My outrage of the day is toward all the sanctimonious politicians and pundits who are condemning Biden for pardoning Hunter. To say that empowers Trump is beyond a joke. All the other reasons are equally infuriating. Why shouldn't Biden use his power to protect his son from prosecutions that are purely political and that will cause him unwarranted suffering? And who cares that Biden said he wouldn't. Trump's election is a significant change of the facts and in itself justifies Biden changing his mind.
The only honest reaction I've seen from a Maga was from Coach Tuberville, "If he was my son I'd pardon him too." Of course he then parrots the Maga talking point that lying diminishes the presidency somehow when they're all supporting a convicted felon who lies constantly. Biden didn't lie, he looked over the horizon and saw the shitstorm approaching and used his power to protect his family.
Circumstances alter cases. Circumstances have changed for the worst since Biden said he wouldn’t pardon his son, who was being persecuted because he is Joe Biden’s son. Way to go Joe!
Circumstances have indeed changed, but no one seems to be able to acknowledge that in their eagerness to attack Biden as if he's a serial liar or a chronic bad guy.
-A person's word is their bond, no? A person's word goes to their credibility and integrity, no? When a person breaks their word or promise, it's a tell they do not respect and/or value the person or people they gave it to, no?
-Pardoning his son now rather than on the morning of 20Jan 2025 demonstrates he places his son above all those currently worthy of pardons and sentence commutations AND is frightened into reactive mode by people who currently hold no position of power and authority. There goes the saying the American President is the most powerful man in the world.
-Pardoning Hunter now guaranteed it would be a headline and a divisive subject. There goes country over self. Judgment matters, no? Timing matters, no? Character matters, no?
-And those falsely claiming this pardon is less bad than others made over the years by R Presidents can't find one that came w/a broken word.
An intelligent person knows when to change her mind and make decisions that appropriate to the situation and circumstances. Seeing the trmp appointees would make me change MY mind. Not pardoning him given who will be “in charge” would be both immoral and unethical.
Explain how it would be immoral-unethical NOT to pardon a criminal. 3 felonies related to a gun, 3? felonies for tax evasion and 6 tax misdemeanors. That's criming. 12 for 12.
Not a single person up for confirmation has been confirmed. As you said, people can change their minds. So too can all those calling for Hunter's head. And folk seem to forget Federal Grand Juries are part of the system. If Hunter didn't engage in other crimes, then all the big talk is just that.
Changing one's mind is not limited to intelligence because in the Hunter matter the pardon was a result of a perceived threat sometime in the future. So, what's the reason for pardoning now over the last morning in office? Biden coulda promised Hunter the pardon over T-Day dinner and not announced it until he was going out the door, if at all. (Presidents don't have to divulge pardons.)
Evaluating the “crimes” is part of the process. Prosecutors all over the country have said that NOBODY is charged with a “felony” for filling out that form under oath and then NOT committing another crime involving the gun. Hunter was said to have wanted the gun for protection during the time he was targeted by F-ing Donald and getting death threats. I can file that away as part of the tale…His girlfriend thought the gun was a bad idea, and she threw it away. Gad.
As for the taxes … LOTS of people have paid them late — usually not in the millions, but that was a difference in size, not kind. He DID pay those taxes and penalties.
Prosecutors had granted a plea agreement — common in cases like both of these — but it was poorly written and a judge didn’t like it. Instead of rewriting it, the decision was to put the guy on trial. That was a surprise to prosecutors all over the country, too. They figured, if it had not been for the “optics” of the situation, there’s no way such a case would have been so aggressively carried to trial …
In the end, if Biden had won the election, Hunter would likely have faced a rational DOJ, and MAYBE his Dad would have intervened at some future time.
Given the reality of today. I congratulate Biden on being mensch enough not to throw his son under some misguided bus driven by faux-purists with boils of self-righteousness all over their asses.
Iithah the US has prosecutorial discretion or it doesn't.
Iithah people accept a guilty plea by a person or they don't.
Iithah people accept a jury's decision or they don't.
Iithah people accept a Judge's decision or they don't.
Iithah people understand the sentencing was on 4 Dec (reality) v. pretending Trump et al (pretextual) was coming for a guy already in prison.
Iithah people read the pardon or simply pretend they did.
What is a faux purist? Is it someone who tries to re-argue the merits of a case(s) that has been decided by a Jury and one where guilty pleas were entered?
Bias of any sort does strange things to hitherto rational minds. The first thing that goes poof is objectivity (justifications) replaced by subjectivity (rationalizations). Likening any hooman to a boil is what bias looks like and sounds like. Is that what Real Purist Grandmothers and Mums teach their grandseeds and seeds in your culture rather than ethos?
What your words "boil" down to are, it's okay to break the law "IF" there is someone who can make it all go away, and it's ok to break one's word because "given the reality of today" s/he/they will be "congratulated".
