down south of York. I'll get some brunch when I get back. Traffic was heavy, and so was the rian in some areas, but I made it within 2hrs, stopping at Isaac's to get 2 Turkey & Ham Club Sandwiches and 2 Large Onion Rings. Good lunch. (No, I only aye one.)

I just read on Fox News, that it's 'Pansexual and Panromantic Pride Day'... WTF does that crap even mean? Musk says he doesn't know, and I'm not going to look that filth up.

If you carry concealed, better take 2 extra mags along for a while. With Perry acquitted of all criminal charges -- he still has a huge civil suit pending -- the subhuman, dirtbag jungle rscists are mad as hell. The riots, looting and burning begin real soon. If you carry concealed, as I do, take 2-3 extra mags along. You never know when the SHTF.

After a late lunch from Isaac's, I did a couple condo chores, and took a 2hr snooze on the LR couch. Nice. After closing down around 5p, I brewed a fresh ½ carafe of Kona coffee, scanned the weather and news, and attacked the growing pile of paperwork on my desk. The rain continued. By 10, I'd made a nice dent in the pile, took a break to go thru the email and answer much of the queue's notes. By 11:30, I was tired and unplugged for the night.

I couldn't sleep, overnite, so finally at 4a, I moved downstairs to the sofa; couldn't sleep there, either. I made several carafes of Kona Coffee, scanned the weather and news. JoAnne, my friend and cleaning lady, would be in at 8:30. After breakfast, I got ready for the day, and cleaned-off the front porch, from yesterday's lawncare company's mess when front gardens and lawns were cleared of leaves. JoAnne arrived at 8:30 and got to work. Sherry and I rescheduled our afternoon together, as I needed more sleep. The rains cometh. I took half of an Ambien, and hit the LR couch, for a mid-morning nap.

I drifted in and out of sleep, for the rest of the day, trying to get a few things done, and unplugged very, very early (9p) to get sleep.

Sleeping-in until 10a on Wednesday, a rainy, cloudy, 57° morning, I upped the heat, made a carafe of coffee, tuned into the "CP Show LIVE" and checked the voicemails and email, from yesterday. I scanned the weather and news, but since I didn't check maps yesterday, I didn't see this massive storm coming. With heavy snow streaming north, just 100-200 miles to our west, as part of the northward-flowing storm, we just missed a bullet.

I've been folowing this "UFO drones" crap for well over a week, and to hear the corrupt FBI deny that they know what the enemy drones are -- like they did with that Chinese spy balloon last year -- is beyond just anger-inducing. Those damned drones *take off from somewhere* and, the f•cking FBI KNOWS WHERE THAT IS, AND WHO THEY ARE. So... the world's most advanced military (US) with the means to send robots to Mars... but they can't work out where a few drones come from on Earth? I'm not buying that bullshit. Yet they keep lying about it. THIS IS NOT FRIENDLY, IMO. IT'S THE GOV'Y OR SOME CONTRACTORS. If it's DOMESTIC and INSIDIOUS, and we're the subject of it, SHOOT THEM DOWN. I believe (FOR NOW on Wednesday) it's a *foreign actor* (gov't) working thru foreign nations, already here. Even more likely,

it's our own DEEP STATE telling us that they caqn do what they want, any time they want, despite Trump coming into office, in just over a month. No, I don't have my reliable "alphabet agency sources" anymore; they've retired and left for somewhere in Montana.

Love my morning and afternoon coffee. I fed the squirrels (8) and bluejays (13) by 1p, and checked the day's to-do list. It can wait until tomorrow, when I go nearby Hallam, for the bloodwork/lab tests, at Wellspan. The rain continued.

After a short 1hr nap, I closed the condo, had some dinner, and watched History's "American Pickers" into the late evening. I needed to get up early, so I bagged it at 11p.

Up at 6a, 0-DARK-THIRTY, a very cold 28°, windy, clear skies Thursday morning, so far, with only a 39° high forecast. Hey, it's Winter. The rain stopped last night -- we're all just glad that wasn't SNOW! I fired-up the furnace, made coffee, tuned into the "CS Show LIVE" until 9, got ready for the day, and left at 9:15 for the Wellspan Lab at Stonebrook, here in East York. The tech took 7(!) freaking vials of blood and I 'donated' a urine sample. Back home by 10, I joined the live broadcast of the "CP Show", had Creamed Chipped Beef Over Toast w/ Peas, left a voicemail for Sherry and hit the LR couch for a short snooze.

