By Mike Bibb
Nearly everyone knew at the time that President Joe Biden's rash of last-minute Presidential pardons for members of his family and close friends was suspicious.
Question is, are they lawful?
Even more concerning, can a Presidential pardon be issued absolving a person of a past or future crime that hasn't been committed or indicted for?
Do those pardons remain in effect if they were not actually signed by the President, but by someone else using the President's Autopen signature device? This mess may develop into one of Biden's biggest scandals yet.
Finally, if the President was not cognitively aware of his actions, are the results of his efforts legally binding?
Apparently, these and other questions, are being discussed by President Trump and several of his advisors. Biden's well recognized mental flubs while President — now openly admitted to by members of the liberal press and Democrat Party — has sparked speculation that many of Joe's official duties his last year in office was carried out by his associates and family members rather than himself.
Which shouldn't be surprising considering Joe's propensity to hide the truth or fabricate colossal sized whoppers.
Joe's televised disaster during the Presidential Debate with Donald Trump last July compelled his removal by the Democrat National Committee (DNC) from seeking reelection. Conclusive evidence they had lost confidence in Joe's chances of beating Trump.
Now, it seems, recognized names at CNN — one of the more staunch Biden news acolytes — has revised their previous opinions of Joe's mental situation and are admitting they knew all along Biden was slipping and not in complete control of his cranium the last four years.
They're being generous; the last 40 years would be closer to it.
Like CNN, other mainstream media outfits are also beginning to whistle a different tune. While some do not directly imply they have completely turned on the former President, they are questioning the judgement of many of his decisions and repercussions.
The COVID pandemic, its mismanagement and misinformation, and the following economic debacle are being reconsidered as one of the early Biden Administration's obvious missteps. The closing of schools, churches and business, in conjunction with the obviously ridiculous social distancing and facemask mandates and experimental vaccine injections that were only partially successful, eventually faced the reality they caused more harm than good.
Joe's convoluted reasoning that an open southern border was a good thing because it permitted the entry of millions of undocumented people from every corner of the world to freely enter our country and, supposedly, assimilate and successfully contribute to society has also shown to be a complete miscalculation.
Our country's involvement in the Russia-Ukraine armed conflict has proven to be a continuing drain on our economy and relations with European countries. The war has dragged-on much longer than Joe told us it would. As a result, maintaining military arms and financial assistance to the region hasn't been popular, even among Democrats.
Former Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson faced a similar situation in the Vietnam war during the 1960s. The combat escalated for several years until it was obvious there wasn't going to be a successful conclusion. Johnson's failing popularity compelled him not to run for reelection in 1968. Richard Nixon was elected President and began to slowly withdraw from the fight.
Whether Biden's blunders were coincidental or on purpose remains a subject of much discussion, as the press is finally beginning to acknowledge the lauded aftereffects haven't turned out as advertised. That, in fact, a growing segment of society decided in the 2024 election they no longer had sufficient confidence in Joe to risk giving him another term.
Obviously, a significant number of Democrats are included in this group. Trump didn't win by simply pulling more Republicans than Democrats supported Harris (Biden). He was successful by tallying more from both sides because voters — Dems and Repubs — were not willing to continue down the path the Democrat Party was trying to lead them.
Which brings me back to the realization that only six months after last year's election, the mainstream media seems to be willing to reevaluate some of their political positions during the Biden Administration and at least acknowledge they may have been overly zealous in their endorsements.
Actually, it appears they were downright misleading and continued until Trump exposed their antics as "Fake news" — a popular slogan often voiced by numerous officials, politicians and media outlets.
In response, Trump became Hitler 2.0, Biden went to the beach and the economy slid into the tank; a tangle of commotion reporters and talking heads gladly befriended until November 2024 came to bite them.
Of course, we now know Special Council Robert Hur informed us in October 2023 that a trial jury would likely determine Joe was "a sympathetic, well meaning, elderly man with a poor memory" and would not be convicted of charges — if any were brought.
A polite way of saying Biden's brain was too far gone to even bother indicting and prosecuting. The DNC concurred and soon replaced him with Kamala Harris.
Reliving old memories, Joe is desperately trying to remain relevant in party politics. Truth of the matter he is only a side-show very few insiders are paying attention to. His name and connections are no longer a drawing card in the ring of contemporary Democratic affairs. For better or worse, younger and more progressive faces have taken his place.
Joe's 50-year public service career in Washington will probably result in a library being named after him, but that will be about the extent of his post-Presidency influence.
Most likely, it won't be a very large library. A '67 Corvette stuffed with secret government documents, records, pardons, Hunter's laptop, tax concealed overseas business transactions and an aluminum folding beach chair doesn't require much room.
Maybe, about the size of a single car garage with a copy of Joe and Kamala on a cover of Time Magazine's "2020 Person of the Year" scotch-tapped to the Pepsi soda machine outside the front entrance. Making it even more official, #46 will be noticeably stenciled above the door. Dr. Jill can narrate the three-minute tour.
Donations would be greatly appreciated — Cost of living isn't what it used to be!