My fav of many of yours is " In the end if Biden won the election, then .. Seriously? Biden wasn't on the ticket. If is not a valid argument. It's wishful thinking that more often than not results in a wet dream.
The facts haven't changed. Hunter was to be sentenced 4 DECEMBER 2024 for his 12 crimes, 3 he was convicted of, and 9 he pleaded guilty.
Is it convenient for Biden to say but but but Trump or Kash said this or that. A Federal Judge was about to announce sentencing THIS WEEK. That means he would begin serving his sentence immediately.
Once in Fed Prison Hunter would be like most inmates, loving the days away from prison to face trial on other charges.
Am tired of how Biden operates. Border? Trump's fault? Debate fail? Bad night. Cost of living thru the roof? I inherited inflation from Trump besides it merely transitory. Hunter? Trump made me do it
Prosecuted for crimes that if commited by anyone with a name other than Biden would never even have been charged. Misdemeanor maybe. Listen to a real prosecutor.Andrew Weisman, Joyce Vance. Too many to list all say that.
Another person who doesn't know what was charged, what was tried, and what was plead. Instead prefers confirmation bias over the facts.
PS While prosecutorial discretionary is a part of American jurisprudence it is by definition, discretionary. The question for Andrew and Joyce is not whether they would prosecute Hunter Biden (they answered that), the question is would they have prosecuted Don Jr under the same/similar set of facts.
Sanctimony. The righteousness of the perfect. It doesn't exist. The heartlessness it exhibits says more about the sanctimonious than it does about the issue.
my ~ Indigenous ~ culture comes w/a code and philosophy to live and die by.
my kind is not into the dramatic or sanctimonious nor into pearls. Not even Mikimoto's.
Biden broke his word to be a transitional president and not to run for re-election. Now he broke his word again. May not matter to whites and yts because it is how far too many whites and yts roll. Start w/the broken Treaties and move forward from there.
Changing course is very different than reversing course. It’s a difference in kind, not of degree.
Would nevah evah place President Biden in the rarified air of a good leader of this nation. Good leaders own their words and acts rather than to find someone or something to blame. There is ~truth~ to the saying “the buck stops here.”
Nope, this was good timing since saving it for January would allow the Trump cult to use it to cloud their own crimes and misdemeanors. That energy will dissipate by then, so they will have to deal with the outrage when Trump pardons the January 6 insurrectionists without that to help muddy the waters.
Besides which all taxes owed were paid and that was a gun owned illegally for all of nine days.
Also Shadow the "whites and yts" bit is over the top.
whites and yts are not over the top. They are the reality of America. And has been since whites and yts killed their first merciless savages because they could. And enslaved , raped, and murdered their first Blacks because they could. And then began the whitewashing of history. Now that includes President Biden and Hunter.
The timing was to keep Hunter out of prison tomorrow the moment sentencing was pronounced and US Marshalls led him out of the Federal Courthouse. That’s when the clock begins.
Your legal argument was attempted in a US District Court in front of a Jury of peers. It failed. What’s the pupose of reminding all how it failed? Who repeats a failed argument as an affirmative argument?
What Trump will or will not do w/those convicted of crimes on 6Jan has zero to do with Hunter’s case. You are a JD. You know that. Or should if you ever practiced law in a courtroom. Can’t imagine you citing a case that has nothing to do with the matter in front of the Court or in front of the Public. Would it go like, this but your Honor my client only broke 3 windows and cracked another 3 at the USCB , trespassed for only 32 min. which is less time than Hunter illegally possessed a firearm, only assaulted 6 USCP, all and much less time than Hunter evaded paying his Federal Taxes and Hunter walked free including from all other crimes he may have committed over (my fav) 11 years.
Is amusing to read people who claim to respect the rule of law in theory, but only selectively in practice. POC are all too familiar with that, Richard. Thanks for affirming it.
"Is amusing to read people who claim to respect the rule of law in theory, but only selectively in practice." Sorry but you are wrong. The only people here who are not respecting the rule of law are those who are targeting Hunter for polictical reasons and applying the law in a way that it is never applied given the set of laws broken. Hunter broke the law and complied with the resulting process, but the system failed him juyst because of who he happens to be. It happens all the time, the law applied wrongly because of the color of the person's skin, or their gender, or their inability to pay for decent representation. And when this is brought to our attention, we all cry foul, and sometimes the wronged person gets justice. This is also a foul.
Oh, give it a rest! Everybody’s looking at Biden and expecting him to go tits-up any day now. He pardoned his kid so the crazies couldn’t eat Hunter’s liver in front of the world. Now, when he knew he could.
Let it GO!
{I really, really, REALLY would like to see him set Peltier free, though.}
Read your profile before composing any reply. Not bothering posting them for you or any readers. They are your words, you own them. Just like the words you spit at me as if you own me.
Like so many here you omitt the fact Hunter’s sentencing for his crimes was scheduled for 4Dec after the Judge had granted delays. The pardon is to keep Hunter out of jail not some imaginary take of yours on the Silence of the Lambs.
