OPINION:
To no one’s surprise, President Biden issued a broad pardon to his son Hunter Biden, exonerating him for anything he may have done pretty much from his childhood up to the current moment. There was the usual outrage from the usual people. Even some Democrats harrumphed about precedent and what not.
Lost in all the verbal chaff was the simple truth that Hunter Biden was being pursued by the law because of who he is, not what he may have done. If law enforcement vigorously pursued all the gun-toting, crack-smoking men in the United States who access hookers on the regular, we would need to double our prison capacity.
The faux outrage is especially odd given that President-elect Donald Trump has also been pursued by law enforcement because of who he is, not what he may have done.
There is no doubt that the Democrats are way ahead of the Republicans on using the judicial system against their political opponents. For those who may have forgotten, they have surveilled campaigns, transitions, congressional staff, the media, Roman Catholics, etc. They have used the IRS against organizations that have engaged in wrongthink. They have actively subverted free speech by requiring companies to censor opinions the regime finds unhelpful.
With that said, the truth is that Mr. Biden did the right thing in this instance in not allowing the judicial system to be used against an obviously political target. Unfortunately, as is so often the case with Mr. Biden, he did not go far enough. The good news is that Mr. Trump can solve that problem.
The right answer at this moment in our nation’s history is for Mr. Trump to offer a general amnesty to anyone targeted for their political beliefs. That would, by necessity, include people as disparate as former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Jan. 6, 2021, rioters at the U.S. Capitol.
Such an approach would make it clear that the tragic era of weaponization of our judicial system is at an end. By marginalizing the most retrograde elements of our justice system, especially the FBI, it would enable the justice system to begin to heal and recover some of the confidence the American people once had in it.
It would instantly make Mr. Trump the tribune of the majority of Americans who wonder what happened to their country and simply want things restored to their proper order and to be proud of what was, until fairly recently, the greatest and fairest justice system in the world. It would allow Mr. Trump to demonstrate what he is at his core: a man who sees the greatness of this nation and who has the best interests of Americans — all Americans — in his heart and informing his decisions. It would immediately make him the most consequential president in the last 40 years.
Most importantly, however, a national forgiveness would once again allow the possibility of a belief in a justice system that treats everyone equally and impartially. The alternative path — the one on which we have been traveling — leads inevitably to bloodshed, civil unrest and dissolution.
• Michael McKenna is a contributing editor at The Washington Times.
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