By 5p, it was dark and getting much colder -- into the bitter, upper-20s -- so I closed down, had dinner ande watched the news. Sherry called back and we made plans for a visit here, by her, tomorrow. And I watched Discovery's "HGomestead Rescue" until 11:30. Lights out.

Tomorrow starts a new week here in the "Journal" and 3 of the 5 days next week, are open for Sherry and me. We'll get some time together next week, nailed down tomorrow when she's here.

Droning on... and on... and on...

Dozens of large drones have been flying over New Jersey — and now New York — for the past several weeks … and the FBI and other government officials purport to be utterly clueless as to whose they are, who is flying them, and what their intent may be.

Drones have reportedly been spotted near the Picatinny Arsenal, a U.S. military facility, and President-elect Donald Trump’s Bedminster golf course.

A spokeswoman for the FBI’s Newark Field Office, which is leading the investigation, recently told PIX11 News: "We understand the concern, and we are doing all we can to figure out what's going on. We truly don't have much information to provide at the moment."

Are you bleeping kidding me? What the hell is the point of having lavishly funded intelligence agencies and a similarly lavishly funded military if we are still left ignorant and defenseless?

The drones are apparently being flown primarily at night, and often in formations. Yet, there has been some talk that perhaps these are Amazon delivery drones or some other such benign craft.

I'm guessing that, since this drone apocalypse has been in the news for weeks now, if Amazon was behind this aerial display, Jeff Bezos or another company official might have already said, “Yup, these drones are ours. Nothing to worry about. As you were.”

Wouldn't the fact that these drones are flying primarily at night cause the FBI or one of our other crack intelligence agencies to think to themselves, “Gee, I wonder why these drones are being flown only at night? It is almost as if whoever is controlling them does not want for them to be seen.”

Which leads me to China. The Chinese flew a giant freaking balloon across the entire continent and we didn't do anything about it, despite its glacial pace. They must surely believe that they could get away with flying a few dozen drones over New Jersey and New York — and their attendant military bases, dams, and other infrastructure.

As well as Trump’s properties.

Granted, this is rampant speculation on my part.

But, if they were going to do it, it would certainly be before Jan. 20. Whether or not these particular drones belong to the CCP, it appears China’s extraordinary investment in high tech military weaponry is entirely unnecessary, at least as regards the United States.

Under the Biden administration, the U.S.’s military readiness and capability appears to have regressed to pre-World War I levels, despite the advent of high-tech weaponry.

These drones fly at roughly the speed of a World War I aeroplane. A pilot in a Sopwith Camel or a Fokker Triplane could probably shoot one down.

I picture a pilot in an open cockpit with goggles, a leather vest, and a scarf trailing behind him pursuing one of these drones, his crude Gatling-style machine gun ablazin.’

Yet, the U.S. can't figure out what these drones are up to or what to do about them, mimicking how it handled the now infamous spy balloon.

It seems like, at this point in time, China could attack the U.S. with wooden schooners, slow boats from China, and it would be unable to quickly identify them … or protect its coasts as they bombarded Los Angeles and New York with cannonballs. Or whatever.

Whatever the case, this is just another embarrassment, and reason number 1,497 that the Trump administration can’t get here fast enough.

For God’s sake, shoot one of these aerial voyeurs down. If it’s of Chinese origin, say “Aha!”

If it’s one of Amazon’s, say: “Our bad, we’ll reimburse you.”

Simple.

Of course, the truth may be that our government is somehow behind these semi-UFOs. But the implications of that — and the lack of transparency — would be no more reassuring.

[Meanwhile, the corrupt FBI says it has no answers for drones seen over New Jersey. Heh.]

Liberty Under Siege: The Largest Mass Surveillance Effort in American History.

Before January 6th, 2021, financial surveillance in the United States was largely limited to a well-defined framework designed to combat money laundering and terrorism. Judicial oversight and clear legal protocols acted as key safeguards, ensuring that government access to citizens' financial information respected the rule of law. However, after the Capitol protests, these boundaries have shifted dramatically. Under the Biden administration, the purpose of surveillance has shifted from securing national interests to a tool for targeting political dissent—particularly individuals linked to Donald Trump and the "MAGA" movement. Take, for instance, the scrutiny faced by those who attended rallies or made donations to conservative causes; their financial transactions, travel records, and even personal communications have increasingly come under the federal microscope.