Peltier has nothing to do with Hunter. Nor does any other party or case. The only exception is when the cases are exactly the same. Whether as a matter of law or of principle it’s a non sequitur. Fallacious arguments speak to who is making them.
My position of Presidential Pardons has never changed. The Framers claimed one of the predicates of the 2nd US Constitution was NO KING/NO QUEEN, then bestowed a royal power on the President. Similar to what the supermajority ruled on the Presidential Immunity case. Their “legal” logic was not very different than the Framers, conflicting in thought and contradictory in words.
Sorry, but you are wrong. Biden was faced with a completely new set of circumstances resulting from the election, and he changed his mind. It wasn't a "lie." The fact that it was his son gave it even more reason to change his mind on this issue.
And this was for a crime that most prosecutors agreed would never have been pursued if his name wasn't Hunter Biden.
The circumstances (and facts) didn't change. Hunter was scheduled for sentencing tomorrow in Federal Court which will (due to mandatory minimums in sentencing) include prison time. All the rest is noise, speculation, conjecture, paranoia, and more emotive chit than usual.
Didn't use the word lie. You did. Hunter did lie (thrice) on his Firearms form. Oh, the finders of facts (jury) came from Delaware. Yes, it was a jury trial and they heard all the defense arguments.
Most prosecutors? Since when do prosecutors (present or past) carry any legal weight in a case they are not involved in? Maybe on Court TEEVEE but not in the Federal Courts.
What you will find in its stead is the time-honored and time-tested (emphasis) of prosecutorial discretion. The law isn't a sporting event where spectators are allowed to root or boo for their team ginned on by respective home team announces and color commentators with the loudest claiming victory or claiming to be robbed.
I fully agree. While Trump is already cashing in on his role, which will be as Chief Grifter, as he sells our country for every dime and penny he can get.
Then, next we will see the finest military in the world turned into a mercenary army which can be hired from Trump for pumping money into his hotels, or buying enough of his merchandise or investing in his crypto-currency business as said under investigation foreign national is doing right now.
Yes. Yet, I am not getting outraged at that use or for terrorism, but waiting until Trump is in office and save my outrage for things then. Until then, I am going to budget outrage, because with the outrage king coming in, in this new wave of outrage disruptors who are in vogue until they are not, we need to conserve our outrage without losing the sense that things are outrageous.
Totally 100% agree with you! If Biden had NOT done it — out of some asinine code of “honor” to the “Left” — gad, I would have thought he’s a monster. He’s not a monster, and the pardon was what ANY father would do, knowing the wolves were circling his kid.
All the posturing about being “just like them” is bullsh*t. I don’t want the Left to lose its moral bearings, but this was a MORAL act, in the face of a sure-to-come IMMORAL spate of Trumpian “vengeance.”
If Biden had won the election, my guess is he’d have let a rational DOJ play out, only interfering if injustice were perpetrated. But THIS was a father doing right by his kid. Not even on the same planet as the pardons Donald doled out, including to Jared’s father, who is now slated to be an ambassador. Egad.
I would have done the same. This attempt at prosecuting Hunter Biden was always a political maneuver, a REAL witch hunt for sure.
Looking forward to the orange traitors' death, which can't come soon enough. As sick as he is, it shouldn't take too long. Maybe if we're really lucky, a scenario like the movie "Dave" will occur. (I have a sense of humor too, Lucian!!)
Who else could coin a term like “ninnyhammer scumsucker”?? Thank you for your honest commentary once again and I’m ordering those books right now. I’ll need them to tide me over between your columns.
Thanks for this and for the movie recommendation. Laughing at, scorning and remembering who they are is key. We are constantly forgetting the variety of crimes, that's the flood the zone with shit strategy.
"Outrage overload?" Check this interactive map for all 46 of Trump's nominees. Search by name, position they've been nominated for. Who was a Trump donor? Is a billionaire? Is connected with FOX? Been accused of sexual assault.
Ah, well...sorry to say we are so f****d. I appreciate you, your writing, and your wisdom. May we all keep going for as long as we can. It's tempting to give up, but I never will, nor will you. Thank you.
The one that bothered me as much as any has gone unmentioned because of the big group of other jerks selected by Trump: The choice of this guy Phelan as Secretary of the Navy. He has never been in the Navy ---or the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, anything military.
But he is a Florida investor, big donor, and has a $35 Million place in Aspen. He also has a wife that seems to be Trump's "type", as he would say (some would use an old slur, "cheap"}.
I suppose he owns a yacht as big as a destroyer too---his naval connection?
