Hunter is on the fast track to be Ambassador to France in 2029!

Was this fed into a Mudede AI?

As someone who has been pissed about pardons abetting administration malfeasance since Iran-Contra, I can tell myself that reveling the big mad Republicans are feeling about loosing Hunter isn't the only reason I'm kind of okay with this pardon.

@3: Agree. It's gotten way beyond letting due process play itself out.

So tragic about Gaza Soup Kitchen founder chef Mahmoud Almadhoun.

An embarrassingly sleazy final act for an otherwise decent president. Yes, the investigations of Hunter were politically motivated, but that is irrelevant. The sprawling malfeasance the investigations uncovered was pure Hunter.

Firearms and taxes were the least of it. Far worse was the international influence peddling, which his father should have publicly disowned but never did. It may have seemed harsh to send Hunter down for firearms and taxes, but much like Donald Trump and the campaign finance felonies or Al Capone and the tax evasion, the punishment for the indictable crimes was also justifiable as punishment for the unindicted corruption.

The pardon is a national embarrassment. Before we laugh it off too easily, consider how we’ll feel when Donald Trump inevitably does it, too.

I would think the repubs would be thrilled with this pardon... now the dems can't have a hissy fit when trump pardons a few of his cronies!

@5 There was no international influence peddling, at least none that got any results. People may have paid Hunter hoping to get something of value out of him, but they got nothing.

The gun crimes were based on a form that was altered after Hunter signed it. The taxes had all been repaid. There was literally no there there.

@6 but that's not the Republican brand, which boils down to "I'm rubber and you're glue," aka "Every GOP accusation is a confession."

@7: Right, and I’m sure art collectors just really admire his paintings! 😜

The Biden name was the “thing of value” being sold. It’s the same reason investment bankers pay Clinton 200 grand for a ten-minute speech. The difference being that the Clintons didn’t cash in until after they were out of office.

There is no way to dress this up. It is corruption, crime, and sleaze. Joe Biden has never looked more like Donald Trump than he does right now.

@9:

was he ever charged for "influence peddling" or being on Burisma's board? no.

was he charged for lying on ATF Form 4473 question F, a question that millions of gun humpers lie on every year, and that no one has ever been SOLELY charged for previously? yes.

he should get his cursed laptop back from the FBI, too.

@9: Nothing could be sleazier than nominating Pete Hegseth for Defense Secretary. Read that letter from his Mom. The NYT published the full text.

I’m going to need some more specifics on our new KC Execs platform. Affordability and safety sound well and good, but a payroll tax is NOT progressive nor in the affordability camp. How will Seattle City Council policies really play out at the county level?

@10: Corruption, crime, AND sleaze, not corruption, crime, OR sleaze! 😄 Unless, of course, you think Hunter Biden was some kind of world-leading expert in the business of natural gas! 😆

@11: The Hegseth nomination is sleazy all right. Ideally, though, two presidents wouldn’t be competing with one another in sleaziness! 🤪

@6 Oh, they are, believe me. Dems must not make matters worse by defending this.

@12 He would need help from the legislature to actually do this. Back in 2020 Dow tried to pass a payroll tax but the bill never passed. The state is also considering paying a payroll tax to help bridge the $12B budget shortfall so I would assume if that happened it would undermine the ability of the county to pass their own payroll tax as well although you never know around here. Could imagine being a Seattle based business and having a city, county and state payroll tax.

@10 I would guess you think all charges in NY against Trump should be dropped as well then since many real estate investors also inflate their holdings?

I won't pretend to know the extent of Hunter Biden's misbehaving but it looks like influence peddling was taking place. That said I can understand why the father wants to shield the son in what is likely his last few public acts. It's not like Biden has a shining legacy to preserve anyway given he was behind some of the worst policies over the last 40+ years, and I say this even before taking into account his blatant inhumanity toward Palestinian (war on drugs and mass incarceration, repeal of Glass Steagall and deregulation, Iraq war, end of personal bankruptcy, etc..)

@3 when Blue Team does it it's good and if people get mad it's funny, when Red Team does it it's a very serious threat to democracy. But don't anyone dare suggest there's little to no difference between the parties.

@17
I suggest that there is little to no difference betwixt the parties on a regular basis.
Because, there is in fact little to no difference between the parties.
Same can be said for the drones that buy into the nonsense both sides peddle.

