Before he leaves office, Biden should...

[retrofade]

The timing of this, right after Trump announced Kash Patel would be taking over the FBI, probably says a lot about why it occurred.

That said, I don't view it all that differently than Clinton pardoning his brother or Trump pardoning his daughter's FIL. 

Hunter has also suffered plenty already. His reputation, such as it was, is now shredded to pieces. He's had poster-sized nude pictures of him displayed on the floor of the House of Representatives. What more would a jail term do to him except to inflict more punishment? By all accounts, he's attempting to live his life better and has been sober for over five years. 

Ultimately, it doesn't look good, and he probably shouldn't have done it if just because the hyenas are going to be crying about it for the next four years. On top of that, they'll use it to justify every stupid thing Trump is sure to do after taking office. 

Advisors: Mr. President, you can't prosecute someone for saying you're a terrible President on the WCSBoard, we have a First Amendment that protects such speech.

Trump: I DON'T CARE! DO IT ANYWAY!

HEADLINE: Internet user @retrofade is under federal indictment for insulting President Trump on an internet forum.

Fox News Pundit: He's well within his rights to do this; remember that Joe Biden pardoned Hunter, and this is basically the same thing. 

[CV147]

Par for the course.

There's no real moral high ground between the two parties, just one-upsmanship and a race to the bottom.

The lesser of two evils is still evil. Fuck the duopoly.

[thelawlorfaithful]

[BYUcougfan]

On 12/2/2024 at 8:53 AM, retrofade said:

The timing of this, right after Trump announced Kash Patel would be taking over the FBI, probably says a lot about why it occurred.

That said, I don't view it all that differently than Clinton pardoning his brother or Trump pardoning his daughter's FIL. 

Hunter has also suffered plenty already. His reputation, such as it was, is now shredded to pieces. He's had poster-sized nude pictures of him displayed on the floor of the House of Representatives. What more would a jail term do to him except to inflict more punishment? By all accounts, he's attempting to live his life better and has been sober for over five years. 

Ultimately, it doesn't look good, and he probably shouldn't have done it if just because the hyenas are going to be crying about it for the next four years. On top of that, they'll use it to justify every stupid thing Trump is sure to do after taking office. 

Advisors: Mr. President, you can't prosecute someone for saying you're a terrible President on the WCSBoard, we have a First Amendment that protects such speech.

Trump: I DON'T CARE! DO IT ANYWAY!

HEADLINE: Internet user @retrofade is under federal indictment for insulting President Trump on an internet forum.

Fox News Pundit: He's well within his rights to do this; remember that Joe Biden pardoned Hunter, and this is basically the same thing. 

Teams much?  Biden's excuse was that the justice system was hopelessly politicized.  Trump is going to use that same exact reason when he pardons all the Jan 6ers.  Live by the sword, die by the sword so no complaining.  The Hunter pardon is more like the Nixon pardon.  Hunter is absolved of anything and everything, known and unknown, from Jan 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024.

[The San Diegan]

On 12/2/2024 at 7:53 AM, CV147 said:

Par for the course.

There's no real moral high ground between the two parties, just one-upsmanship and a race to the bottom.

The lesser of two evils is still evil. Fuck the duopoly.

I would push back and say this is a more-or-less a consequence of a) Trump's hyper-partisan cabinet picks (and their Forever Boner for jailing the other team), and b) the New Normal we live in where morality doesn't matter and spurious actions come without consequences. I mean, our electorate just chose a president who is a convicted felon that has been found culpable of rape in a court of law and attempted a fucking coup. Never mind the fact he's clinically incapable of telling the truth.

What does that say about us? About our new norms? I honestly feel sorry for all the posters' daughters who will be dealing with the misogynistic and rapey "your body my choice" Incel Nation we've become. A fish rots from the head down and indeed it seems we've become more rotten.

[retrofade]

On 12/2/2024 at 9:42 AM, BYUcougfan said:

Teams much?  Biden's excuse was that the justice system was hopelessly politicized.  Trump is going to use that same exact reason when he pardons all the Jan 6ers.  Live by the sword, die by the sword so no complaining.  The Hunter pardon is more like the Nixon pardon.  Hunter is absolved of anything and everything, known and unknown, from Jan 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024.

What teams and shit did I post? Nothing. Try again. 

[InnZoneU]

On 12/2/2024 at 9:53 AM, The San Diegan said:

I would push back and say this is a more-or-less a consequence of a) Trump's hyper-partisan cabinet picks (and their Forever Boner for jailing the other team), and b) the New Normal we live in where morality doesn't matter and spurious actions come without consequences. I mean, our electorate just chose a president who is a convicted felon that has been found culpable of rape in a court of law and attempted a fucking coup. Never mind the fact he's clinically incapable of telling the truth.

What does that say about us? About our new norms? I honestly feel sorry for all the posters' daughters who will be dealing with the misogynistic and rapey "your body my choice" Incel Nation we've become. A fish rots from the head down and indeed it seems we've become more rotten.

Stupid won.  Time for the smart people to figure it the fck out.  Otherwise we're all gonna have bar codes and drinking Brawndo.

[renoskier]

On 12/2/2024 at 10:26 AM, InnZoneU said:

Stupid won.   

for the time being

[InnZoneU]

On 12/2/2024 at 10:30 AM, renoskier said:

for the time being

True.  Stupid has a shelf life and expiration date.  Usually...