“Gallows Pole ..”might be the tune for this inauguration! That piece of shit rigged gallows from January 6th picnic would be a perfect backdrop and a perfect floor drop for the new Prez ! Come on Jimmy get the boys together for this freak show !😎🤪
What an appropriate way to see and hear the end of our democracy and the ascension of the orange hangman! Just gotta get some 4 way Orange Sunshine to make it a perfect trip ! (Shit I hope it’s not a bummer!?). Ah ! Fuck it bring on the ShitShow !🤞😎🤩🤪
Patel as the biggest horror. And to keep laughing, I'm watching Marx Brothers and WC Fields films and a whole slew of 1930s screwball comedies, and reading Christopher Fowler's Peculiar Crime Unit sillies. If I don't laugh I'll go mad.
My dream is that they would all be vetoed out! But my pics for being ousted in no particular order: Pete Hegsweth, Tulsi Gabbard, Elise Stefanik, RFK Jr, Josh Patel, Pam Bondi, Charles Kushner, Dr. Oz…
Charles Kushner really takes the cake, seriously! And then Trump had to throw in his other daughter’s father in law. Luckily he had one Jew and one Muslim!! Now the Middle East will be solved for sure.
Hey Lucian you covered some rock concerts in your time …do you happen to remember The Stones fiasco at the Old Boston Gardens in 72’ ? What a fucken crazy ass night that was ! The feelings that I’m having waiting for Sphincter Face to be enthroned is the same as back then waiting for hours and not knowing if the Stones were going to do the gig !The Boys got pinched down in Rhode Island and were being held..because Kieth whacked a photographer so no one knew what the hell was going to happen with them ,meanwhile 16,000 crazy ass drunken …doped up fans ,myself and friends included..where about to rip the Gardens down around themselves no knowing when the show was going to start or what the fuck to do ! On top of that !!The South End of Boston (not far from the Gardens )was burning down in the middle of a friggen riot and the city couldn’t stop it because half of the city’s cops were at the “not happening Stones concert 🎶 “ in anticipation of another major riot by the 16,000 strong crew of long haired hippie assholes (the Cops description of the loyal well behaving Stones fans )locked 🔒 up in the fucken Gardens ! What a shitshow ! National News at the time ,us youngsters fucken loved it and we …Were!..going to Riot ,those tickets were hard to get and cost over 6 bucks apiece plus the 4hrs locked up in that 100 year old incubator wasn’t helping the situation any ! Total sense of frustration anger and anxiety not knowing what was going to happen (a lot like this present moment in time) ! Any way Karma brought us Salvation ! Mayor Kevin from Heaven White made a deal with the cops in Rhode Island and got the boys sprung and on a plane to Boston ! He came out on stage in front of the craziest bunch of stoned drunken crazed pissed off constituents he had ever faced …and he made us a deal saying “the Stones were in route to the Gardens and he would let them go on if we promised to be good kids and not rip the rest of the fucken city down after the gig ..because he was going to pull all the cops 👮♂️ out of the arena to stop the on going riot 1/2 a mile across town “ What a concert! What anxiety stress and helplessness! “ A lot like now ! But ya know what it all worked out …and we only did minor damage after the gig let out …we were to tired after getting cooked for 7 hours! This will all work out also ! Maybe not right away but in time ! Have faith kids ! We are Americans and Americans are the toughest sons of bitches on Earth 🌎! I do wish Kevin from Heaven White was here he’d know how to handle this shit !Peace love dove !☮️The Stones did 2 1/2 hours and played past mid night !Wow! That was some friggen jam fest worth waiting for ! The four other times I saw them ,once with my daughter couldn’t hold a candle to that memory!I think B.B. King Opened … I can’t remember! Shit getting old sucks!
Wouldn’t miss it. You cheered me right up. Heavy stuff but no one better at slicing and dicing than you. Grateful for you, Tracy and all critters in the household.
My outrage of the day is toward all the sanctimonious politicians and pundits who are condemning Biden for pardoning Hunter. To say that empowers Trump is beyond a joke. All the other reasons are equally infuriating. Why shouldn't Biden use his power to protect his son from prosecutions that are purely political and that will cause him unwarranted suffering? And who cares that Biden said he wouldn't. Trump's election is a significant change of the facts and in itself justifies Biden changing his mind.
The only honest reaction I've seen from a Maga was from Coach Tuberville, "If he was my son I'd pardon him too." Of course he then parrots the Maga talking point that lying diminishes the presidency somehow when they're all supporting a convicted felon who lies constantly. Biden didn't lie, he looked over the horizon and saw the shitstorm approaching and used his power to protect his family.
As well he should. Fuck the punditocracy too. Atlantic and New Yorker even. Fuck'm all.
Yey! +1!
Yes! They are why the Left gets pantsed by the right over and over again.
Do they LOVE getting swirlies in the men’s room? Are they blithering idiots?
We don’t have to lose our sense of morality to see the rightness of this.
A-holes, for sure! {And the NYT is so full of crap these days … I need to know what’s being said and being thought — cannot be “siloed” — but GAD!}
Circumstances alter cases. Circumstances have changed for the worst since Biden said he wouldn’t pardon his son, who was being persecuted because he is Joe Biden’s son. Way to go Joe!