@5 "[...] when Donald Trump inevitably does it, too." Pepperidge Farm can't be the only ones who remember all the heinous pardons Trump made in his first term, and the deeply troubling ones he's promised on the campaign trail. I do love the whole "the GOP is constrained by the Dem's bad examples" canard, though.

That's terrible. I'll never vote for Biden again.

@9, 16 The difference between the Clintons and Hunter Biden is that Hunter doesn't have any actual power or real influence. There was no influence to peddle. Joe didn't get any money from Hunter's work. Hunter can sell himself as having access all he wants, but if he doesn't actually get anything for his clients or send any money to Joe, it's just a bad deal for Hunter's clients.

Republicans repeatedly said they had smoking guns about Joe doing work for Hunter's clients, and they all turned out to be nothingburgers.

"I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice."

Who said that? Joe Biden or Donald Trump?

@5 What? No emojis or lols? You are slipping, dude.

@21: Allowing your idiot son to sell counterfeit influence is still its own form of corruption. All it would have taken was a phone call: “Hunter, you’re embarrassing me. Please resign from the Ukrainian natural gas company and all the sleazy Chinese stuff too.”

Nor is it at all clear that Hunter’s influence was counterfeit as opposed to real. Throughout the Biden presidency, Hunter met in public and in private countless times not only with the president but with many of the president’s seniormost aides. If you’re going to claim that a president’s adult son is not an influential personage, then you don’t know much about presidents or sons! 😁

If you think it’s obvious that, e.g., Jared Kushner is corrupt and bad for America, then it should be equally obvious that Hunter Biden is, too. Always remember, Team Democrat is not as important as Team America.

@24 Oh please. Hunter is a private citizen and free to make his own decisions. Biden barely took his calls and didn't discuss business with people when he did.

If you can show any actual actions that Hunter got other than "looking sleazy" then by all means share. Jared got his $2B of Saudi money to manage after Trump was extremely friendly to the Saudis during the presidency, including dropping any complaints about the Khashoggi murder.

Like the GOP ever gave a rat’s ass about precedent

@26 this is why Biden should have, for example, packed the Court. There was all kind of political fuckery he could have done that would have helped millions of regular people but, no, the only time he dares undercut his precious institutions is to save his kid.

@15: no. I think anyone who has ever lied on Form 4473 Question F should be prosecuted and jailed, and the same for any real estate investor who inflates or deflates the value of their holdings to avoid taxation. JAIL THEM ALL.

Hunter Biden did the hard work of becoming clean and staying sober. He paid back the taxes, including penalties. He should be an inspiration to all of us (especially to that other presidential son who has relapsed in his addiction and regularly appears on television coked to the gills)

But the Republicans are the dirty panty sniffers, who insist on dragging everyone down to their level.

@29 do you think anyone who gets sober should be absolved of any crimes they committed while in active addiction or just kids of Democrat presidents? And Hunter didn't pay back the taxes a Hollywood lawyer paid them for him. If Hunter's dad wasn't Joe Biden he'd long ago have been resigned to smoking his crack in a tent on a sidewalk somewhere and this comment section would have dramatically less sympathy for him.

@28 fair enough

@27 and what do you think would happen the moment Trump took office with a R controlled Senate and House? It's the same reason the D's didn't nuke the filibuster when they had the opportunity. It's all good when you're in power but as soon as the pendulum swings back the other way it's a bad idea. As it is now that Biden has pardoned Hunter you can bet Trump will immediately pardon anyone convicted on Jan 6th using the same logic once he takes office.

@28, Over 100,000 Form 4473's a year contain factually incorrect answers and the purchase is rejected.

The number of prosecutions in any given year is around 100.

Biden won the lottery to get prosecuted for that. What an amazing coincidence.

@31 Republicans denied Obama the ability to appoint a Justice in unprecedented fashion. That (and RBG's ego) is why conservatives now completely control the Court. Republicans make full use of their power while Democrats wring their hands over the prospect of doing so--except, apparently, to save their kid from consequences.

@25: Well, we don’t exactly know what the president’s son discussed with the president and the president’s aides while drawing multi-million dollar salaries from Ukrainian and Chinese natural gas companies. Maybe they talked about football. Maybe they talked about natural gas. Maybe they talked about Ukraine and China. 😉 Or maybe they didn’t have to, maybe it was enough to leave it unmentioned. 😛

Not to worry, President Trump will deliver sleaze in quantities Hunter Biden and his father could only dream of. So we can always hide our heads from the Biden sleaze by talking about Trump instead. 😉

@34, All speculation, not evidence. Do they have someone who was party to those meetings who can testify (actual evidence) to what was discussed? An e-mail? How about a recording of the discussion?

