The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter
("Hunter Biden pleads guilty in tax case, avoiding a second trial.")
The heart is a lonely Hunter.
And Joe's must be breaking. For he has the power to save his son from his transgressions. To do what a father would ache to do for his child. To pardon him for his sins. Not merely as father to son, but President to convicted felon.
Joe Biden has endured unspeakable family pain. Suffered the loss of his wife, Neilia and their one year old daughter, Naomi, in a terrible car crash that also injured their two other children, Beau and Hunter. Watched as Beau died in 2015 from brain cancer. And embraced Hunter even as he battled years of drug addiction spiraling out of control.
But Joe Biden promised to put country over person. Has lived a life in service to this nation. And pledged that he would not save Hunter from the consequences of his wrongdoing, even as it was his right to do so. For Joe Biden, the love of family does not supercede the love of this nation. And duty to party, to America, for Mr. Biden, trumps (I apologize for use of that word in this sentence) all else.
If Joe were to do what his office permits, the Democratic party could well lose an election. And he will not let that happen on his watch.
I hope that Kamala Harris wins this November for a million reasons. One is to keep open the possibility of doing what her friend Joe will not.
It breaks my heart, and I imagine that of millions among us, to contemplate the agony of Mr. Biden this morning. Not as President but as a father who grieves once more.