Circumstances have indeed changed, but no one seems to be able to acknowledge that in their eagerness to attack Biden as if he's a serial liar or a chronic bad guy.
" And who cares that Biden said he wouldn't. :
-A person's word is their bond, no? A person's word goes to their credibility and integrity, no? When a person breaks their word or promise, it's a tell they do not respect and/or value the person or people they gave it to, no?
-Pardoning his son now rather than on the morning of 20Jan 2025 demonstrates he places his son above all those currently worthy of pardons and sentence commutations AND is frightened into reactive mode by people who currently hold no position of power and authority. There goes the saying the American President is the most powerful man in the world.
-Pardoning Hunter now guaranteed it would be a headline and a divisive subject. There goes country over self. Judgment matters, no? Timing matters, no? Character matters, no?
-And those falsely claiming this pardon is less bad than others made over the years by R Presidents can't find one that came w/a broken word.
An intelligent person knows when to change her mind and make decisions that appropriate to the situation and circumstances. Seeing the trmp appointees would make me change MY mind. Not pardoning him given who will be “in charge” would be both immoral and unethical.
Explain how it would be immoral-unethical NOT to pardon a criminal. 3 felonies related to a gun, 3? felonies for tax evasion and 6 tax misdemeanors. That's criming. 12 for 12.
Not a single person up for confirmation has been confirmed. As you said, people can change their minds. So too can all those calling for Hunter's head. And folk seem to forget Federal Grand Juries are part of the system. If Hunter didn't engage in other crimes, then all the big talk is just that.
Changing one's mind is not limited to intelligence because in the Hunter matter the pardon was a result of a perceived threat sometime in the future. So, what's the reason for pardoning now over the last morning in office? Biden coulda promised Hunter the pardon over T-Day dinner and not announced it until he was going out the door, if at all. (Presidents don't have to divulge pardons.)
Evaluating the “crimes” is part of the process. Prosecutors all over the country have said that NOBODY is charged with a “felony” for filling out that form under oath and then NOT committing another crime involving the gun. Hunter was said to have wanted the gun for protection during the time he was targeted by F-ing Donald and getting death threats. I can file that away as part of the tale…His girlfriend thought the gun was a bad idea, and she threw it away. Gad.
As for the taxes … LOTS of people have paid them late — usually not in the millions, but that was a difference in size, not kind. He DID pay those taxes and penalties.
Prosecutors had granted a plea agreement — common in cases like both of these — but it was poorly written and a judge didn’t like it. Instead of rewriting it, the decision was to put the guy on trial. That was a surprise to prosecutors all over the country, too. They figured, if it had not been for the “optics” of the situation, there’s no way such a case would have been so aggressively carried to trial …
In the end, if Biden had won the election, Hunter would likely have faced a rational DOJ, and MAYBE his Dad would have intervened at some future time.
Given the reality of today. I congratulate Biden on being mensch enough not to throw his son under some misguided bus driven by faux-purists with boils of self-righteousness all over their asses.
Iithah the US has prosecutorial discretion or it doesn't.
Iithah people accept a guilty plea by a person or they don't.
Iithah people accept a jury's decision or they don't.
Iithah people accept a Judge's decision or they don't.
Iithah people understand the sentencing was on 4 Dec (reality) v. pretending Trump et al (pretextual) was coming for a guy already in prison.
Iithah people read the pardon or simply pretend they did.
What is a faux purist? Is it someone who tries to re-argue the merits of a case(s) that has been decided by a Jury and one where guilty pleas were entered?
Bias of any sort does strange things to hitherto rational minds. The first thing that goes poof is objectivity (justifications) replaced by subjectivity (rationalizations). Likening any hooman to a boil is what bias looks like and sounds like. Is that what Real Purist Grandmothers and Mums teach their grandseeds and seeds in your culture rather than ethos?
What your words "boil" down to are, it's okay to break the law "IF" there is someone who can make it all go away, and it's ok to break one's word because "given the reality of today" s/he/they will be "congratulated".
My fav of many of yours is " In the end if Biden won the election, then .. Seriously? Biden wasn't on the ticket. If is not a valid argument. It's wishful thinking that more often than not results in a wet dream.
I’m trying to think of a quote something like, “When the facts of the situation change, I change my approach. What do you do?”
Pretty sure that's John Maynard Keynes but too lazy to "just google it"!
I thought so, too, but didn’t find it with a quick google of his quotations.
The facts haven't changed. Hunter was to be sentenced 4 DECEMBER 2024 for his 12 crimes, 3 he was convicted of, and 9 he pleaded guilty.
Is it convenient for Biden to say but but but Trump or Kash said this or that. A Federal Judge was about to announce sentencing THIS WEEK. That means he would begin serving his sentence immediately.
Once in Fed Prison Hunter would be like most inmates, loving the days away from prison to face trial on other charges.
