While the pundits discuss the decision by President Joe Biden to pardon his son Hunter Biden from charges related to various charges, including drug and gun possession, the commentators miss the point that the weak link in the Justice Department’s prosecution of Biden and President-elect Donald Trump is Merrick Garland, possibly the worst Attorney General in modern American history.
The argument from the Biden critics is that Joe Biden is a hypocrite since he said he would never pardon his son. That is true. But in pardoning his son, Biden said that the Justice Department singled out his son because they shared the same name and the severe criminal penalties he faced –possibly a maximum penalty of 17 years in prison. However, actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. He also was found guilty of three felony tax offenses, six misdemeanor tax offenses, and three felony charges related to a gun purchase.
In comparison, Trump has a much longer rap sheet. Most recently, he was convicted of 34 criminal charges of falsifying business records related to paying off Stormy Daniels to keep their tryst secret, plus a tax evasion scheme that earned a $355 million fine, plus interest. Then there were the 37 felonies in connection with Trump’s removal of documents from the White House when he left office. However, a hack, Judge Aileen Cannon, dismissed the case. Watch Cannon to get a new appointment soon.
Trump is a master criminal compared to the influence peddler and bungler party guy Hunter Biden. Their paths are favorably crossed because of their high-level political and social connections, and they both stay out of jail.
Politics and Justice Do Not Mix
The other similarity is that Trump made claims about the politicization of the Justice Department when he was prosecuted for his criminal acts. Comparing the severity of Trump’s long history of civil and criminal crimes to Biden’s makes Hunter Biden look like a petty thief. But Trump’s argument that the Justice Department is a politicized law firm now has more merit because both white-collar criminals (Hunter Biden and Trump) have both gotten the ultimate get-out-of-jail-free cards thanks to the unholy meeting of the U.S. Supreme Court, some friendly local judges in Florida, and a presidential pardon.
However, the politicization of the U.S. Justice Department is the fault of Merrick Garland, a weak manager who mysteriously waited a few critical years to appoint Jack Smith as a Special Prosecutor against Trump. Garland apparently cannot make a quick decision or is so tangled in his institutionalized vision of the U.S. Justice Department that he could not prosecute a blatant criminal because he was a political leader. Garland wanted to be on the Supreme Court, so would he have applied a different judicial opinion to a wealthy defendant or a CEO of a large corporation?
Or was Garland a lousy manager because he also had no judicial will?
Biden’s big mistake is that he did not fire Garland years ago when Garland’s inert management style was evident in his delay in prosecuting Trump. Joe Biden did nothing because he is an institutionalist who looks backward for inspiration. Biden said he would never interfere with the Justice Department because he was under the false impression that Garland was a manager.
As an institutionalist, Biden thought the future with the MAGA crowd running loose and an insurrectionist criminal running for president would not be a challenge because the American people, in all their wisdom, would never allow a convicted felon into the White House. Biden was wrong on all counts. He spent too much time lamenting the political and family past and mourning his son, Beau. While Biden was preoccupied with his neer-do-well son, Garland’s Rip Van Winkle approach let a career criminal go free which cost Kamala Harris the election.
Biden frequently talked about the days when the Democratic Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, would have drinks with Republicans and Ronald Reagan as a show of bipartisan unity. That nostalgia haunted and paralyzed Joe Biden, who, in the last few years of his term, projected physical and mental weakness that could not overcome his outstanding record of passing major legislation.
In the Tea Party, MAGA, the white nationalist era of today, Biden fell victim to his nostalgia for days gone by, his respect for Washington’s institutions at a time when the MAGA movement stormed the Capitol and had no respect for lawmakers, police, judges, political staffers, and lawmakers who did not sign their MAGA loyalty oath.
Biden was a victim of Garland’s wimpy management style and indecision, while Biden and Garland were crushed by their respect for their respective institutions. The worst thing that can be said about politicians is that they are not men or women of their age. That holds true for Joe Biden and Garland, who both belonged in the 1950s, when law and order were more easily recognized.
White-Collar Criminals Go Free While Minorities Stay in Prison
The Hunter Biden-Trump legal cases also should re-ignite discussions about the gross disparity in justice between white-collar rich white men and the vast majority of minorities who are imprisoned and serving time for far fewer crimes committed by these two aristocrats.
Worldwide, there are more than 10.35 million people incarcerated, with the most being in the United States–more than 2.2 million. In 2022, the racial demographics of people in state or federal prison were 32% Black, 31% White, 23% Hispanic, 10% multiracial or other race, 2% American Indian or Alaska Native, and 1% Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Other Pacific Islander, according to the U.S. Bureau of Justice. The same source said 1,230,100 were in prison on Dec. 31, 2022, a 2% increase from 2021 (1,205,100).
What do people in U.S. prisons think about the justice meted out to Hunter Biden and Trump?
That would be a great segment on a non-corporate-owned cable channel or something for John Stewart or John Oliver.
But for average Americans, it’s obvious the U.S. Justice system favors wealthy male, white-collar criminals, both Democrat and Republica,n as long as they have the money and connections.