Speculation isn't admissible in a court.

@32: not solely for lying on Question F. prosecutions for lying on Form 4473 are typically tack-on charges for other gun criming, and there's a lot of other questions you can lie on - namely: are you a convicted felon?

Yes, he won the lottery to be charged for lying on Question F, agree to a plea deal, then have that plea deal blown up by a Trump-appointed judge. What an amazing coincidence.

@33 I have no doubt given similar circumstances (lame duck president with an open position) the D's would do the same thing. They just haven't had the chance as the R's controlled the Senate when the positions came open thus Trump was able to get his appointees through. I don't think that is a failure on the D's, its more about timing.

Fwiw I don't think the R's make full use of their power. Recall last time Trump was elected he was going to build a wall and make Mexico pay for it and repeal the ACA. How did that work out? It's really hard to do anything grand in US government and fortunately that's by design.

@35: Great questions, one which Congress remains free to investigate through the use of its subpoena power, lol!

@38, And this Congress did through several committees. They came up dry.

Calm yourself, thirteen12 dear. You're overwrought about Hunter Biden. Was it the nude photos?

To answer your question: While I don't think people should be absolved of any crime they commit while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, I do believe in alternatives to incarceration whenever possible, and I think that people who are in recovery deserve credit. But that's just the bleeding heart liberal in me. (You should try it sometime!) And yes, I'd feel the exact same way about donald trump Jr. Addiction is a terrible, terrible thing. I don't think you appreciate that, but you're young. Life will wear you down.

(And I would also quietly murmur that if Hunter Biden had had a different father, he most likely would not have been arrested. People acting out while under the influence are a dime a dozen. If you don't believe me, take a stroll through Council Member Morale's district.)

District13refugee, I think it's sweet that you thought that trump would hesitate to pardon the Jan6 rioters, but now President Biden's actions are going to cause him to do it. Promise me you'll never lose that basic belief in the goodness of people, but understand that Republicans are horrible people.

As someone who grew up around fuckups related by blood, I’ve never understood the narrative of Hunter as master of anything (let alone a complex influence peddling operation tied to a former VP). Junkies scam people all the time - it’s kind of par for the course. For any business not smart enough to conduct the necessary due diligence, they rightly got scammed / screwed (and FYI, that person asking for bus fare isn’t really in need of anything but another fix).

As for the pardon, I honestly don’t give a fuck - it’s not precedence setting (see Ford for breaking that seal), it absolutely won’t influence Trump one way or the other (see his previous term), and in the grand scheme no one will care in a decade (unless Hunter miraculously wins a Senate seat).

There are truly way more important things to worry / argue about.

And hey Nat - thanks for only one zombie twitter link today (happy to see anything that doesn’t put money into the pocket of an aspiring fascist like Musk)

For the Uncommitted amongst us - https://apnews.com/article/trump-threat-hostages-israel-gaza-1aa9af22c070ab8ee0d8baf97bb05df8

“Please let this TRUTH serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January 20, 2025, the date that I proudly assume Office as President of the United States, there will be ALL HELL TO PAY in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against Humanity,” Trump wrote

I wonder what catchy label the “Genocide Joe” folks will attach to what Trump has planned?

RE: Hunter Biden pardon

Oh no! Anyway...

@39: They did a little better than “come up dry.” The House Oversight Committee has assembled a webpage delving into its findings in mind-numbing detail, replete with documentary and testimonial citations. Yes, it’s a partisan hack job, but it’s a partisan hack job with receipts. 😃 Although in fairness to Joe Biden, most of the sleaziest stuff happened while he was vice president, not president.

Natalie has made the same mistake just about everyone is making in reporting on the Hunter Biden pardon. There are two linked stories in the news, and everyone is reporting on Hunter first, and then mentioning the other, without drawing the obvious connection. Everyone talks about how Joe Biden had said he would not pardon his son, and then changed his mind, without talking about why he changed his mind.

