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Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
(Amazing Grace, John Newton, 1772)
Santa Claus is coming to town and to make himself conspicuous, he has already left a nice present under the chimney of the White House: Daddy Joe has forgiven his son Hunter, Christmas is saved.
On the plane’s steps
It looks like a scene from a Christmas cult, and yet it really happened like this: on the steps of the plane that was taking him to Angola for the first time, outgoing US President Joe Biden signed the document in which he decreed a full pardon for his son Hunter, convicted of tax fraud and the purchase of a weapon with the omission of previous drug addiction. The verdict would have been pronounced between 12 and 16 December, but the good Joe, by virtue of his Christian values and good heart, decided to relieve his son of his prison days.
Once again this year Christmas is saved, a good deed has been done and the world will be a better place. After all, everyone is entitled to a second chance, right?
Joe Biden was forced by his party to resign 100 days before the election, leaving the scene to his deputy, Kamala Harris, who is running for election. Disappointed by this dismissive gesture, he thoughtfully compensated with a good dose of fatherly love. The pardon issued is full and unconditional, rescinding all criminal responsibility for his son – who had taken a plea bargain admitting his guilt in court – and has aroused the indignation of Donald Trump who called Biden a ‘hypocrite’. Nothing to say about the 34 pending convictions that Trump carries, but which will be postponed indefinitely because he won the election. The hypocrisy accused has been linked to the 6 January 2020 assault on Capitol Hill, which still has some of the ‘American patriots’ involved in prison, who have not received a pardon from Joe, but may find it with Donald, consistent with election promises. In the US, pardoning at the last minute is a classic: Trump pardoned Charles, the father of Jared Kushner – proposed yesterday as the new ambassador to Paris – in 2020, who was in prison at the time because he had intimidated a witness by hiring a prostitute to seduce her husband, subsequently sending the sex tape, and the witness was his own sister. Charles will now fly to France. Little does it matter that Jared is the husband of Ivanka Trump’s daughter and had been sent to the Middle East as a special envoy, where he then founded an investment company receiving some $2 billion from Saudi coffers. But the American history books are full of other examples, such as Ford pardoning Nixon, or Clinton cleaning up his brother Roger’s resume.
In short, Americans at heart are good.
A caricature of democracy
The affair, as corny as it is, should give us pause for thought. Maria Zakharova said it well, commenting on the incident: ‘it is a caricature of democracy’. At stake once again is the rule of law (or what little is left of it), which is being sold out in favour of a little sentimentality and the protection of personal interests, in violation of the laws and the very balance of powers that constitute the state.
The rule of law (Rule of Law) is a fundamental principle in both common law systems such as the American and civil law systems. In general, it means that everyone – individuals, governments, public and private institutions – are subject to the law and equally protected by it. In the context of the United States, the Rule of Law takes on specific characteristics: first of all, the Constitution is the supreme law and everything must respect it. The Supreme Court plays the role of interpreter of the Constitution, ensuring that no law or act violates the fundamental rights enshrined therein. The rule of law is guaranteed through the classic tripartition of powers, legislative to Congress, executive to the President and federal agencies, and judicial to the federal and state court system. The balancing of these three powers is the guarantee against concentration and abuse of power.
Surely the destructive parable of events, decisions and gossip that engulfed Hunter Biden was a black mark that had to be cleaned while there was ‘authority’ to do so, certainly not afterwards. Indeed, no comment was made about other ‘crimes’ (inverted commas needed) and conflicts of interest, such as Hunter’s participation in the boards of Ukrainian and Chinese companies, in conflict with American diplomacy and in abuse of his father’s role as president.
The process of destroying the few structural certainties of American politics has certainly not started now. This fact about Biden is one among many and not even the most scandalous. His term of office will end with a collective laugh, because at the end of the day there is something profoundly American about it, which suits both Reps and Dems: business is business, even with justice, the self-made man must be able to redeem himself, always. In such cases, all political parties turn a blind eye.
The deconstruction of the administrative state will now be carried out by Kash Patel, appointed director of the FBI. Patel is a fierce advocate of an ‘imperial’ presidency, in which the legal bodies are an extension of the government. On his agenda is a total restructuring of the legal system as an apparatus of revenge and consolidation of the authoritarian power of the president. So much for the independence of the judiciary (if there was one before).
Forgiveness, it is known, is also a matter of interest. Joe pardoned his son in just a few steps to get on the plane, not like when he declared in 2021 that he would not forgive the $50,000 student loan debts of the thousands of students and families involved because he ‘did not have the authority to do so’, a statement immediately denied by the White House, which emphasized his authority under current law. Probably the nice pictures of Hunter at parties and orgies with prostitutes are more stimulating for the now degraded cognitive processes of his presidential father.
The important thing remains to have made an action of Christmas value. Whether this was done towards needy people or a multi-condemned prodigal family member, doesn’t matter.
