Gary Franks: Pardon me, Mr. President

No one could truly be surprised by the actions of President Joe Biden as he announced the granting of a pardon to his son, Hunter Biden.

What father in a similar position would not do the same? But Biden is more than a father. He is president of the United States. Different?

There were some elements of the transaction that were of deep concern, however. First, the president pardoned Hunter for a period going back to 2014. This would supposedly include all crimes he was convicted of, as well as any possible crimes going back to that date. Maybe this is overkill, protection for others or simply another example of the president’s poor judgment.

This action seems very suspicious as it goes back to 2014, which is when Hunter was placed on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma, which was highly controversial.

Unrelated or perhaps somehow related, President- elect Donald Trump has already, months before his actual swearing-in ceremony, made significant strides in addressing the war in Ukraine and two other major concerns of voters besides peace: prosperity and border security.

The economy “feels” better. We have record early sales for Christmas merchants, gas prices are on the decline and the stock market is hitting daily records.

The presidents of Mexico and Canada have been put on notice of the new sheriff in town. America’s blue or Democratic areas (cities, states, regions) have also been put on notice. Trump will close the borders and deport illegal immigrants, starting with those who are most dangerous to society.

Both Europe and the Middle East have gotten the memo about America’s change in leadership. We will be back soon as the dominant force in the world. We have demanded that Hamas release the remaining hostages in Gaza. There will be consequences to pay if Hamas refuses to do so, according to Trump.

Secondly, per the world stage, the Ukraine war, which should have never been waged if American deterrence had been stronger, I believe is coming to an end, and soon. Trump had promised that by “day one” of his administration. Well, that too seems to be well on course to becoming a reality.

It is over the Ukraine issue that we saw the true picture of Biden as president. As we know, there have been numerous other examples of his untruthfulness, which have manifested themselves and have bitten Biden in the rear.

For example, during one of Biden’s many runs for president back in 1988, he had to withdraw over a series of lies and fraudulent acts. He stole the speech of a British politician and used it as his own. He embellished his academic credentials, claiming he was far better a student than he actually was. Decades later as president, he refused to admit the failure of the U.S. exit from Afghanistan which killed 13 Americans.

But the one that irked me the most was his flat-out denial of claiming that harsh sanctions would deter Russia from invading Ukraine. Once Russia predictably invaded, he refused to concede his failure. Instead, he adamantly rebutted criticism by claiming he never said Russian would be deterred from acting. Two years later, the sanctions have continued to fail.

Biden pardoning his son is par for the course. Mr. Biden, why lie to Americans for months about not pardoning Hunter when everyone knew you would? A mere comment such as “I will address that matter at another date” would have sufficed. It would not fall into the “lying to Americans” category.