The correct order should be to talk about the completely unjustified appointment of Kash Patel as director of the FBI. Trump is weaponizing our justice system to go after Trump's enemies, real or perceived. Trump would certainly use Hunter as a way to hurt Joe Biden. The complete blanket pardon Joe gave him was perfectly appropriate. Joe needs to give such blanket pardons to everyone who was on the January 6 committee, as well as everyone who testified against Trump.

@40 "While I don't think people should be absolved of any crime they commit while under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol, I do believe in alternatives to incarceration whenever possible, and I think that people who are in recovery deserve credit."

Ok I basically agree with this.

I don't care about Hunter being pardoned I always thought his prosecution was stupid and pointless. That said I also think there are thousands of people more deserving of pardons that won't get them because Biden isn't their dad, and in general if Biden wanted to take controversial executive action there were dozens more deserving causes than this.

In other words what I'm really overwrought about is the cynicism of politicians but I suppose that just plays into your concept of me as underage and naive.

@43 what do you imagine Trump will do that's worse than what's currently being done to Gaza? I don't think there's really anything worse than genocide, which is what Biden was and is actively contributing to by uncritically supplying weapons. I am glad however that mainstream Dems will probably give a shit now Orange Man is back in power.

@45 They made a website?!??!! Oh my lordy, there must be something to it. They couldn't put it on the Internet if it wasn't true! /s

All I can find on the search page there is a whole lot of nothing. Of course, it's a terribly designed page so it might just be buried. Do tell some highlights of what they found and provide a few links.

@49: lol, the website hosts thousands of pages of material, with footnotes to tens of thousands of pages and days of sworn testimony. I’d encourage you to read up a little on Hunter Biden’s influence peddling before you go denying Hunter Biden’s influence peddling! 😛 Or, you know, don’t! 🤣

speaking of Giving
them Hell, Harry!

nyt: Trump Threatens ‘Hell
to Pay!’ Unless Gaza Hostages
Are Freed Before Inauguration

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/02/world/middleeast/trump-gaza-hostages-inauguration.html

eltrumpfster's
Dire Threats to
Hamas've begun.
bibi's keepouttaPrison
gambit's bound to Escalate

and the Region Erupts and Pooty

does he emulate
donold and bring
the EU into the Fold

on Day One
who's gonna
go First? Boeing
Raytheon General
Dynamics and their Share-
holders're grinning from ear to Eternity

@36, The other issue is that answering incorrectly on Form 4473 is not a crime. Doing so knowingly and intentionally is a crime.

The prosecutor has to prove the state of mind of the accused, not just the act of the accused. A good bit of Hunter Biden's trial focused on his state of mind.

"Are you an unlawful user ...." It is a present tense question. "I was, but am not now, and unlawful user," is a valid defense. Biden raised it, and the jury didn't buy it, because the Prosecutor did a deep dive into his medical records, and was able to get people close to him (Defense error in putting that witness on the stand) to testify that he currently was "an unlawful user ...." Without that Biden would have likely been acquitted.

Form 4473 prosecutions are always going to be tough. Prosecutors won't have the resources to search for such evidence, and in most cases such evidence likely doesn't exist.

When something comes up in a background check that contradicts what's indicated on Form 4473 and the sale is declined, that doesn't prove the person signing the form lied. It proves they were mistaken or in error, not that they lied (state of mind). The former is not criminal, the latter is a felony.

@50 Go ahead and link to one that you think is particularly interesting. All I saw were press releases that had no actual information. When I tried to get real info, it came up with blank searches.

Your move.

"I also think there are thousands of people more deserving of pardons that won't get them because Biden isn't their dad, and in general if Biden wanted to take controversial executive action there were dozens more deserving causes than this."

Thirteen12 dear, thank you for reminding me that I must strive to remember that young people may not have had the benefit of having had Civics in high school.

Some things to "Noodle your noggin on" (as Mother Vel-DuRay used to say):

1) Just because Joe Biden doesn't have thousands of children, that doesn't mean that some people who deserve pardons won't get them.

2) A POTUS doesn't get just one shot at pardons. It's still very early in the season to be fretting about that.

I remember how it was to be young and excitable. I've learned not to be swept away by the drama.

@53: lol, I don’t think any of them are “particularly interesting!” 😂 Hunter Biden spent a decade peddling his father’s influence to corrupt foreigners and ended up getting burned for guns and taxes. Justice was served, or so it appeared until his father reneged on an often-repeated campaign promise not to pardon him. I don’t find any of that interesting, I find it shameful. We weren’t supposed to see this level of corruption in the White House for another seven weeks, ha ha!