Am tired of how Biden operates. Border? Trump's fault? Debate fail? Bad night. Cost of living thru the roof? I inherited inflation from Trump besides it merely transitory. Hunter? Trump made me do it
Prosecuted for crimes that if commited by anyone with a name other than Biden would never even have been charged. Misdemeanor maybe. Listen to a real prosecutor.Andrew Weisman, Joyce Vance. Too many to list all say that.
Another person who doesn't know what was charged, what was tried, and what was plead. Instead prefers confirmation bias over the facts.
PS While prosecutorial discretionary is a part of American jurisprudence it is by definition, discretionary. The question for Andrew and Joyce is not whether they would prosecute Hunter Biden (they answered that), the question is would they have prosecuted Don Jr under the same/similar set of facts.
Sanctimony. The righteousness of the perfect. It doesn't exist. The heartlessness it exhibits says more about the sanctimonious than it does about the issue.
Melodramatic pearl-clutching is the order of the day, no?
my ~ Indigenous ~ culture comes w/a code and philosophy to live and die by.
my kind is not into the dramatic or sanctimonious nor into pearls. Not even Mikimoto's.
Biden broke his word to be a transitional president and not to run for re-election. Now he broke his word again. May not matter to whites and yts because it is how far too many whites and yts roll. Start w/the broken Treaties and move forward from there.
Agreed, but good leaders know when to change course.
Changing course is very different than reversing course. It’s a difference in kind, not of degree.
Would nevah evah place President Biden in the rarified air of a good leader of this nation. Good leaders own their words and acts rather than to find someone or something to blame. There is ~truth~ to the saying “the buck stops here.”
Nope, this was good timing since saving it for January would allow the Trump cult to use it to cloud their own crimes and misdemeanors. That energy will dissipate by then, so they will have to deal with the outrage when Trump pardons the January 6 insurrectionists without that to help muddy the waters.
Besides which all taxes owed were paid and that was a gun owned illegally for all of nine days.
Also Shadow the "whites and yts" bit is over the top.
whites and yts are not over the top. They are the reality of America. And has been since whites and yts killed their first merciless savages because they could. And enslaved , raped, and murdered their first Blacks because they could. And then began the whitewashing of history. Now that includes President Biden and Hunter.
The timing was to keep Hunter out of prison tomorrow the moment sentencing was pronounced and US Marshalls led him out of the Federal Courthouse. That’s when the clock begins.
Your legal argument was attempted in a US District Court in front of a Jury of peers. It failed. What’s the pupose of reminding all how it failed? Who repeats a failed argument as an affirmative argument?
What Trump will or will not do w/those convicted of crimes on 6Jan has zero to do with Hunter’s case. You are a JD. You know that. Or should if you ever practiced law in a courtroom. Can’t imagine you citing a case that has nothing to do with the matter in front of the Court or in front of the Public. Would it go like, this but your Honor my client only broke 3 windows and cracked another 3 at the USCB , trespassed for only 32 min. which is less time than Hunter illegally possessed a firearm, only assaulted 6 USCP, all and much less time than Hunter evaded paying his Federal Taxes and Hunter walked free including from all other crimes he may have committed over (my fav) 11 years.
Is amusing to read people who claim to respect the rule of law in theory, but only selectively in practice. POC are all too familiar with that, Richard. Thanks for affirming it.
"Is amusing to read people who claim to respect the rule of law in theory, but only selectively in practice." Sorry but you are wrong. The only people here who are not respecting the rule of law are those who are targeting Hunter for polictical reasons and applying the law in a way that it is never applied given the set of laws broken. Hunter broke the law and complied with the resulting process, but the system failed him juyst because of who he happens to be. It happens all the time, the law applied wrongly because of the color of the person's skin, or their gender, or their inability to pay for decent representation. And when this is brought to our attention, we all cry foul, and sometimes the wronged person gets justice. This is also a foul.
Yeah I would cite your paralogical arguments as "bogus analogies," so what?
Oh, give it a rest! Everybody’s looking at Biden and expecting him to go tits-up any day now. He pardoned his kid so the crazies couldn’t eat Hunter’s liver in front of the world. Now, when he knew he could.
Let it GO!
{I really, really, REALLY would like to see him set Peltier free, though.}
Read your profile before composing any reply. Not bothering posting them for you or any readers. They are your words, you own them. Just like the words you spit at me as if you own me.
Like so many here you omitt the fact Hunter’s sentencing for his crimes was scheduled for 4Dec after the Judge had granted delays. The pardon is to keep Hunter out of jail not some imaginary take of yours on the Silence of the Lambs.
Peltier has nothing to do with Hunter. Nor does any other party or case. The only exception is when the cases are exactly the same. Whether as a matter of law or of principle it’s a non sequitur. Fallacious arguments speak to who is making them.
My position of Presidential Pardons has never changed. The Framers claimed one of the predicates of the 2nd US Constitution was NO KING/NO QUEEN, then bestowed a royal power on the President. Similar to what the supermajority ruled on the Presidential Immunity case. Their “legal” logic was not very different than the Framers, conflicting in thought and contradictory in words.
