No government action implicates raw emotion more than a president pardoning a family member.
Seen from a human perspective, Joe Biden¡¯s decision to pardon his sole surviving son Hunter, whom he has always loved to a fault, is about the most understandable action of his whole presidency.
It would take the superhuman emotional control of a stoic not to save a son from prison ¡ª and Joe Biden is no Marcus Aurelius. Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter each pardoned brothers. Donald Trump pardoned his daughter¡¯s father-in-law (whom he now says he will appoint as ambassador to France). Even Abraham Lincoln pardoned his wife Mary Todd Lincoln¡¯s sister, whose husband had served as a Confederate general.
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