I have to say that I was appalled and disappointed in Biden’s decision to pardon his son. It undermined his (and the Dems’) claim to devotion to the rule of law, a principle which is as much under threat as it has ever been in our Republic. It was also self-serving, bad politics, and strengthened the argument (made here previously) that the Dems and Biden in particular have not been so much worthy of enthusiastic support as they have been marginally more attractive than the GOP and HWSNBN.
Providing insulation for those who have already been named on the latter’s hit list (e.g., Mayorkas, Jack Smith, Gen. Milley) would at least have been principled, as well as saving us all a lot of distraction and money.
The incipient attack on democratic norms, however, is robust and extensive. I will not rehearse the list here (due to my weekly word limits). Still, I had to laugh (mordantly) when the NYT breathlessly advised us that the plan to populate the senior positions of government through the use of recess appointments and elbow the Senate out of the picture posed a “test” of the Republican majority’s integrity, independence, and institutionalism. Even with Mitch McConnell now sitting in the back rows, this is a group with the collective moral backbone of a seasick turnip.
While some of the members go out of their way to praise the capabilities and leadership of such luminaries as Kash Patel (FBI Director-designate), Pete Hegseth (Defense), and Dr. Oz (Medicare), there are only a few rumblings of dissent. But who can expect much of Susan Collins (R-ME) even if she acknowledged that she was burned by the Brett Kavanaugh appointment to the Supreme Court, much less ex-football coach Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) whose acumen seems to bear the effects of too many head-butt tackles.
It's sad to think that the only thing holding back the Administration and the Senate is… (no, it’s not the House of Representatives, that stalwart defender of democracy, nor the ostrich-like Supreme Court), … the future. That is to say, it’s the vague sense that just perhaps the Dems might win an election in the future and pull the same shenanigans. With such a precedent in place, even if the GOP were to retain control of the Senate (not a long shot given the considerable distortions built into our Constitutional system), with such dubious tactics as “recess appointments” they might not be able to prevent the left-wing/Commie/Socialist apocalypse: President-elect Buttigieg could name AOC to the DOJ, Liz Cheney to Defense, and Gavin Newsom to Treasury. Gasp!
Here’s where the beauty of the Biden/Biden pardon comes in. Could it be read as a signal that the Dems are actually ready to play hardball, down-in-the-dirt politics? They have been hung up for so long on “doing the right thing for the country,” that they let the GOP and HWSNBN sneak in (twice!!) and trash things. Say what you will about how Mitch McConnell stiff-armed the Merrick Garland nomination to the Supreme Court in 2016, it was brutal and effective. The Dems wrung their hands and fumed, but to no avail. Now, here comes Joe saying, “I’m going to give my son a get out of jail free card, just like the next President will pardon the January 6 gang and appoint his daughter’s father-in-law (a convicted felon… (hmmm, echo, echo)) as Ambassador to France and his son’s ex-girlfriend as Ambassador to Greece. So, take that. And when we get back in (as we will) you can count on us pulling the same manipulations and contortions to get back at you.” Think of Nancy Pelosi’s toughness without the commitment to democratic norms.
The Dems have been pretty limp on this front for a long time. The most recent example is the non-weaponization of the judicial process to get at HWSNBN once he was out of office last time. While a battery of legal cases were eventually mounted, they were late and lackadaisical in their scope and timing. Remember all the hullaballoo around his taxes? Was anything ever done—either in terms of audit or prosecution? Did all these “smart” prosecutors play out the highly predictable delay tactics used by the (often pretty lame) defense counsel? Why couldn’t Fani Willis in Georgia keep herself above suspicion during that prosecution? Only one case got to verdict and even that was spun out so that NY State will have to wait until 2029 for justice. I guess it’s true that the Dems are not tough on crime!
The pardon may be too subtle a signal for the incoming Administration and their henchpersons. It's a stretch to credit them with a coherent strategy and the capacity for long-term thinking. That’s a pretty tough sell, given the half-baked, “tear-it-all-down” attitude of many in that group. They have shown little attention to the long-term implications of their policies and priorities other than a certain (dys-?)utopian imagining of triumphalism over China, ungrateful Europeans, and troublesome “countries of color.” Domestically, they’re focused on a Christian nation that’s socially in the 1950s and technologically in the 2050s.
As I have noted before, the Dems have their own versions of party dysfunction. They have a major positioning/messaging challenge. They have yet to show a focus on winning and a hard-nosed realpolitik approach that the other side has mastered. For all their nominal concern with children, education, climate, and social justice, there is little of existential angst that seems to underlie and motivate the current batch of “conservatives.”