Sorry, but you are wrong. Biden was faced with a completely new set of circumstances resulting from the election, and he changed his mind. It wasn't a "lie." The fact that it was his son gave it even more reason to change his mind on this issue.
And this was for a crime that most prosecutors agreed would never have been pursued if his name wasn't Hunter Biden.
Of course I must be wrong because you said so.
The circumstances (and facts) didn't change. Hunter was scheduled for sentencing tomorrow in Federal Court which will (due to mandatory minimums in sentencing) include prison time. All the rest is noise, speculation, conjecture, paranoia, and more emotive chit than usual.
Didn't use the word lie. You did. Hunter did lie (thrice) on his Firearms form. Oh, the finders of facts (jury) came from Delaware. Yes, it was a jury trial and they heard all the defense arguments.
Most prosecutors? Since when do prosecutors (present or past) carry any legal weight in a case they are not involved in? Maybe on Court TEEVEE but not in the Federal Courts.
What you will find in its stead is the time-honored and time-tested (emphasis) of prosecutorial discretion. The law isn't a sporting event where spectators are allowed to root or boo for their team ginned on by respective home team announces and color commentators with the loudest claiming victory or claiming to be robbed.
I fully agree. While Trump is already cashing in on his role, which will be as Chief Grifter, as he sells our country for every dime and penny he can get.
https://popular.info/p/a-chinese-national-charged-with-fraud
Then, next we will see the finest military in the world turned into a mercenary army which can be hired from Trump for pumping money into his hotels, or buying enough of his merchandise or investing in his crypto-currency business as said under investigation foreign national is doing right now.
Cryptocurrency is used for money laundering.
Yes. Yet, I am not getting outraged at that use or for terrorism, but waiting until Trump is in office and save my outrage for things then. Until then, I am going to budget outrage, because with the outrage king coming in, in this new wave of outrage disruptors who are in vogue until they are not, we need to conserve our outrage without losing the sense that things are outrageous.
Totally 100% agree with you! If Biden had NOT done it — out of some asinine code of “honor” to the “Left” — gad, I would have thought he’s a monster. He’s not a monster, and the pardon was what ANY father would do, knowing the wolves were circling his kid.
All the posturing about being “just like them” is bullsh*t. I don’t want the Left to lose its moral bearings, but this was a MORAL act, in the face of a sure-to-come IMMORAL spate of Trumpian “vengeance.”
If Biden had won the election, my guess is he’d have let a rational DOJ play out, only interfering if injustice were perpetrated. But THIS was a father doing right by his kid. Not even on the same planet as the pardons Donald doled out, including to Jared’s father, who is now slated to be an ambassador. Egad.
Glad Biden did it. Period.
I would have done the same. This attempt at prosecuting Hunter Biden was always a political maneuver, a REAL witch hunt for sure.
Looking forward to the orange traitors' death, which can't come soon enough. As sick as he is, it shouldn't take too long. Maybe if we're really lucky, a scenario like the movie "Dave" will occur. (I have a sense of humor too, Lucian!!)
The scary part about trump dying while in office is that we would be stuck with Vance for the reminder of the term.
Who else could coin a term like “ninnyhammer scumsucker”?? Thank you for your honest commentary once again and I’m ordering those books right now. I’ll need them to tide me over between your columns.
I also love “ninnyhammer scum sucker.” It is brilliant!
Yes, the hours between columns are really long sometimes.
And don't forget the movie of "Hopscotch" -- one of the funniest, most clever, EVER.
The Fortune Cookie is another brilliant acting job by Walter Matthau, directed by Billy Wilder, featuring Jack Lemmon and more.
Evelyn Waugh's "Scoop" is a classic must-read!
Thanks for this and for the movie recommendation. Laughing at, scorning and remembering who they are is key. We are constantly forgetting the variety of crimes, that's the flood the zone with shit strategy.
"Outrage overload?" Check this interactive map for all 46 of Trump's nominees. Search by name, position they've been nominated for. Who was a Trump donor? Is a billionaire? Is connected with FOX? Been accused of sexual assault.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/12/01/trump-nominees-map-dec-1-2024/
Trying to keep track of Pete Hegseth scandals? Use a real-time map that updates with new exposures.
https://thedemlabs.org/2024/12/02/track-pete-hegseth-scandals-eith-a-real-time-map-that-updates-with-new-exposures/
As always, thank you.
I think these are Nobel Prize worthy.
Ah, well...sorry to say we are so f****d. I appreciate you, your writing, and your wisdom. May we all keep going for as long as we can. It's tempting to give up, but I never will, nor will you. Thank you.
The one that bothered me as much as any has gone unmentioned because of the big group of other jerks selected by Trump: The choice of this guy Phelan as Secretary of the Navy. He has never been in the Navy ---or the Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, anything military.
