Father, Son, and Commander-in-Chief

Who wouldn’t understand him? Who wouldn’t feel sympathy for a father, knowing his own end will come soon, trying to protect his son? Protecting him from perhaps 10 or more years in prison. Whether it’s love for his son, a genetically programmed instinct, or both, you can’t help but want to hug the frail old man and say: “I understand you, Joe. You’ve endured so much pain already. You lost your first wife and daughter in a car accident, your other son to cancer, and now your only remaining son should go to jail?”

That would be too much to ask!

But would it really be too much to ask, Mr President?

When you assumed office, you promised not to interfere with the decisions of the Department of Justice. You broke that promise. It wasn’t illegal, since there’s no law explicitly forbidding it. But you also violated the norm of respecting the independence of the Department of Justice, particularly in criminal investigations. Again, not illegal. Moreover you cannot be blamed for the fundamental design flaw in the legal framework of the Department of Justice: on one hand, the Attorney General is a member of the government and thus part of the executive branch. On the other hand, the Attorney General is tasked with upholding the law, requiring adherence to the separation of powers between the executive and judicial branches. Who thought that up?

One could almost believe that a significant part of American democracy was scribbled on a napkin between a hastily gulped-down whisky at the bar and the shootout following it.

To be honest, Mr President, we also shouldn’t ignore that your son, shall we say, doesn’t seem to be of unimpeachable moral character. It does seem odd, for instance, that someone who voluntarily joins the Navy is discharged on the very first day for cocaine use. The crimes for which you’ve now pardoned him also revolve around illegal drug use and illegal firearm possession. But let’s leave that aside—after all, your son wouldn’t be the first to struggle in the shadow of an overpowering father.

To summarise, Mr President: your son is not an unfortunate victim nor a morally upright individual who has merely fallen into the wheels of justice due to bad luck or slander. Nor can you claim to have acted in the national interest—an excuse that, as any lover of blockbuster movies knows, can justify just about anything.

In the past, it was customary to offer a son as a sacrifice on God’s altar. Today, it seems, we’re more willing to sacrifice the credibility of democracy on the altar of the son. But why get angry? An age-old truth remains:

Power corrupts everyone, every time.

And for the younger readers among us: a brilliant summary of the above can be found in Disney’s The Jungle Book. there,

Baloo the Bear sings:

“And if you’re always at ease and something looks appetising, grab it, or someone else will take it.”

#HunterBiden #Pardon #SeparationOfPowers #JoeBiden #AttorneyGeneral