It would be nice to imagine that Joe’s pardon of Hunter was a signal that the Dems are waking up, but I think it’s just a tawdry tale of familial protectionism by someone who is well past his “best by___” date.
Providing insulation for those who have already been named on the latter’s hit list (e.g., Mayorkas, Jack Smith, Gen. Milley) would at least have been principled, as well as saving us all a lot of distraction and money.
The incipient attack on democratic norms, however, is robust and extensive. I will not rehearse the list here (due to my weekly word limits). Still, I had to laugh (mordantly) when the NYT breathlessly advised us that the plan to populate the senior positions of government through the use of recess appointments and elbow the Senate out of the picture posed a “test” of the Republican majority’s integrity, independence, and institutionalism. Even with Mitch McConnell now sitting in the back rows, this is a group with the collective moral backbone of a seasick turnip.
While some of the members go out of their way to praise the capabilities and leadership of such luminaries as Kash Patel (FBI Director-designate), Pete Hegseth (Defense), and Dr. Oz (Medicare), there are only a few rumblings of dissent. But who can expect much of Susan Collins (R-ME) even if she acknowledged that she was burned by the Brett Kavanaugh appointment to the Supreme Court, much less ex-football coach Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) whose acumen seems to bear the effects of too many head-butt tackles.
It's sad to think that the only thing holding back the Administration and the Senate is… (no, it’s not the House of Representatives, that stalwart defender of democracy, nor the ostrich-like Supreme Court), … the future. That is to say, it’s the vague sense that just perhaps the Dems might win an election in the future and pull the same shenanigans. With such a precedent in place, even if the GOP were to retain control of the Senate (not a long shot given the considerable distortions built into our Constitutional system), with such dubious tactics as “recess appointments” they might not be able to prevent the left-wing/Commie/Socialist apocalypse: President-elect Buttigieg could name AOC to the DOJ, Liz Cheney to Defense, and Gavin Newsom to Treasury. Gasp!
Here’s where the beauty of the Biden/Biden pardon comes in. Could it be read as a signal that the Dems are actually ready to play hardball, down-in-the-dirt politics? They have been hung up for so long on “doing the right thing for the country,” that they let the GOP and HWSNBN sneak in (twice!!) and trash things. Say what you will about how Mitch McConnell stiff-armed the Merrick Garland nomination to the Supreme Court in 2016, it was brutal and effective. The Dems wrung their hands and fumed, but to no avail. Now, here comes Joe saying, “I’m going to give my son a get out of jail free card, just like the next President will pardon the January 6 gang and appoint his daughter’s father-in-law (a convicted felon… (hmmm, echo, echo)) as Ambassador to France and his son’s ex-girlfriend as Ambassador to Greece. So, take that. And when we get back in (as we will) you can count on us pulling the same manipulations and contortions to get back at you.” Think of Nancy Pelosi’s toughness without the commitment to democratic norms.
The Dems have been pretty limp on this front for a long time. The most recent example is the non-weaponization of the judicial process to get at HWSNBN once he was out of office last time. While a battery of legal cases were eventually mounted, they were late and lackadaisical in their scope and timing. Remember all the hullaballoo around his taxes? Was anything ever done—either in terms of audit or prosecution? Did all these “smart” prosecutors play out the highly predictable delay tactics used by the (often pretty lame) defense counsel? Why couldn’t Fani Willis in Georgia keep herself above suspicion during that prosecution? Only one case got to verdict and even that was spun out so that NY State will have to wait until 2029 for justice. I guess it’s true that the Dems are not tough on crime!
The pardon may be too subtle a signal for the incoming Administration and their henchpersons. It's a stretch to credit them with a coherent strategy and the capacity for long-term thinking. That’s a pretty tough sell, given the half-baked, “tear-it-all-down” attitude of many in that group. They have shown little attention to the long-term implications of their policies and priorities other than a certain (dys-?)utopian imagining of triumphalism over China, ungrateful Europeans, and troublesome “countries of color.” Domestically, they’re focused on a Christian nation that’s socially in the 1950s and technologically in the 2050s.
As I have noted before, the Dems have their own versions of party dysfunction. They have a major positioning/messaging challenge. They have yet to show a focus on winning and a hard-nosed realpolitik approach that the other side has mastered. For all their nominal concern with children, education, climate, and social justice, there is little of existential angst that seems to underlie and motivate the current batch of “conservatives.”
It would be nice to imagine that Joe’s pardon of Hunter was a signal that the Dems are waking up, but I think it’s just a tawdry tale of familial protectionism by someone who is well past his “best by___” date.
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