Presidential pardon an abuse of power

In early December, outgoing President Joe Biden took action to essentially forgive his own son for a series of federal crimes he personally committed or took part in committing over the past 10 years. However, instead of holding his own son accountable for his actions, the president chose to give Hunter Biden a full pardon before he leaves office on Jan. 20.

The crimes Hunter was charged with were something that deserve mention here. For example, in 2018, he lied about his addiction to drugs while he bought a gun, which included lying on a federal screening form with regards to his drug addiction.

By the way, federal law prohibits people addicted to drugs from possessing these weapons.

As he prepared to face another federal trial, Hunter then pled guilty to three felony charges as well as six misdemeanors that included allegations that he failed to pay an estimated $1.4 million in taxes back in 2016 to 2019.

While the Constitution does allow the president to grant pardons and reprieves for those charged with criminal offenses involving the United States, the timing of this presidential pardon seemed very questionable. After all, the president serves as our nation’s leader, but his actions to pardon his son represent his continued inability to stand strong, especially when it comes to the nations out there that continue to pose threats against our country as well as our allies.

What seems to really infuriate me is the way the news media handled their coverage of Biden’s presidential pardon. While they did confirm this happened, it seemed the national coverage of this pardon lasted maybe a day or two before it “suddenly” went away.

It was almost as if the news media were saying to the rest of the nation, “Oh, there’s nothing to see here. Move along. Move along…”

As I’ve said in my previous editorials, let’s “reverse the narrative” and look at this from a different perspective. Simply put, what would’ve happened if Donald Trump had done the same thing the last time he was in office involving one of his children charged with the same crimes?

How do you think the news networks would respond if the incoming president pardoned the protestors who stormed into Capitol Hill on Jan. 6, 2020? Do you think they will ignore this or downplay his actions?

Yeah, that’s what I thought, too.

With regards to Biden’s actions, what this nation saw was yet another example of how people in power seem to remain immune to following the laws of this nation that millions of others must follow. Unlike the rest of us, these rich elitists never seem to face the consequences of crimes they commit.

After all, how many times have we seen photos of Hunter in which he’s shown with a cigarette dangling from his mouth with his eyes clearly showing signs he’d been drinking or doing drugs? It’s the same photo the news media would likely use if others in today’s society stood accused of various federal crimes. However, it seems these reporters try to find ways to avoid presenting negative views of those who think this nation’s laws don’t apply to them.

Granted, we have parents out there who go out of their way to avoid holding their children accountable for their actions. Having spent the past several years teaching in classrooms in Mountain Home and other communities, I saw firsthand the actions many of these children committed against their peers.

This included cases where I stepped in to break up a fight on the playground and others where students pulled me aside and relayed to me that someone bullied them during lunch or recess. That doesn’t begin to take into account the countless times where I had to remind students to put away their smartphones or stop playing games on the same computers they use to complete their required assignments.

Back in my days, if we committed things like this, our teachers would lead us out of the classroom and into the hallway. That’s where many of my classmates got introduced to the “board of education.” After getting swatted on their backside two times, they returned to the classroom with a painful reminder that they needed to focus more on learning and less time disobeying the rules of the classroom.

However, some schools no longer seem to hold students accountable for their actions as well as parents who strongly oppose disciplining these youngsters. As a result, we now have students who think they can do whatever they want and not have to worry about getting in trouble.

I have a solution. Whenever a student gets in trouble, we need to order their parents to come to the child’s school and have teachers take those parents out into the hallway. Their children would then watch as their parents get introduced to the “board of education” to punish them for what I’d refer to as “dereliction of duty.”

With regards to the president’s son, meanwhile, Biden contends the charges against his son were somehow “politically motivated” as a way to damage his reputation. But because he had the power to do so, he wrongly pardoned Hunter versus having him go to court and face the consequences for his actions – the same consequences others in our society face whenever they commit these same crimes.

If anything, going to prison and facing other punishments could’ve actually helped Hunter recognize he has a serious addiction problem and needs help. That’s what his father should’ve done a long time ago – hold his son accountable for his actions and punish him each time he broke the law.

If society doesn’t start holding people like this accountable for their crimes, this nation could see an increase in the number of cases in which others out there feel they won’t get punished since the president’s own son broke the same laws and got pardoned. In addition to watching the non-violent crime rate skyrocket across the United States, I’d bet this nation would see far more cases in which people try to get pardoned for assaulting, raping or murdering someone and then demand they get released from custody.

I’m sure their excuses would match what I heard repeatedly during the criminal trials I covered at the county courthouse. Many times, these lawbreakers blamed everyone but themselves for their actions.

I distinctly remember one court case in which the man facing a lengthy prison sentence said he committed the crimes he was convicted of because “he was living hard.” Simply put, he repeatedly refused to take responsibility for his actions instead of acknowledging the fact he deliberately chose to break the laws the rest of us need to follow.

If anything, the judge may have agreed to reduce his prison sentence if that convicted felon agreed to repay his debt he owed to those he harmed as a result of his actions.

Now granted, there are reports out there indicating Trump stands accused of various crimes, some of which he allegedly bragged about. But once he takes office, do you think the media is going to let these allegations go?

I’d wager good money these news outlets will spend the next four years constantly bringing up these accusations versus doing the same type of investigative reporting over the past four years regarding the one preparing to leave the Oval Office.

It seems these journalists forgot the first lesson we were taught: We are prohibited from skewing news reports to fit specific political beliefs. We are also not allowed (with the exception of editorial columns) to include our personal opinions in what we report. It’s something today’s news networks apparently forgot.

— Brian S. Orban