The U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary has exposed just how far-reaching this financial scrutiny has become. Their interim report revealed that federal agencies searched databases using terms like "MAGA" and "TRUMP" to identify potential threats. Activities once considered harmless—such as booking a hotel, buying a firearm, or possessing certain religious texts—are now deemed suspicious indicators. Notably, Bank of America handed over customer information for those who happened to be in Washington, D.C., during the week of January 6th, without a valid warrant, seemingly at the mere suggestion of federal agencies. Every person visiting D.C. during this time is now effectively on a federal terror watch list. Their purchases—be it firearms, ammunition, or Bibles—and their movements are now monitored in what is arguably the largest, most prolonged mass surveillance campaign aimed at a single political group in U.S. history. Army veteran and former Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard reportedly found herself on the TSA's Quiet Skies watch list after endorsing Trump, illustrating how this expansive monitoring extends to high-profile individuals as well.

This encroachment blurs the critical line between justifiable law enforcement and politically motivated surveillance—a distinction that is fundamental to a functioning democracy. The consequences of this are serious, as history has shown. During the McCarthy era, baseless accusations and unfounded investigations into supposed communist sympathizers led to widespread fear, paranoia, and ruined reputations. Similarly, the FBI's COINTELPRO program during the 1960s and 70s targeted civil rights leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., using aggressive tactics to discredit and intimidate activists, which eroded public trust in government institutions. Today, we are seeing similar abuses as surveillance expands from legitimate national security threats to political targeting.

Historically, Americans have been rightly wary of sweeping government surveillance. Following the September 11th attacks, the Patriot Act significantly expanded the federal government’s authority to monitor financial transactions and private communications, but these powers were intended to be wielded with caution and focus solely on credible security threats. Today, however, the Biden administration has moved from using these tools for national defense to deploying them against political opponents. Financial records meant to combat terrorism have now been repurposed to scrutinize those associated with conservative causes, including those who attended Trump rallies. This shift represents a dramatic and dangerous departure from the original intent of these surveillance measures.

While it is critical to support law enforcement in their legitimate aims to prevent extremist threats, indiscriminately labeling "MAGA" or "TRUMP" as potential threats to national security undermines the bedrock of political liberty. The scale of this intrusion is significant: over 25,000 federal employees reportedly have access to sensitive financial data without meaningful oversight. As detailed by the House Committee on the Judiciary, there are inadequate checks—such as judicial review or independent monitoring—which allows for potential misuse and unchecked abuse of this authority. The partisan leanings of the federal workforce, which is overwhelmingly aligned with the Democratic Party, raise concerns about how political biases could guide decisions regarding surveillance.

The risks of such unchecked authority cannot be understated. The echoes of COINTELPRO's abuses—where prominent civil rights leaders were subjected to unlawful harassment—serve as a reminder of the dangers posed by unchecked surveillance powers. The shift in focus from combating credible security threats to policing political thought shows a government that is losing sight of its constitutional limitations. It doesn't matter whether the pretext is foreign threats or so-called "domestic extremism"; the result is a pervasive erosion of civil liberties and government accountability.

To restore the balance, it is imperative that the power of surveillance be curtailed. Any future administration—including one led by Donald Trump—must prioritize the reduction of federal surveillance authority, appoint leaders to federal agencies who respect constitutional limits, and establish stronger oversight mechanisms to prevent abuse. Congress also has a critical role: legislation must be enacted to curb the expansive reach of acts like the Bank Secrecy Act and eliminate broad, politically motivated data searches. These reforms are not just sensible—they are essential for ensuring that our government remains accountable to its citizens, instead of treating dissent as inherently suspect.

The erosion of political freedoms we are witnessing today may begin with those who support "America First," but it sets a dangerous precedent that could eventually target environmental activists, labor organizers, or anyone else perceived as challenging the status quo. Such chilling effects diminish free speech, deter civic participation, and threaten the very fabric of what makes this country free.

James Madison once warned that tyranny might arrive "in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy," a caution that rings true today. His concerns were rooted in the era of the Alien and Sedition Acts, where the government suppressed dissent under the cover of national security—a troubling parallel to what we now see happening in the name of preventing domestic extremism. We must understand that this is not just about a particular political ideology; it is about the survival of our republic itself. To defend American liberties, we must opt for transparency over secrecy, accountability over arbitrary authority, and the constitution over convenience.