But he is a Florida investor, big donor, and has a $35 Million place in Aspen. He also has a wife that seems to be Trump's "type", as he would say (some would use an old slur, "cheap"}.
I suppose he owns a yacht as big as a destroyer too---his naval connection?
I swear I thought that Trump had named Led Zeppelin to head the EPA. Probably the only way he could get them to play the inauguration.
No, I don't think they'd do it. Although LZ (Lee Zelden) does sound close.
“Gallows Pole ..”might be the tune for this inauguration! That piece of shit rigged gallows from January 6th picnic would be a perfect backdrop and a perfect floor drop for the new Prez ! Come on Jimmy get the boys together for this freak show !😎🤪
What an appropriate way to see and hear the end of our democracy and the ascension of the orange hangman! Just gotta get some 4 way Orange Sunshine to make it a perfect trip ! (Shit I hope it’s not a bummer!?). Ah ! Fuck it bring on the ShitShow !🤞😎🤩🤪
Patel as the biggest horror. And to keep laughing, I'm watching Marx Brothers and WC Fields films and a whole slew of 1930s screwball comedies, and reading Christopher Fowler's Peculiar Crime Unit sillies. If I don't laugh I'll go mad.
I am always astounded at how well those WC Fields movies hold up today. As well as the classic Marx Bros.
OMG….
My dream is that they would all be vetoed out! But my pics for being ousted in no particular order: Pete Hegsweth, Tulsi Gabbard, Elise Stefanik, RFK Jr, Josh Patel, Pam Bondi, Charles Kushner, Dr. Oz…
Borowitz in the New Yorker today: "Hegseth denies having known his mother."
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Conspiratorial
Elsie Stefanik, NY representative.
AND
Mike Huckabee
Kook mythical evangelist creationist
It this a trick question? I feel like we're being asked to choose our favorite mass murderer.
Save some popcorn and room on your couch for me and your thousands of fans!
Charles Kushner really takes the cake, seriously! And then Trump had to throw in his other daughter’s father in law. Luckily he had one Jew and one Muslim!! Now the Middle East will be solved for sure.
Kash Patel is not a Muslim.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kash_Patel
Um, I don't think Kash Patel is one of the Trump offspring fathers-in-law (father-ln-laws?) being referred to.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cly49weqjy8o
Hey Lucian you covered some rock concerts in your time …do you happen to remember The Stones fiasco at the Old Boston Gardens in 72’ ? What a fucken crazy ass night that was ! The feelings that I’m having waiting for Sphincter Face to be enthroned is the same as back then waiting for hours and not knowing if the Stones were going to do the gig !The Boys got pinched down in Rhode Island and were being held..because Kieth whacked a photographer so no one knew what the hell was going to happen with them ,meanwhile 16,000 crazy ass drunken …doped up fans ,myself and friends included..where about to rip the Gardens down around themselves no knowing when the show was going to start or what the fuck to do ! On top of that !!The South End of Boston (not far from the Gardens )was burning down in the middle of a friggen riot and the city couldn’t stop it because half of the city’s cops were at the “not happening Stones concert 🎶 “ in anticipation of another major riot by the 16,000 strong crew of long haired hippie assholes (the Cops description of the loyal well behaving Stones fans )locked 🔒 up in the fucken Gardens ! What a shitshow ! National News at the time ,us youngsters fucken loved it and we …Were!..going to Riot ,those tickets were hard to get and cost over 6 bucks apiece plus the 4hrs locked up in that 100 year old incubator wasn’t helping the situation any ! Total sense of frustration anger and anxiety not knowing what was going to happen (a lot like this present moment in time) ! Any way Karma brought us Salvation ! Mayor Kevin from Heaven White made a deal with the cops in Rhode Island and got the boys sprung and on a plane to Boston ! He came out on stage in front of the craziest bunch of stoned drunken crazed pissed off constituents he had ever faced …and he made us a deal saying “the Stones were in route to the Gardens and he would let them go on if we promised to be good kids and not rip the rest of the fucken city down after the gig ..because he was going to pull all the cops 👮♂️ out of the arena to stop the on going riot 1/2 a mile across town “ What a concert! What anxiety stress and helplessness! “ A lot like now ! But ya know what it all worked out …and we only did minor damage after the gig let out …we were to tired after getting cooked for 7 hours! This will all work out also ! Maybe not right away but in time ! Have faith kids ! We are Americans and Americans are the toughest sons of bitches on Earth 🌎! I do wish Kevin from Heaven White was here he’d know how to handle this shit !Peace love dove !☮️The Stones did 2 1/2 hours and played past mid night !Wow! That was some friggen jam fest worth waiting for ! The four other times I saw them ,once with my daughter couldn’t hold a candle to that memory!I think B.B. King Opened … I can’t remember! Shit getting old sucks!
THIS is why I subscribe. Thank you.
Wouldn’t miss it. You cheered me right up. Heavy stuff but no one better at slicing and dicing than you. Grateful for you, Tracy and all critters in the household.