[thelawlorfaithful]

[thehowlin]

On 12/2/2024 at 12:53 PM, The San Diegan said:

I would push back and say this is a more-or-less a consequence of a) Trump's hyper-partisan cabinet picks (and their Forever Boner for jailing the other team), and b) the New Normal we live in where morality doesn't matter and spurious actions come without consequences. I mean, our electorate just chose a president who is a convicted felon that has been found culpable of rape in a court of law and attempted a fucking coup. Never mind the fact he's clinically incapable of telling the truth.

What does that say about us? About our new norms? I honestly feel sorry for all the posters' daughters who will be dealing with the misogynistic and rapey "your body my choice" Incel Nation we've become. A fish rots from the head down and indeed it seems we've become more rotten.

Listening to pre and post election focus groups has made it clear how little the average voter cares about the Constitution, the Rule of Law, norms, and precedent. In fact, many of them explicitly see the above as having made their lives worse over the last 40 years.

To them, the system, meaning our Constitutional Republic, has been incapable of solving the problems they face in their lives. And these aren’t “keep the government out of my life voters” these are “make my life better by any means necessary or burn it all down because the system is broken.”

Today’s voters care about deliverables, not what creative way you worked your way through the political process to pass an incremental bill in a bipartisan way.

The new normal going forward is going to be efficient and explicit exercise of raw unilateral power by both parties while they have it or while they can take it.

Say bye bye to the legislative filibuster, it’s days are numbered.

[CV147]

On 12/2/2024 at 12:53 PM, The San Diegan said:

I would push back and say this is a more-or-less a consequence of a) Trump's hyper-partisan cabinet picks (and their Forever Boner for jailing the other team), and b) the New Normal we live in where morality doesn't matter and spurious actions come without consequences. I mean, our electorate just chose a president who is a convicted felon that has been found culpable of rape in a court of law and attempted a fucking coup. Never mind the fact he's clinically incapable of telling the truth.

What does that say about us? About our new norms? I honestly feel sorry for all the posters' daughters who will be dealing with the misogynistic and rapey "your body my choice" Incel Nation we've become. A fish rots from the head down and indeed it seems we've become more rotten.

All I read was "but Trump!"

If Kamala would have won, Biden would have done the same thing and pardoned his son. Nice try at a red herring, though.

Both sides point at each other while guiding this country toward totalitarianism.

[Chile_Ute]

On 12/2/2024 at 12:17 PM, thelawlorfaithful said:

That’s stellar

[The San Diegan]

On 12/2/2024 at 2:26 PM, CV147 said:

All I read was "but Trump!"

If Kamala would have won, Biden would have done the same thing and pardoned his son. Nice try at a red herring, though.

Both sides point at each other while guiding this country toward totalitarianism.

Maybe so. 

But of course all you would read is "but Trump." Tracks, given how far up Trump butt your nose resides. 

[The Barber]

So, Biden lied to everyone, saying he believes that "no one is above the law".  Said that, unlike Trump, he would agree to abide by a conviction, even Hunter.  This related to Hunter failing to pay $1.4M in taxes and committing tax fraud (writing off prostitutes and drug purchases as a business expense).

Hunter was looking at 17 years conviction.

Then after the election he promptly reneges on his word and lets Hunter off the hook.

Politicians are all the same.  Biden and Trump have more in common with each other than they do with the guys on this message board.

[masterfrog]

I am going to go on record and say that I like the power of pardon. It allows something to happen quickly that might take years in the justice system. I would prefer it to be used on people that have been wronged by the system and I don’t think that includes Hunter. I don’t want to see it go away though. 

[Chile_Ute]

On 12/2/2024 at 4:52 PM, masterfrog said:

I am going to go on record and say that I like the power of pardon. It allows something to happen quickly that might take years in the justice system. I would prefer it to be used on people that have been wronged by the system and I don’t think that includes Hunter. I don’t want to see it go away though. 

Fair viewpoint.

[BYUcougfan]

On 12/2/2024 at 11:21 AM, retrofade said:

What teams and shit did I post? Nothing. Try again. 

You are trying to paint Hunter as some sort of victim.  His daddy's DOJ slow walked the worst of the charges so that they expired.  They were eventually forced to charge him with the gun and tax charges when the whistleblowers came forward.  Even then, they tried to get that plea deal (that looked an awful lot like this pardon) secreted through.  This is nothing like the Clinton or Trump family member pardons.  In both those cases, the family members were at least pardoned AFTER they had served their time.  Going forward, all of us get to deal with the 87,000 more IRS agents Biden hired to ferret out people guilty of the exact crime he just pardoned his son for.

[renoskier]

On 12/2/2024 at 3:52 PM, masterfrog said:

I am going to go on record and say that I like the power of pardon. It allows something to happen quickly that might take years in the justice system. I would prefer it to be used on people that have been wronged by the system and I don’t think that includes Hunter. I don’t want to see it go away though. 

Although it reeks of monarchy, I like it too. It can be cathartic.

[SalinasSpartan]

On 12/2/2024 at 3:52 PM, masterfrog said:

I am going to go on record and say that I like the power of pardon. It allows something to happen quickly that might take years in the justice system. I would prefer it to be used on people that have been wronged by the system and I don’t think that includes Hunter. I don’t want to see it go away though. 

I agree, I think it’s a net positive.