If you want the sleazy details, the House Oversight Committee has compiled them in excruciating, 9/11-like detail for the whole world to peruse, complete with transcripts of the testimony and voluminous copies of the exhibits. Sorry you couldn’t get any of the “links” to work, that must have been frustrating. 😉 You’ll just have to follow the footnoted citations manually. 😘

I don’t want to spoonfeed you more than you’re actually hungry for, but to take an easy example, I found Devon Archer’s testimony in about two seconds of searching. Among many other things, Archer testified that Hunter’s value to the Ukrainian natural gas company was that his father was the US vice president at the time. Questioned about Hunter’s company emails related to a vice presidential visit to Ukraine, Archer testified that the emails reflected a scheme by Hunter to claim credit for the vice presidential visit, as a way to justify Hunter’s high salary in the eyes of the Ukrainians. You know: influence-peddling! 😂🤣😂🤣

@55 I literally am interested in reading any links you may wish to provide.

More reading comprehension, fewer emojis would help you out in regards to Devon Archer's testimony, though.

"I don't think of it as Joe directly." Huh. It was Hunter playing up his relationship with Joe to scam some money out of the rubes at Burisma.

"Mr. Goldman: But that’s different than Joe Biden’s action.
Mr. Archer: Right.
Mr. Goldman: You’re just talking about that Hunter was on the board. "

So Joe Biden wasn't taking specific actions. It just looked cool to have Hunter there.

"Mr. Archer: He [Joe Biden] had dinner. He had dinner. And there was ‑‑ on that one, I believe the first one was, like, a birthday dinner, and then the second was ‑‑ I think we were supposed to talk about the World Food Programme. So there was some talk about that. "

Whoa, whoa, whoa! They talked about the /World Food Programme/ at a birthday dinner?! A charity that works to prevent starvation around the world? That monster! Why Joe Biden is out there maybe helping people get fed! Get a rope!

"Mr. Archer: The request ‑‑ you know, basically the request is like, can D.C. help? But there were not ‑‑ you know, I’m not going to ‑‑ there were not ‑‑ it wasn’t like ‑‑ there weren’t specific, you know, can the big guy help? It was ‑‑ it’s always this amorphous, can we get help in D.C.? "

There wasn't a specific ask. In fact, it's not clear that Hunter ever even asked Joe for anything. But wow does it /look bad/. And then, sometimes Hunter would call Joe on the phone and put him on speakerphone and then /not make an ask of him!/ It just made Hunter look good to his buddies/business associates.

I don't deny that Hunter sold himself as having access to Joe. That's been going on for centuries in this country and millennia across humanity. Where it all falls down is that Joe has never provably done something to benefit Hunter's clients. As far as we can tell, the worst thing Joe did was not telling Hunter to stop calling him. Hunter's clients got a crappy deal, but that's just a lack of due diligence in what he could provide.

@48: “…what do you imagine Trump will do that's worse than what's currently being done to Gaza?”

Carpet-bombing the territory with B-52s? Hitting suspected Hamas sites with artillery and missiles from US Naval vessels?

“I don't think there's really anything worse than genocide,”

And here we see the rhetorical dead end into which you (the Stranger, supportive commenters, freeway-blocking ‘activists’) have all jammed yourselves. You all thought it would be so easy: you would simply appropriate the word “genocide,” use it loudly and often, and you could bully everyone else into doing what you’d wanted. (After all, no one wants to be pro-genocide, right?)

Sadly for you, it didn’t work. After ten solid months of such behaviors, the Stranger determined “Gaza Isn’t Driving Votes.”

“….which is what Biden was and is actively contributing to by uncritically supplying weapons.”

He was actually critical, but US law requires the U.S. to support Israel’s military; no
President can legally order an arms embargo against Israel.

“…mainstream Dems will probably give a shit now Orange Man is back in power.”

Mainstream Dems watched as Kshama Sawant, and some Arab-Americans in Michigan, worked to defeat Harris. Try not to let your mouth hang open too long in surprise, if Mainstream Dems do nothing when Trump sends the IRS and INS after Sawant and those Arab-Americans.