Ultimately, a government willing to sift through citizens' financial records based on political affiliations is one that can easily curtail any freedom it chooses. Just as we witnessed with COINTELPRO's abuses, unchecked powers are inevitably misused, leading to the harassment of political opponents, the violation of civil liberties, and the degradation of public trust. The American spirit is grounded in individual rights, due process, and resistance to government overreach—principles our Founders fought to protect. As citizens, it is our duty to demand that our leaders respect these rights, end the abuse of surveillance tools, and restore a government that exists to protect, not to persecute.

The Biden Crime Family Is Above The Law.

President Joe Biden is right about one thing. Hunter Biden has always been “treated differently.”

If Hunter had a different last name, he would never have been able to launch a career in corrupt influence-peddling or launder millions through his “art” or write a self-serving memoir about crack-fueled whoremongering or dump a gun next to a high school without any real consequences.

If Hunter’s last name weren’t “Biden,” special counsel David Weiss would never have let him get away with failing to register as a foreign agent or avoid paying millions in taxes that flowed from his foreign arrangements. If your name isn’t Biden, don’t try writing off your hookers and crack as tax deductions.

If Hunter had been treated like anyone else, the Justice Department wouldn’t have tried to give him blanket immunity not only on gun and tax charges but on a slew of uninvestigated potential offenses, including bribery and corruption.

If it hadn’t been for a principled judge named Maryellen Noreika, asking the government’s so-called prosecutors if they could provide a single precedent in which immunity was offered to a person for “crimes in a different case” (they could not), Hunter Biden would have walked last year. The DOJ was trying to pardon Hunter Biden long before Donald Trump won the presidency.

Then again, if it weren’t for the congressional testimony of Gary Shapley and Joseph Ziegler, it’s highly unlikely Hunter Biden would have ever been charged even with those two piddling misdemeanor counts.

Because for four years, Merrick Garland and the DOJ acted as the Praetorian Guard of the Biden crime syndicate, doing everything possible to keep Hunter Biden out of a courtroom and then dragging their feet to ensure that the statute of limitations on the most serious potential crimes ran out.

Yes, Joe Biden lied on numerous occasions about never having discussed the family business with his son. Joe Biden also lied when he told the country he would never pardon his son. But the pardon letter itself is also a lie.

Like the president, many media outlets framed Joe Biden’s pardon as shielding Hunter Biden from specific gun and tax charges when it is a pardon for all federal crimes committed over the past decade, which includes the times Joe Biden was the vice president and president.

Any genuine investigation into the family’s $17 million foreign influence-peddling business would necessitate deposing the president of the United States and compelling him to answer numerous difficult queries about his connections to disreputable authoritarian regimes. Being a “sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory” will only get you so far.

Hunter Biden’s laptop, despite censorious efforts of the press and social media platforms, was real and spectacular. It was filled with messages referencing his father’s role in securing the money and taking cuts from the business, not to mention the witnesses who said that the “Big Guy” had a part in that outfit or the checks referring to Joe Biden.

If Hunter Biden hadn’t been treated differently by the government, he would have had to answer for the 20-plus shell companies he helped set up with his uncle James Biden.

Indeed, the pardon’s decade-plus time frame is tremendously convenient, considering it coincides with Hunter Biden first pulling in $50,000-$83,000 per month as a board member of Burisma in 2014, just as his father was forging policy in that country for the Obama administration.

The pardon extends to 2015, when Hunter Biden received emails from a Ukrainian businessman thanking him for the chance to meet with Joe Biden when the latter was vice president.

It extends to 2017, when we have an email proposing an equity breakdown of a venture with Chicom energy concerns, which included the line, “10 held by H for the big guy?” It is the same year Hunter Biden threatened his Chinese partner Raymond Zhao with the words, “I am sitting here with my father.” Even the Obama administration was worried about Biden Inc.

The pardon also extends to 2019, when Hunter Biden received two wire transfers totaling $260,000 from Beijing with the president’s Delaware home listed as the beneficiary address. The “perception of access” can be quite lucrative.

As always, many of the president’s defenders leaned into emotional appeals regarding the older Biden. Any loving father would have pardoned his once-addicted son – a privileged, middle-aged, Yale-educated lawyer and international lobbyist who is constantly being portrayed as a child. One could argue that a good father would never have enabled his drug-addicted son to engage in influence trading. But what is certain is that a patriot would never have put the country or his family in this position.