The Lonely Hunter

Hunter Biden was found guilty on three counts of illegal gun ownership this past week by a jury who sympathized with his efforts to fight addiction but decided that his belief that he was not addicted when he bought the gun in 2018 was an excuse to purchase a gun because there's no such thing as a "former" addict just as there's no such thing as a "former" alcoholic.

President Biden stands by the decision and says he will not pardon Hunter and, instead, he supports his son's efforts to appeal the verdict.   The President consistently follows the rule of law while Donald Trump flouts it.  Hardly surprisingly, the contrast satisfies no one who's already in the bag for Trump and refuses to vote for Biden, sometimes for the silliest reason - like, because he's 81 or because he tried to sidestep Congress to forgive student loan debt.  Some folks have even suggested that he allowed Hunter to be tried and convicted as a sacrifice to appease those angered by Trump's conviction and to show consistency in the rule of law. 

The President received word of his son's conviction, ironically enough, while preparing a speech on gun safety.  In another twist, a right-wing gun rights group came to Hunter's support, saying that the law he was convicted under was unconstitutional.  They could take their case to the Supreme Court, get the law overturned, and get Hunter freed from whatever prison term he's sentenced to (though, given his contriteness and his admission of addiction, he's likely to receive a light sentence).  And given that the Court declared that banning bump stocks - ironically, a Trump administration initiative - was unconstitutional, something like that could very well happen.

Of course, it can be argued that if the younger Biden's name were Robert Hunter, given the nature of his crime, he would not have even been thoroughly investigated and charged, nor would his failed plea deal to allow a judge rather than a potential Republican-run Justice Department to oversee the terms of the deal would not have been necessary had he been charged.  And, if his name were Robert Hunter, Grateful Dead fans would be mistakenly telling him how much they love his lyrics for "Box of Rain." 😃  But his name isn't Robert Hunter.  His name is Robert Hunter Biden, and it's that surname that got him in trouble.  But at least he isn't whining over how he's being persecuted because he's the ne'er-do-well son of a President.

That would be Eric Trump.   

In any case, I would recommend that the Biden family send Hunter a bunch of canvasses and oil paint tubes.  He's going to need something to do in jail.