If we want to once again live in a society with integrity where things work, we have no choice but to denounce corruption wherever we see it without partisanship or favor.
If Joe Biden himself did not believe that protecting his son was wrong and shameful he would not have insisted for so long that he would never do it. He would have signalled long ago that he would pardon him if there was nothing to be ashamed of. But, in fact, everyone understood that he had already decided to pardon Hunter a few months ago, when Hunter pleaded guility at the last minute to avoid a trial. Hunter would never have given up whetever chance a trial might give him if he wasn't certain of a pardon.
I completely put aside the equally (perhaps more) important issue of a pre-emptive pardon for all unspecified crimes over a long period.
I agree with everything you say, except I think you missed a key point. This pardon was not to protect Hunter Biden. It was to protect Joe Biden and his entire family from criminal prosecution.
Joe and his lawyer are smart enough to know that a common law enforcement tactic to roll up an organized crime ring is to catch one member and then give that person a plea bargain in exchange for testifying against all the other members of the ring. This leverages one charge into many charges, potentially destroying the entire ring.
Hunter Biden without a pardon would be an obvious target of such a tactic. The breadth and duration of the pardon show its true intent. It was to absolve Hunter of crimes that he has not yet been charged with.
So Joe was pardoning Joe and his entire family of potential charges involving influence peddling, but without obviously doing so.
Refusing to meekly accept martyrdom to Republican revenge prosecutions is not corruption. Hope this helps.
If Joe Biden himself did not believe that protecting his son was wrong and shameful he would not have insisted for so long that he would never do it. He would have signalled long ago that he would pardon him if there was nothing to be ashamed of. But, in fact, everyone understood that he had already decided to pardon Hunter a few months ago, when Hunter pleaded guility at the last minute to avoid a trial. Hunter would never have given up whetever chance a trial might give him if he wasn't certain of a pardon.
I completely put aside the equally (perhaps more) important issue of a pre-emptive pardon for all unspecified crimes over a long period.
I agree with everything you say, except I think you missed a key point. This pardon was not to protect Hunter Biden. It was to protect Joe Biden and his entire family from criminal prosecution.
Joe and his lawyer are smart enough to know that a common law enforcement tactic to roll up an organized crime ring is to catch one member and then give that person a plea bargain in exchange for testifying against all the other members of the ring. This leverages one charge into many charges, potentially destroying the entire ring.
Hunter Biden without a pardon would be an obvious target of such a tactic. The breadth and duration of the pardon show its true intent. It was to absolve Hunter of crimes that he has not yet been charged with.
So Joe was pardoning Joe and his entire family of potential charges involving influence peddling, but without obviously doing so.