The new Hunter Biden indictments lay bare the glaring hypocrisy of Republicans. I say this while having no objection personally to these indictments or others that may follow. Nor do I object to indictments or impeachment of Joe Biden — if warranted and based on verifiable facts. 

A couple things stand out with the Hunter Biden indictments:

• Charges like these against Biden are virtually unheard of in the absence of a subsequent crime committed with that gun: robbery, assault, murder, etc. Supposedly Biden possessed the gun for only about a week until his girlfriend got rid of it. Still illegal, but not meeting the standards usually applied for charging someone.

• One of the laws Biden is charged with violating has been under scrutiny as possibly unconstitutional under the Second Amendment. An appeals court in another case has ruled it unconstitutional and the Supreme Court will look at it next term.

• This might be a first time that pro-gun Republicans have celebrated the indictment of someone for buying a gun — regardless of drug use.  Historically Republicans have resisted virtually any gun control measure. Congress and Trump while he was president worked to loosen restrictions on gun purchases by people with documented substance abuse, or who had been committed to mental institutions or adjudicated as mentally incompetent. 

• And finally, while lambasting every legal action against Trump & Co regardless of the charge or circumstances, and calling for the outright defunding and deconstruction of DOJ, Republicans are celebrating Biden’s indictment. I’ve heard no complaints.

It’s beyond me how Republicans can speak and act as they do with a straight face. They seem utterly immune to shame or humiliation.

Mitt Romey says in his coming book that “A very large portion of my party really doesn’t believe in the Constitution.” That seems abundantly clear! Trump himself has posted on Truth Social that “termination” of the constitution might be necessary in response to the 2020 election. And to correct those who sometimes misquote Trump, he said “termination” not “suspension.” 

We’ve seen people like Lindsey Graham denouncing the whole principle of trial by jury — a bedrock of human justice. Jury trial in the Americas dates back at least to the Pilgrims. After enduring repression under King James I of England, the Pilgrims in December 1623 codified into their laws [using the spelling of that time] “that all criminal facts, and also matters of trespasse and debts betweene man and man should be tried by the verdict of twelve honest men to be impanelled by authority in forme of a jury upon their oath.” Trial by a jury of one’s peers was later codified in the U.S. Constitution under Article III, Section 2, and again in the Sixth Amendment. 

I understand that Republicans are angry at what they see as “weaponization” of the Justice Department, but their response is to throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater. They call themselves patriots and proclaim they want to “Make America Great Again” while rejecting the core principles of the America they claim to love. Many look to Putin, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán  and other anti-democratic autocrats as people and systems to emulate. That’s their right to believe, but to be clear: these are the anthesis of the America they claim they want to make great again..

In closing… There is much injustice in the United States. Today’s strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW) is made necessary by the vast inequities in power and wealth under capitalism. I don’t support capitalism, but given a choice between representative democracy with all its flaws versus autocracy or theocracy, I will take an imperfect democracy. 

I will also note for the record that Democrats are guilty of hypocrisy as well. It’s just that Republicans wear it on your sleeves. They don’t even try to hide it. It’s almost a badge on honor. 

Posted September 15, 2023

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