You’d think Republicans would be happy that Hunter Biden is finally going to be convicted in federal prison. A friend of mine and I joked that the cocaine orgy they’d be throwing this week would be like the one in Eyes Wide Shut. But they’re not happy. Of course, they’re not happy. Republicans don’t really have an idea of how law and order works. They just want it to work like it works in banana republics and dictatorships.
Hunter is charged with not paying over $100,000 in taxes from a $1.5 million income over the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years. He’s also accused of being in possession of a Colt Cobra .38 Special in October of 2018 despite knowing he was a drug user. However, Hunter’s lawyers reportedly reached a pre-trial agreement with the Justice Department to avoid any prison time for Hunter. Republicans, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, were easy to pounce on the fact that Hunter got away with his offenses.
The irony of a man under criminal investigation for human trafficking and going after businesses and corporations that don’t cater to his bidding is amazing. Sadly, I’ve covered courts and crimes and I’ve seen people get away with many crimes. I saw a man who kidnapped, raped, physically assaulted and probably was going to kill a woman only get eight months probation for kidnapping. Why? Reportedly the woman was a repeated drug user. (And the district attorney at the time was more interested in plea deals.)
In another rape case, a man was charged with forcing his daughter and her friend to drink a substance with Xanax pills crushed in. Then, he forced his own daughter to allegedly perform oral sex on him. He also was charged with sexually assaulting the friend who was almost unconscious. I later found out that the daughter, who was white, was dating a black man, which the jury probably didn’t like. She also had some minor drug offenses on her, reportedly. Needless to say, he was acquitted, despite having two prior rape convictions.
Speaking of gun charges, there was a case dating back to 2008 and 2009 in which the son of a local undersheriff had been accused of stealing a firearm. But as I read the report, the evidence that he actually stole it seemed flimsy. He had gone to his uncle’s house and taken a submachine gun from him to show some friends at his house. But he put it under a bed. When he later went to retrieve it, it was gone. Technically, he took it without permission, but I know people who have such an literal open door policy among family members, they walk in without knocking. And yes, it was politically motivated because 2008 was an election year.
The problem is Hunter wasn’t the boogeyman the Republican Party made him out to be. When his brother, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015, it’s been reported that Hunter turned to drugs to cope with the pain. People grieve in their own ways. Some people need alcohol or drugs to dull the emotional pain in them. They need help more than they need prison time. It’s because we’ve never really had any way to address how people are allowed to cope is why many turn to substance abuse.
Most people Hunter’s age were told just to suck it up. Too many people feel that once the body is buried or cremated, that’s it. You go back to acting like everything is peachy. I’m mostly Scotch-Irish so I expect people will probably have one huge party after I’m gone. After my stepfather passed, his relatives were watching the NASCAR race later that day. It doesn’t mean they didn’t care, but they wanted to get their minds off things. After my girlfriend Kerry died, I didn’t want to do anything for such a long time. And I turned to comfort food. It may not have been the best but that happens.
But I didn’t break the law. Now, the question is how dangerous is it for Hunter not paying his taxes and having a gun in his possession, even though he never used it for a criminal activity. I’ve seen people with prior felony convictions get charged with possession of a firearm, but it’s amended or dismissed because there was mitigating factors. It’s ironic that everywhere gun rights advocates are demanding everyone is able to have every firearm and weapon imaginable, but if you’re using drugs, then that’s a no-no. But an alcoholic can have all the firearms they want just as long as they don’t have any felony convictions, but misdemeanor assault convictions are also ok. As for the taxes, well, Donald Trump hasn’t paid taxes, using loopholes to get away with it. People even praised him during the 2016 election for being smart.
I’m not defending Hunter nor Trump. Christopher Clark, an attorney for Hunter, said this is part of a five-year investigation by the Justice Department. Let me say that includes an investigation that was started under Attorney General Jeff Sessions and continued until Bill Barr, who were both Trump’s AGs. And now that Merrick Garland is the AG under President Biden, it shows that two mostly Republican AGs and one Democrat AG took this case fairly.
People want to say the system is broken. And sometimes it is for people like Kyle Rittenhouse or Brock Turner. But no, the system isn’t broken if Hunter is being held accountable. It’s still up to the judge to accept or deny whatever agreement has been arranged. Mostly in federal cases, agreements are met by U.S. Attorneys and defendants. I’ve seen people who swindled millions walk away with less than a year probation. And this has been going on for years.
I’ve also seen people show preferential treatment to some people based on how they are and who they are associated with. In May of 2014, three student athletes at my high school, Calhoun High, in Calhoun, Ga., allegedly drugged and raped a young woman at a post-prom party. The town was divided with some even saying it’s a rumor and others saying, “Well, there are both sides to a story.” This is despite the athletes initially denying they were at the location even though there was a GPS tracking and the woman’s medical exam showed trauma consistant with sexual assault cases.
Unfortunately, the case has never been prosecuted or adjudicated. The lawyers for the defendants used a loophole in the Georgia State Constitution involving members of the General Assembly. The likelihood that nine years and counting after the case was first reported that there will ever be a resolution becomes slimmer every day. Even watching how people on social media and online will defense spousal abusers and drug users as “they need prayers” but yet have an intense animosity toward others shows you the hypocrisy.
Another problem is that Trump and that piece of garbage shitbag Rush Limbaugh, among others, instilled in people’s minds that we should go after Democrats and non-white people harsher and harder than before. Hillary Clinton was the subject of multiple investigations into the Bengazi case to which she was never found liable in any way. And Bill Clinton should’ve been impeached for perjury for lying about having sex with Monica Lewinsky but Trump shouldn’t have been impeached for the Jan. 6, 2021 insurrection coup attempt?
Let’s blame Bill Clinton for 9/11 even though it happened on George W. Bush’s watch, but you can’t blame Bush for his piss-poor response following Hurricane Katrina because he’s not responsible for the weather. That’s the mentality they have. And seeing how Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt and Lt. Gov. Matt Pinnell are being criticized for their failed response to the power outages in the Tulsa area and surrounding counties following the storms on June 17-18, people will be quick to defend them, just because they are affiliated with the Republican Party.
Hunter is being held accountable as he should be. Dismissing this as “Boys will be boys” or well Eric and Donald Jr. have done bad things too isn’t how we do things. Just because someone out there has committed a criminal act that hasn’t been dealt with by the judicial system doesn’t mean everyone else should get a Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Card. I’ve often said making a criminal case is like connecting A to B to C to D to E. Some cases take longer than others.
Throughout our history, we’ve cherry picked who can be arrested, jailed and charged. The fact that Trump was allowed to continue to campaign and travel to other countries while being charged with some serious offenses under the Espionage Act should make your blood boil because other people wouldn’t have been treated as nicely. I think people criticizing the plea agreement with Hunter don’t understand that in a just society, Trump would be sitting in a jail cell right now.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 