Common Sense: Biden’s Pardons and Political Hypocrisy—No Moral High Ground

There used to be a common expression that captured the sentiment of someone accusing another of being guilty of something they had already done.  “That is like the pot calling the kettle black.” This week, President Biden decided to go for the gold medal in hypocrisy and tortured logic.

On his way out the door—as in the final 30 minutes of his term—President Biden decided that would be a good time to issue pre-emptive and unconditional pardons to five members of his immediate family.  This after doing it for his son, Hunter, as well as high ranking public officials such as Anthony Fauci, Liz Cheney, and Mark Milley.  He even did this for anyone who was staff for the January 6 hearings without bothering to provide their names.  In the time between the Hunter pardon and those for political figures and other family members, President Biden also pardoned or commuted the sentences of a record number of criminals, including the killer of two FBI agents.

Some people had the nerve to observe this was strange behavior for our guardian of democracy, its institutions, and norms.  In fact, this may have been the most cynical, self-serving example of abusing his office in the history of the Presidency.  Pretending anything otherwise is nothing more than rationalizing evil in the name of “preventing politically motivated prosecutions.”  Time for decent and thinking Americans to scream BS.

In 2020, it was reported that then-President Trump was considering giving pre-emptive pardons to his family.  Can you guess what the legacy mainstream media and other liberal stalwarts had to say at the time?  Give it a quick Google.  The talking heads at CNN and MSNBC were beside themselves at the thought of it.  Best of all, Joe Biden was especially upset about the prospect of it happening.

In real-time, here is what he had to say.  “It concerns me in terms of what kind of precedent it sets and how the rest of the world looks (at) us as a nation of laws and justice.”  

As to “political prosecutions,” I believe the record clearly indicates that is exactly what was done to President Trump.  As has been reported, both the New York and Georgia cases were the subject of multiple communications between the Administration and the local prosecutors.  No doubt, they were discussing college football because we surely don’t want politics in our legal system.  Oh, and President Trump did not grant a single pre-emptive pardon, unconditional are otherwise, to his family.

President Biden assured us multiple times his respect for the legal system meant no pardon for Hunter.  Most of us did not know the other five family members were even on the radar screen.  So, the bottom lines are that he broke his promise and claimed victim status for those he pardoned.  Millions of Americans rolled their eyes and thought, “give me a frigging break.”

President Biden told us these pre-emptive and unconditional pardons were necessary to avoid politically motivated prosecutions of his family.  As awful, even obscene, this all is, many Democrats and their fellow travelers in the mainstream media continue to find ways to excuse this behavior.  I have yet to see anyone from that universe ask why these pardons cover the four years President Biden served in office.  Is he saying that while he occupied the Oval Office that there is any basis whatsoever for these people to be in harm’s way for their behavior?  That is quite the statement.

Our benevolent betters in the media are more focused on the pardons President Trump granted for January 6 participants.  This, they assure us, is the real threat to democracy.  Do they even listen to themselves?  Let’s see.  President Trump campaigned by telling Americans he would do just as he has done.  Voters knew what to expect.  Meanwhile, President Biden repeatedly assured the public he would never do what he actually did.

My argument is not that normal Americans pay terribly close attention to all of this.  However, there is a perception that President Trump does what he said he will do.  Meanwhile, President Biden outright lied (a favorite term applied to President Trump by the mainstream media).  Not only that, President Biden did it arguing he was worried about the new Administration perhaps doing what his Administration had actually already done.  Commonsense argues the public is not buying this nonsense.  Trying to sell it, claiming the moral high ground, is simply galling.