@48: “what do you imagine Trump will do that's worse than what's currently being done to Gaza? I don't think there's really anything worse than genocide”

The daily death toll in Gaza is something like ~40 persons per day, which is low for ongoing urban combat within an unevacuated city of 2 million people. People who think the war in Gaza is some kind of genocide that couldn’t possibly get any worse have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about. It could get worse. It could get hundreds of times worse. Luckily, something like half of Hamas’s fighters have already been killed, so it’s more likely to get better than it is to get worse. Get a grip already, you’ve had more than a year to figure this shit out! 😂

@56: Just to be clear, you are hand-waving away private dinners with the US vice president as being of no consequence? OK, my dude, lol!

@57 & 58 honestly think Trump will "carpet bomb" Gaza or otherwise multiply the civilian death toll hundreds of times over but I'm the one who's at a "rhetorical dead end" and need to "get a grip." As thumpus would say: 😂

@60: lol, in the November 18 Slog, you described Hamas’s videotaped beheading of a wounded civilian as an act of Palestinian self-defense, so you very much do need to get a grip! 😂🤣😂🤣

But what I was laughing about in @58 was a different whacky belief of yours, namely, your belief that the war in Gaza couldn’t possibly get any worse than it already is. 🤪 Bruh, if you think the death rate in Gaza (ca. 40 lives per day) is as bad as the war could get, then you’re even more credulous than I thought, ha ha! Israel’s been taking it very easy on the Gazawiyn, a restraint for which we should all be grateful! 😘

@57: “Carpet-bombing the territory with B-52s?”

We probably couldn’t get basing or overflight rights for a B-52 strike on Gaza. If, for some crazy reason, we wanted to dump mass tonnage on Gaza, we’d more likely use the B-2 fleet, coming in over the Mediterranean directly from the US mainland. But there’s scant value in a strike package of that nature. There are not enough obvious targets in Gaza to bomb in a single, massive fell swoop. A much more realistic US air-weapons deployment would be small but repeated sorties by Strike Eagles flying out of Jordan or Egypt or else Super Hornets flying off a carrier. 💥💥💥

@61/62 lol bruh Trump would most likely deploy an Ohio Class sub to launch Trident II nuclear warhead armed SLBMs if he wanted to take a massive dump 🤪

@63: lol OK dude.

@60: You're the one who asked a really stupid question, as a direct result of having chronically mistaken your overheated rhetoric for some external reality. I "honestly think" that Trump could do just about anything, and so I just used the famous example of American brutality against a helpless local population. (As our Very Own Divine Mrs. Vel-DuRay has noted, Trump's backers include folks who think of Gaza as prime Mediterranean real estate opportunities, and he thinks of himself as a successful real estate developer, so 'bulldozers not bombs' might become their chosen route.)

speaking
of Hunter B
and Pardons

from
Heather
Cox Richardson's
'Notes From an American':

Trump also pardoned for various crimes men who were associated with the ties between the 2016 Trump campaign and the Russian operatives working to elect Trump.

Those included his former national security advisor Michael Flynn, former campaign manager Paul Manafort, and former allies Roger Stone and Steve Bannon.

Those pardons, which suggested Trump was rewarding henchmen, received a fraction of the attention lavished on Biden’s pardon of his son.

In today’s news coverage, the exercise of the presidential pardon—which traditionally gets very little attention—has entirely outweighed the dangerous nominations of an incoming president, which will have profound influence on the American people.

This imbalance reflects a longstanding and classic power dynamic in which Republicans set the terms of public debate, excusing their own objectionable behavior while constantly attacking Democrats in a fiery display that attracts media attention but distorts reality.

The degree to which the media endorsed that abusive power dynamic today does not bode well for its accurate reporting during Trump’s upcoming term.

It also leaves the public badly informed about matters that are important for understanding modern politics.

oodles
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/december-2-2024

"This imbalance reflects a longstanding and classic power dynamic in which Republicans set the terms of public debate, excusing their own objectionable behavior while constantly attacking Democrats in a fiery display that attracts media attention but distorts reality."

--Heather Cox Richardson

like
right
Here @tS's
comments section?

bingo,
Heather.

@65 my mistake was using the word "imagine." I assumed you would intuitively understand I was talking about the real world, but that was probably putting too much faith in your cognitive abilities. Trump has the ability to nuke Gaza, but no serious person thinks he will. Likewise he will not commit the American military to a war he is on record as wanting to end before he even takes office. His social media post was designed to pressure Hamas to reach an agreement before then, the same way he's been directly pressuring Netanyahu. If you believed a Trump social media post was a true statement of actual intent you have no business accusing anyone else of stupidity.

