I would have lost all respect for President Joe Biden if he stood by and allowed his son Hunter to go to prison. On Sunday, he made sure that would not happen by issuing a broad and blanket pardon for any offense Hunter may have committed since 2014. In doing so, he rendered moot the sentencing his son was due to receive on December 12 for his trumped-up conviction on federal gun charges and on December 16 for federal tax evasion charges.

If there’s a valid criticism of this decision, it’s really only that it broke a commitment Biden made not to pardon Hunter. If you want to say he lied, I suppose you can. Personally, I never believed Biden would allow his son to be incarcerated, particularly on the gun charges.

I think the most important thing to keep in mind about Hunter is that he is a recovering addict who has maintained his sobriety for over five years.

…Hunter Biden said he had “admitted and taken responsibility for my mistakes during the darkest days of my addiction — mistakes that have been exploited to publicly humiliate and shame me and my family for political sport.”

“Despite all of this, I have maintained my sobriety for more than five years because of my deep faith and the unwavering love and support of my family and friends,” he added. “In the throes of addiction, I squandered many opportunities and advantages. In recovery we can be given the opportunity to make amends where possible and rebuild our lives if we never take for granted the mercy that we have been afforded. I will never take the clemency I have been given today for granted and will devote the life I have rebuilt to helping those who are still sick and suffering.”

In his statement, the president made reference to this:

Without aggravating factors like use in a crime, multiple purchases, or buying a weapon as a straw purchaser, people are almost never brought to trial on felony charges solely for how they filled out a gun form. Those who were late paying their taxes because of serious addictions, but paid them back subsequently with interest and penalties, are typically given non-criminal resolutions. It is clear that Hunter was treated differently.

It’s important to understand what Biden is saying here because he’s right. This isn’t example of the rich and powerful getting lenient treatment, but the exact opposite. An average person would never have been prosecuted for failing to disclose their substance abuse problem on a gun form. If that were routinely charged, half of MAGA world would be in federal prison. And people who run into financial difficulties due to addiction are not usually sent to prison for tax offenses if they’ve gotten clean and made full restitution. The reason the book was thrown at Hunter was because of unrelenting pressure from Republicans who showed no mercy or compassion or forgiveness to Hunter in their zeal to gain a political advantage.

Under these circumstances, Biden would be a terrible father and person if he put some supposedly high-minded principle over protecting his son, who is still a fragile and damaged person struggling to live the right way.

Anyone who argues otherwise is either seeking a political advantage once more or simply a dunderhead.