Seth Boyes, News Editor
I had it all planned out in my head. I was going to write a post-Thanksgiving column inspired by some of Norman Rockwell’s well-known art. It was going to make some great points on things like togetherness and community by juxtaposing Rockwell’s “Freedom from Want” (you know the one, it’s got the family and the turkey dinner) with one of his not-quite-as-well-known pieces titled “Shuffleton’s Barbershop.”
Then President Biden had to go and grant an unconditional pardon for his son Hunter (and as someone who is occasionally referred to as a wordsmith, I feel I ought to point out the intentionality in choosing the preposition “for” rather than “to” in this instance).
So much for my thematic Thanksgiving column. I suppose I could try to draw parallels between Biden’s pardon and the campy pardoning of turkeys by elected officials across the country — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds pardoned a pair of turkeys named in reference to the state’s premier women’s basketball player last week.
But let’s just stick to the topic at hand.
The younger Biden was found guilty of lying about his drug use on a form to purchase a gun in 2018. We can all have our own feelings on the verdict, but that is what a federal jury decided.
Now, President Biden obviously isn’t the first commander in chief to pardon somebody — not by a long shot. However, the standard language of the pardon — specifically, the part that says “for any offenses against the United States, which he has committed or may have committed” — brings to mind (at least for me) the mono-tone voice of President Gerald Ford as he read the pardon for his predecessor in the wake of the now infamous Watergate scandal. And that pardon in itself has become an enduring undertone of the process, especially in this week’s case I think.
I might have even been able overlook President Biden’s decision, if it weren’t for the fact that he had already said he would not become involved in his son’s court case. But he didn’t keep his word on that.
The president said in a Dec. 1 statement that he believes in the justice system, but he also claimed Hunter Biden was “singled out only because he is my son” adding “raw politics has infected this process, and it led to a miscarriage of justice.”
Again, I might be the only one, but that statement reminds me of some words spoken during previous — but relatively recent — presidential races. Biden’s reasoning smacks of the same sentiment we heard from President Donald Trump back in 2020, when he said during a campaign stop in Wisconsin that, “the only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.”
There must be something about living in the White House that makes folks think fairness means things must always work out in their favor.
Biden initially did the right thing, in my opinion, when he said he’d keep his executive powers in his pocket and let blind justice decide his son’s case rather than the Oval Office. And I don’t think anyone doubts that was a difficult promise to make, let alone keep. So, on the one hand, I understand the impulse to go back on his word, but on the other, I’m still disappointed he did. I’ll echo the words of Democratic U.S. Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio, who said Monday in a social media post that, “As a father, I get it. But as someone who wants people to believe in public service again, it’s a setback.”
And that’s really the issue from where I’m sitting. This will do nothing to restore the public’s trust in its government. In fact, it just might have the opposite effect. Biden’s decision to issue the pardon builds upon an already bad precedent within present day politics. A jury found Hunter Biden guilty, not Biden’s partisan opposition. Political chessmen may have pushed the case into the courtroom, but a jury of Hunter Biden’s peers decided the allegations were true and that he should be held accountable.
There’s been plenty of finger pointing over the last few administrations, saying this relative or that business partner of a sitting president or lawmaker has been given special treatment or benefited financially thanks to some action within the federal government — and let’s be honest, people don’t get elected to office in our country because they know absolutely no one in the public sphere. But for Biden to give his own son a do-over with only weeks left in his presidency, while thousands of other clemency petitions are reportedly still pending, seems to be the very definition of favoritism.
On the up side, this decision may serve as a prime example in showing us as well as future generations of voters that neither side of the aisle is fully capable of setting aside familial favoritism or personal biases when performing their official duties. It’s a truth we probably already knew at some level but don’t often want to admit applies to those in our preferred camp.
It’s not the kind of leadership we need, but it is the kind of leadership we seem to be getting these days. It cuts the legs out from under the office, and it makes it even harder for future presidents to stand with integrity on the same footing.
Agree with Seth? Think he’s got it completely backwards or he’s missed the point entirely? Let your voice be heard. Letters to the editor may be emailed to editor@decorahleader.com or dropped off at 110 Washington St. Suite 4 in Decorah.
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It was the right thing to do in a politically right wing driven plan to try to hurt Bidens family. His son had No Criminal record.