Hunter’s pardon destroys Biden’s legacy, soils the office, our nation and its people

Inside my oldest guitar case you will find one of my favorite political stick pins from the good old days. The small white button with blue type reads, “We got the bird in ’64 and the dick in ’68.”

I was 18 and too young to vote when Richard Nixon first won the presidency (voting age was 21 back then). As an idealistic youngster, I preferred Robert Kennedy, who was gunned down in a hotel kitchen after winning the California primary in June 1968.

I was a junior college student a couple of years later on May 4, 1970 when national guardsmen turned their weapons of war on students protesting the expansion of the Vietnam War into Cambodia, killing four and wounding nine. “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,” blared from radios everywhere as the nation struggled with the reality of American soldiers firing on American students as if this were some Central American banana republic. Many kids were angry, and California Governor Ronald Reagan wisely closed every college in the state for a week. Frankly, I believe that wise decision spared us all a lot of grief.

Then in 1972 Nixon whipped George McGovern in an overwhelming landslide. No one would ever call me a Nixon fan, and his winning a second term didn’t move that needle even a hair.

I didn’t like it much at all, but when President Gerald Ford pardoned Nixon after his resignation over the Watergate coverup, I took a deep breath and reluctantly agreed maybe it really was best for the country. No matter what, I recognized we should retain the dignity of both the president and the presidency itself. Nixon on trial for those crimes would have been ugly.

Which brings me to today. With all respect, Mr. President, I am totally dismayed and disgusted by your pardon of your son, Hunter. As a parent, I understand the urge to always protect your children. And I recognize as president you have both the authority and the power to issue such a pardon, and no force in the universe can alter your decision.

But here’s the thing, Mr. President. I shouldn’t have to be the one to tell you the foundation and intent of such clemency is to provide an extrajudicial option to serve the needs of  justice and the rule of law. When you wield that awesome pardon power to spare your cronies, or in this instance your son, and shield them from taking responsibility  and suffering the legal consequences of their actions, you besmirch yourself, your office, our great nation and all its people.

The only solace I can find is from this moment forward — despite your lengthy career in public service, despite being elected to the highest office in the land, despite taking the reins as the leader of the free world, this despicable act will be your legacy. Despite all the good you’ve accomplished, the history books will include a picture you standing alongside your son outside a courthouse and tell the disgraceful tale of how you saved him as you were halfway down the White House stairs.

Well done, Joe. Well done, indeed.