Today is Monday, December 2, 2024. As I have indicated in this blog since November 5, I am withholding from watching television news as long as possible. Everything is so terrible already, what with all of these horrible choices for Dump’s cabinet that it’s unworthy even commenting on them. It’s a waste of my time, but these are the people who might be occupying these positions of central power here in these dis-United States very soon. Good luck if you haven’t decided to stop watching the news. I guarantee you your head will be spinning if you decide to watch mainstream news, especially MSNBC or CNN.

One story I couldn’t avoid hearing about is today’s announcement that President Joe Biden has decided to pardon his son Hunter for the one federal charge he was convicted of by a jury in June of illegally buying a gun as a drug user and, where in September, he pleaded guilty to nine tax offenses, stemming from $1.4 million in taxes that he didn’t pay while spending lavishly on escorts, strippers, cars, and drugs. Before anyone says this decision was unfair and typical of Democrats, I would say look no further than the president-elect who has been convicted of 34 federal charges and has used his pardoning power in the past to pardon real criminals. For example, Dump pardoned Charles Kushner, his daughter’s father-in-law, on his last month in office. Actually, Kushner is actually Dump’s pick for ambassador to France which is an insult to the French, naturally. Biden will be taking sharp criticism, though, for stating he would not be pardoning his son before leaving office, so why did he change his mind now? Could it be the results of the November 5 election in which a slime bag somehow won on that fateful day? Probably yes. If Vice President Kamala Harris had won the election, as she should have, Biden would probably not have pardoned his son.

However, this decision by the outgoing president will add fuel to Republicans’ fury over how the justice department can be wielded to benefit family members of the president. Now if the occasion ever arises in the future that Dump is criticized for his use of pardon power, he will be able to argue that Biden did the same to protect his own kin.

This could be especially significant as Dump comes under pressure from supporters in the coming months to pardon those convicted of crimes related to the January 6, 2021, mob attack on the U.S. Capitol – many of whom are still in jail. These are the people that Dump lovingly calls “patriots.” What an insult to real justice if this bum does pardon them if he’s put under undue pressure to do so!

But anyone who has looked at the facts of Hunter Biden’s legal woes cannot reach any other conclusion than that Hunter was singled out only because he is the president’s son. The people Dump pardoned during his first term deserved to stay convicted like longtime fixer Roger Stone and 2016 campaign chairman Paul Manafort.

Despite the criticism lobbed at Biden by his own party, today’s decision reflected Biden’s role more as a father than his role as a dispassionate commander in chief. Is that so bad?

Anyway, that’s what is going on today and I thought I would comment on it because of how controversial it is.

Today, I spent close to two hours attempting to speak to a Travelers Insurance representative about my new auto policy. The process was infuriating beyond belief in that I was getting no live person and not being connected with the right person who could answer my queries about the policy. At one point, I gave the phone to Elliot who called one last time an 800 number and this time I hit pay dirt. Someone was able to respond to my questions to some degree. I was somewhat satisfied with the answers I got at the last minute. When Elliot asked where the representative was from, she answered: South Africa. Now you never know with whom and what part of the world your calls will be directed to.

Then it was almost time to pick up my son and take him to LaGuardia Airport. Of course, we didn’t take the new car. We hope to take it out of the garage tomorrow for the first time and take it for a spin.

Tomorrow I will not write my blog since it marks my gay men’s reading club meeting. I’ve finished the book more than a week ago and today I listened to a 52-minute interview with the author, Justin Torres, with a podcaster. I also learned that the author won the National Book Award for 2023. We’ll see tomorrow what the guys basically feel about the book.

See you on Wednesday.

And so it went!