DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE: All the world’s a stage – pardon me, I am the president’s son; pardon me, I am the president-elect

I’m beginning to believe Shakespeare knew something we didn’t.

Remember his words from “As You Like It?”

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players; They have their exits and their entrances…”

Indeed, we’re watching the scenes unfold daily.

Like the Joe Joe and Hunter Biden family chapter.

It’s true Hunter Biden has been pardoned by daddy.

Why not? If my daddy were president, he’d better pardon me too.

Ask yourself, would you have done the same for your child – blue or red?

Plans change. Excuses are made, but it sure did open a big ‘ol door for the Trumpster.

I loved Jill’s remark, “Of course I support the pardon of my son” (nypost.com/2024/12/02/us-news/first-lady-jill-biden-breaks-silence-on-hunter-pardon), and that was even after he called her a vindictive “you know what that starts with a C.”

Any bipartisan mother would say the same thing, right?

Apparently, Hunter was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” – despite the fact he was prosecuted by Biden’s own appointees leading the Justice Department.

If it was Joe Joe’s own appointed Justice Department, he can darn sure disagree with his appointees’ and turn the decision around.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean Pierre said in a press conference regarding the pardon after months assuring everyone there would be no pardon, “I know what I said.

I know what the president said and that is where the president was at the time. This weekend he thought about it. He wrestled with it and made this decision.”

He must have really been wrestling those three gun felony charges a Delaware jury in June convicted Hunter of along with Hunter pleading guilty in September to $1.4 million in tax fraud on foreign earnings.

The good news is every attorney out there can now use this same pardon as an example why their client should get the same preferred treatment when it comes to gun felony charges and tax fraud.

For the record, the New York Post stated, “The pardon has drawn protests from fellow Democrats as well as from clemency advocates for less-powerful people – after IRS whistleblowers alleged a double standard granting Hunter favorable treatment and defense attorneys bemoaned far harsher penalties for their clients.” 

Sets an interesting precedence for Trump to get a little pardon from Joe Joe too.

As News Nation Chris Cuomo pointed out, “[Alvin] Bragg did the same thing to Trump that Biden just condemned.”

Trump’s attorney group will surely be hot on the case regarding this little loophole. 

The pardon on Hunter was for a “full and unconditional pardon… for those offenses against the United States for which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from Jan. 1, 2014, through Dec. 1, 2024, including all offenses charged or prosecuted…”

Does that include the laptop fiasco too – hard to keep up?

I have one big question.

Now, which felons do we let have a pass?

Every time I hear the word Trump come out of a blue person’s mouth, they mention “he’s a felon.”

Let’s throw some salt on the wound, shall we? This little pardon probably put Trump in an excellent position for a pardon from Joe Joe.

Some people were asking why did Joe Joe go all the way back to 2014 with his full and unconditional pardon – as in why did he go all the way back to 2014 when the firearms charge Hunter was convicted of was in 2018 and the tax evasion charges were from 2016 to 2019?

The Ukraine fiasco and the connection with the Biden family in that little country began in 2014. 

Remember, Hunter Biden held a directorship for a Ukrainian gas company while his father was vice president, easy enough to forget, right? However, it is also common knowledge if you go down the rabbit hole deep enough that Hunter’s acceptance of that position created a conflict of interest for his father. 

And remember when “Vice President” Joe Joe urged Ukraine to fire its top prosecutor, with the threat of withholding U.S. aid? 

It’s been noted that was the position of the wider U.S. government (not just Joe Joe) and other international institutions, according to Politico. 

For a non-US mainstream media look at the situation, here is Radio Free Europe’s version: www.rferl.org/a/burisma-ukraine-gas-pardon-bidens/33226807.html.

And an even better article about US meddling in Ukraine can be found here: www.cato.org/commentary/americas-ukraine-hypocrisy. It begins, “There is an abundance of outrage in the United States about Russia’s alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential election. 

Multiple investigations are taking place, and Moscow’s conduct was a major justification for the sanctions legislation that Congress just passed. 

Some furious political figures and members of the media insist the Putin government’s interference constitutes an act of war. 

One especially agitated House member even compared it explicitly to the Pearl Harbor and 9/11 attacks.

Such umbrage might be more credible if the United States refrained from engaging in similar conduct. 

But the historical record shows that Washington has meddled in the political affairs of dozens of countries – including many democracies. 

An egregious example occurred in Ukraine during the Euromaidan Revolution of 2014.

Oh, baby, you know this is going to be some enjoyable reading!

And then there was also the report by the House Ways and Means Committee detailing all the crimes cataloged and related to the Biden family beginning in 2015 – the list is long – ouch, read it (oversight.house.gov/landing/biden-family-investigation) if you want some good intel. 

And no, my dear blue people, I’m not saying the red folks are not doing dirty work too, but when I read this about Joe Joe and family – I was even surprised.

Meanwhile, let’s circle back to the red zone where I’m going to repeat again: will Joe Joe go ahead and pardon Trump? 

CBS News reported, “Donald Trump’s lawyers pointed to an unlikely person in demanding a judge dismiss the president-elect’s New York criminal case: Hunter Biden (www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/trump-hunter-biden-pardon-motion-to-dismiss-new-york-criminal-case). 

Trump’s attorneys said in a court filing made public Tuesday that President Joe Biden’s controversial pardon of his son echoed Trump’s complaints about the prosecution.

“The Constitution requires dismissal of the case, even though it is already progressed though trial, because ongoing proceedings threaten to take Trump’s attention from the presidency,” Trump’s lawyers argued in their filing. 

“Wrongly continuing proceedings in this failed lawfare case disrupts President Trump’s transition efforts and his preparations to wield the full Article II executive power authorized by the Constitution pursuant to the overwhelming national mandate granted to him by the American people on Nov. 5, 2024.” 

Trump’s felony convictions had to do with a hush money cover-up payment regarding an adult film star before his first election in 2016. It was noted that while he was in office he authorized a way to obscure reimbursements to a lawyer who paid the actress before his 2016 election.

Drum roll – did you know that since 1997, the Office of Congressional Workplace Rights has paid out $18.2 million to settle 291 cases of workplace disputes for Congress, the Capitol Police, and a few other departments?

This includes sexual harassment claims: docs.house.gov/meetings/JU/JU00/20240613/117426/HHRG-118-JU00-20240613-SD001-U1.pdf. Perhaps Trump should have just dipped into that slush fund – seems others have – I’m sure it is a bipartisan fund after all.

In closing, I loved the BBC’s take on all our little indiscretions over here across the pond (www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgrw92zr9ko.amp). 

“When taken in context, Trump’s ongoing complaints of political prosecutions, and Biden’s recent adoption of similar claims, are a reflection of a larger crisis of American faith in government – one that both politicians have taken advantage of when circumstances put them in uncomfortable legal terrain. 

Biden’s use of Trumpian rhetoric to explain his exercise of presidential power to protect his son might only help the incoming president find more support to swing the wrecking ball at the institutions that Biden has long served and pledged to protect.”

Rita Cook is a freelance writer for The Ellis County Press. She can be reached at rcook13@earthlink.net.