@68: As at least one other commenter noted, it is ludicrously easy to “imagine” far worse things happening in Gaza than anything over the last fourteen months there. (And if your imagination fails you, you could always take a real look at Ukraine.)

“If you believed a Trump social media post was a true statement of actual intent…”

Well, no; it should have been abundantly clear I don’t actually believe anything he says, but I appear to have again over-estimated your cognitive abilities.

Continuing with both of those thoughts:

“… he will not commit the American military to a war he is on record as wanting to end before he even takes office.”

Anyone who knows anything about Trump knows he’s always true to his word. /s

@31 - he was going to pardon all of the J6 assholes in any case. I'm sure he'll be hosting them at a "Patriots' Feast" at the White House.

Let's just keep lowering our standards to the asymptotic lowest common denominator so we can enable a marginally higher circle of hell on Earth.

@10: He was never charged because his dad was pres. This goes way deeper than just Hunter, his dad is into it up to his neck too, he's just better at hiding it.

@69 "it is ludicrously easy to “imagine” far worse things happening in Gaza than anything over the last fourteen months there. (And if your imagination fails you, you could always take a real look at Ukraine.)"

Ok let's look at Ukraine. From February 2022 to October 2024 just under 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed.

https://press.un.org/en/2024/sc15857.doc.htm

From October 2023 to November 2024 over 43,000 Gazan civilians have been killed.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn5wel11pgdo

So 3.5x as many civilian deaths in less than half the time compared to Ukraine. Which do you imagine is worse again?

@73: As even you should know by now, the casualty figures from Gaza do not distinguish between Hamas’ combatants, and the civilians Hamas combatants’ use for human shields — which Hamas uses with the intent of raising the civilian casualty figures.

Including combatants in the Ukraine figures — which is what you did with the Gaza figures — increases the total by at least 31,000 by September 2024:

“As for Ukraine - it rarely comments on the scale of its deaths on the battlefield. In February, its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers had been killed, but estimates based on US intelligence suggest greater losses.”

(https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjr3255gpjgo.amp)

So, using the death tolls for both civilians and combatants — again, as you did for Gaza — the numbers are at least equal, and likely higher for Ukraine.

You’re welcome.

@74 so even if you add every Ukrainian combatant the death toll is about equal--in, again, less than half the time. It makes sense you ended with "you're welcome" because you just proved my point.

@75

Wormtongue's
Genocidal Denials
likely cost Dems the Election

not as Gleefully
Smugly* as his
🛴, but in the
Same fucking
Ball Park.

you can easily See how
his Guilt shows whilst he
Constantly labors to Blame Ka-
shama Sawant ~ but it's merely Just
Another one of his Oodles of vile Projections.

*'it's
All about
The Cruelty!'

--Wormtongue,
not that long ago
tho he'll be Certain
to Deny it ~ he's FROM
de Nile for Fuck's F'g Sake.

@75: What is your obsession with numbers of casualties, and length of time? Ukraine has nuclear facilities. If these are damaged in the fighting, the resulting environmental catastrophe could be immense — again, it’s not difficult to imagine a situation far worse than Gaza is now.

The equivalent (or maybe not) death toll in the shorter period testifies to Hamas’ stated intent to cause civilian casualties. While that’s not a good thing, it’s also not characteristic of most wars. Deliberate use of civilians for human shields is a massive ongoing war crime by Hamas, one which Ukraine does not commit. And yet, the casualty figures are approximately the same. It should therefore be very easy to imagine a situation far worse than exists in Gaza now.

@77 what are you even talking about now? How are Ukrainian nuclear facilities relevant to this discussion? You said to imagine how things could get worse in Gaza I should look to Ukraine, so I did, and their civilian death rate is much lower. What should I look at if not casualty figures? Is the issue just that you've confused yourself by arguing in circles?

@66 That points to my other complaint about some liberal sources criticizing Hunter's pardon. No, it is not giving Trump a basis or excuse. He had already broken all the pardon norms his first term, including pardoning a relative. A relative he has now appointed to be our ambassador to France. Granted, that post is figurehead post, as the government ties are deep and direct, but it is the plum of the figurehead ambassadorships.

