2 December—So Joe Biden pardoned his wayward son despite his insistence on a number of occasions that he’d never do such a thing. Of course it’s not really unbefuckinglievable. Nor, when you think about it, is it totally unexpected. Because that’s what parents do for their children. And that’s what presidents have done for all manner of scum since the birth of the republic. And, being a lame duck now—literally and figuratively—Old Father Joe had nothing of political value to lose anyway.

(Hunter can count himself lucky that his father dropped out of the election and Kamala and the Democrats lost big.)

So Joe lied. What else is new? But had he been lying when he vowed never to pardon Hunter? He likely meant it at the time. But, for better or worse, things change. Among the reasons Hunter Biden’s unconditional pardon is particularly disturbing, however, is that his indulgent father is also the President of the United States. And while not by any means setting a precedent for unjustified pardons of unworthy criminals, it vitiates any criticism of Donald Trump for having done it and doing it in his coming term. That counts for a lot.

Then there’s Biden’s allegation that Hunter’s prosecution was politically motivated and a “miscarriage of justice.” Total bullshit. While we certainly can expect politically motivated prosecutions and flagrant miscarriages of justice from Trump’s Department of Vengeance, Biden knows full well that his Department of Justice trod very lightly—too lightly, in fact—in prosecuting his son. You’ll recall that the Trump-appointed prosecutor was going to pretty much let Hunter off the hook, possibly as a favor to Biden for keeping him on. It was—and is—good to have a sitting president for your father.

Presumably Hunter has paid any money he owed for evaded taxes and fines. And it’s unlikely he’d have been sentenced to any soft time at a resort like Danbury. Having done his son a favor, then, Joe Biden—a doting father, nice guy, and lifetime political hack—will now be remembered for only one thing.

And do you remember this little video from last year? Who knew?