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For all their moral superiority, it turns out Democrats are every bit as willing to sacrifice democracy to their personal interests as are Republicans.
President Joe Biden stood on high ground for the past year as his son, Hunter, moved his way through the courts on felony gun and tax evasion charges. Asked repeatedly whether he'd pardon his son to spare him from prison, the president was adamant.
He wouldn't do it, he pledged. His allegiance was to the rule of law, he said, and the idea that no one is above it. He respected the legal process and would let the courts do their jobs he vowed.
But as the hour approached for Hunter to be sentenced and packed off to a prison cell, Biden changed his tune.
Hunter is a victim of politics, he declared, prosecuted at the behest of the president's political enemies. Hunter is a good guy, he claimed, who did bad things because of his past addiction to drugs.
And so, Biden did what he promised not to do and signed a sweeping pardon sparing Hunter the legal consequences of his crimes.
In putting his name on his son's pardon, Biden laid waste to the foundational principle of our democracy that all Americans are equal under the law. Try to get the mother of a son rotting in prison because his love of crack led him astray to believe the justice her boy received was equal to that meted out to Hunter.
The president's son is now free to resume partying without paying off any of his debt to society.
The pardon is the final smackdown to Democrats' puffed-up claim to be all that stands between democracy and tyranny. That's never been true, and certainly wasn't in 2024, a year in which the Democratic Party abandoned democracy wholesale in its quest to hold onto power.
Ironically, Biden was one of the main victims. Having won the primary votes necessary to claim the party's nomination, the president was ousted from his reelection race in an intra-party coup orchestrated by the Democratic elite.
The party politburo then abandoned the democratic nominating process and bestowed its nomination on Vice President Kamala Harris, who didn't win a single primary vote.
When it comes to assaults on democracy, however, that usurping of the electoral process pales in comparison to what Democrats did to the centrist No Labels movement.
In a year in which a majority of Americans were unhappy with the major party ballot choices, No Labels sought to offer a third choice selected from the political middle.
Democrats declared war. Documents recently unsealed in a No Labels lawsuit against Democratic operatives reveal the length to which the party went to deny voters that option.
Allegations raised in the lawsuit accuse party strategists of deploying an all-fronts offensive to intimidate both donors and potential candidates. They launched a false website that presented itself as the official No Labels site, espousing all sorts of extreme positions. Democrats also attempted to use the courts to block ballot access for No Labels and other third-party campaigns, including those of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Black activist Cornel West.
Democrats will fight like hell for your right to vote, as long as you vote for them.
So, spare us the smug Democratic claim to being the defenders of democracy. It's a lie. But this is true: There are no righteous political parties.
(COMMENT, BELOW)
Previously:
• 12/04/24: Musk hopes to make budget cutting cool
• 11/11/24: Trump is back; blame Dems
• 10/31/24: Money isn't talking in the presidential race
• 06/25/24: Veep choice could allay fears about Trump
• 04/10/24: Migrant rhetoric matches border reality
• 03/13/24: Biden speech failed the moment
• 07/13/23: Stop feeding the Meta monster
• 12/22/22: Twitter Files expose Dem/Big Tech bond
• 04/17/22: Abortion ruling empowers states
• 04/08/22: Inflation isn't a Biden talking point
• 03/24/22: Hunter's laptop finally gets some light
• 03/03/22: Biden offers no reset
• 02/28/22:Giving up COVID, keeping mask, fist bumps
• 01/17/22:Biden, Dems roll dice on agenda
• 01/03/22: Can't hide from COVID behind jabs, masks
• 12/23/21:Manchin stood with his people in killing Biden's bill
• 11/04/21: For Dems, 'not Trump' not enough
Nolan Finley is conservative editorial page editor of The Detroit News.