@79

the Corruption shall
run like Rivers thru our
streets instead of flushing
them it'll only multiply the
numbers of Homeless whilst
Private Equity is allowed to Strip-
Mine America & Congess Insiders trade
on foreknowledge yet're STILL beholden to

whomever Pays them well enough.

'Citizens United''ll likely
be the Death of Our
little Democracy

or Republic.
whatever-
the fuck:

Adios.

@78: "You said to imagine how things could get worse in Gaza I should look to Ukraine, so I did, and their civilian death rate is much lower."

You don't know that, because (once again) you included combatants in the Gaza civilian figures. To answer your fatuous statement @48, again, there's plenty that could be worse in Gaza. The IDF could stop using the restraint it has so far shown. Whatever remains of Hamas could do an even better job of getting civilians killed. Blinding yourself by misusing the term, "genocide" means you're really not capable of seeing what could be worse.

@76: "...Genocidal Denials
likely cost Dems the Election"

So, it's Bernie's fault now? Wow, you really are desperate to blame anyone -- anyone, of course, except someone who actually did try very hard to get Trump elected. That person remains utterly ineligible for your criticism.

(Also, calling the Democratic President "Genocide Joe" had no negative effect for the Democrats. At all.)

-- Berntongue

speaking of
Wormtongue's
one-man-War-on
the term 'Genocide':

from Democracy Now:

Amnesty International: Israel
Is Committing Genocide in
Gaza with Full U.S.
Support

Amnesty International has released a landmark report that concludes Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, making it the first major human rights group to do so.

The nearly 300-page report examines the first nine months of the Israeli war on Gaza and finds that Israel’s actions have caused death, injury and mental harm on a vast scale, as well as conditions intended to bring about the physical destruction of Palestinians in Gaza.

Both Israel and the United States have rejected Amnesty’s conclusion. Amnesty researcher Budour Hassan, who covers Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, dismisses the criticism and says, if anything, Amnesty’s intervention took too long because of how carefully the group gathered and verified its information.

“We tried to be absolutely true to the definition of 'genocide' under the Genocide Convention,” says Hassan, who urges U.S. officials in particular to do more to stop the bloodshed.

“If there is any country that has the capacity, the power and the tools to stop this genocide, it’s the United States.

Not only has the United States failed to do so, it has consistently awarded Israel. It has consistently continued to flout the United States’ own laws in order to continue giving Israel the weapons — the very same weapons that are used by Israel to commit the genocide in Gaza.”

oodles more right Here:
https://www.democracynow.org/2024/12/6/amnesty_genocide

YOUR
Tax Dollar$
Hard af at Work

Oh and
Pay no Nevermind
to the Wormrtongue, above:
he’s most Likely on bibi’s Payroll.

oh and
THANKS
genocide joe!

you pulled a RBG
and, along with our
wormmy, handed it All
over to eltrumpfster. way
to GO, genocide fucking Joe.

you
Too, @
wormmy.

well
Okay
he's not
genocide
Joe at the Moment
but for a Moment he Was

he could Still
do a LOT in
his remain-
ing Time.

my expectations
however're
Quite
low
.

@82: "one-man-War-on
the term 'Genocide':"

So, now Bernie's not a man? (Wow, tough crowd!)

The only persons at war with the term, "genocide," are the ones who keep misapplying it. Bernie has tried to educate you on this, but you won't listen to him. Sad.

@83:

"Okay
he's not
genocide
Joe at the Moment
but for a Moment he Was"

No, you're stuck with it. Forever. You accused a sitting president of genocide, and it was a lie.

A lie that, like Sawant, helped to get Trump elected. That is your legacy, and you will own it. Forever.

Love,

Berntongue

"No,
you're
stuck with it.
Forever. You accused
a sitting president of genocide, and it was a lie."

your
Word
salads're
becoming
more unHinged
with every posting
Wormtongue. have Fun
with that one wormmy who
Denies bibi's keep-outta-Prison
Gambit could POSSIBLY BE GENOCIDE

until the
Whole fucking
Planet concurs. or
Armageddon which-
Ever one comes First.

when you Side
with Genocide
you Side with
the Wrong
Side of
Hist-
ory.

@85: If you have a problem with Bernie's continued refusal to use the word "genocide," to describe the current situation in Gaza, then please take it to him.

Love,

Berntongue

gosh.

Bernie
can Call
it WvrTF he
FEELS like calling it,
Wormtongue: he's an Adult.