PARDON-GHAZI: BLAME "THE MOMMY PARTY" FOR THE FAILINGS OF DADDY

I'm thinking about two stories this morning -- and in some sense they're the same story.

One story is President Biden's pardon of his son Hunter, which continues to be the media's obsession. The other story is one that won't get the attention it deserves: Amanda Marcotte's report on Pete Hegseth's church. Marcotte reports that in the late 2010s, Hegseth

became deeply involved with the Association of Classical Christian Schools (ACCS), moving to Tennessee to enroll his children in a branch of this fundamentalist organization. He also joined the associated denomination, the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. Both are led by Doug Wilson, an untrained and self-proclaimed pastor who advocates for Christian nationalism and has become famous for his trollish promotion of his far-right political views.

But Wilson isn't just a wingnut Christian nationalist.

At the center of Wilson's philosophy is a misogyny so overt that it's sometimes hard to believe he's serious....

In one famous passage from his book on marriage, Wilson suggests that sexual violence is women's fault for not being submissive enough. "[T]he sexual act cannot be made into an egalitarian pleasuring party," he writes. "A man penetrates, conquers, colonizes, plants. A woman receives, surrenders, accepts." The alleged failure of women to submit, he continues, leads men to "dream of being rapists," deprived of the "erotic necessity" found in women's submission....

Hegseth has blamed sexual assault in the military on "equality," claiming that the issue was "exacerbated" by letting women enlist in the first place. This aligns with CREC teachings that male sexuality is ravenous and the tendency to blame victims for "immodesty" when sexual violence happens.

Hegseth paid off a woman who once accused him of rape, and his own mother called him "an abuser of women," so it seems fitting that he chose a church whose leader believes that women are responsible for male sexual violence.

But in a non-sexual way, the mainstream reaction to President Biden's pardon of Hunter resembles Hegseth and Wilson's response to male sexual violence. Hegseth and Wilson believe it's unnatural to deny men's natural rampant sexuality. The political world believes that norm-breaking and corruption are essential elements of Donald Trump's nature, so when Trump corruptly gave pardons or clemency in his first term to Roger Stone, Steve Bannon, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, Dinesh D'Souza, and Charles Kushner, among others, the executive actions were one-day stories at best. "Trump is just being Trump" is the political equivalent of "boys will be boys."

And just as Hegseth and Wilson blame women for male sexual violence, the political world is prepared to blame Biden for corrupt pardons in Trump's second term, even though Trump has been loudly telegraphing his intent to use the justice system in a corrupt way for years. In particular, Trump has talked about pardoning the January 6 insurrectionists since early 2022.

The Washington Post's editorial board writes:

To be clear: Mr. Biden had an unquestionable legal right to pardon his son Hunter. But in so doing on Sunday, he maligned the Justice Department and invited Mr. Trump to draw equivalence between the Hunter Biden pardon and any future moves Mr. Trump might take against the impartial administration of justice.

Outgoing Michigan senator Gary Peters, a Democrat, says:

This was an improper use of power, it erodes trust in our government, and it emboldens others to bend justice to suit their interests.

And:

"With this decision, Biden has now made it easier for Trump to abuse the clemency power again," Jeffrey Crouch, a legal expert from American University, told CBS.... "If presidents from both political parties feel free to abuse clemency without consequence, the pardon power becomes less a tool of grace and more of a political instrument."

Let me say it again: In a second term, Trump was always going to "feel free to abuse clemency without consequence." Jonathan Last is right:

Will pardoning Hunter “embolden” Trump to break more norms? LOL no.

Will pardoning Hunter make it “easier” for Trump’s defenders?

They are having an easy time already. They defend everything Trump says/does. Because Hunter was pardoned, they will include this in their daily litanies. Had Hunter not been pardoned, the litanies would include something else.

Back in 1991, Chris Matthews called the Democratic Party "the Mommy party," writing:

There’s an accepted division of chores in American politics. Republicans protect us with strong national defense; Democrats nourish us with Social Security and Medicare. Republicans worry about our business affairs; Democrats look after our health, nutrition and welfare. Republicans control the White House; Democrats provide a warm, caring presence on Capitol Hill.

The paradigm for this snug arrangement is familiar. It’s the traditional American family. “Daddy” locks the doors at night and brings home the bacon. “Mommy” worries when the kids are sick and makes sure each one gets treated fairly. This partition of authority and duty may seem an anachronism from the “Leave it to Beaver” era, but it’s an apt model for today’s political household.

Now Republicans win the male vote by double digits, while Democrats win the female vote. Republicans openly brag about their toxic masculinity -- they're the frat party, not the Daddy party.

We conclude that we can't expect them to go against their essential fratty nature, or hold them accountable if they do harm as a result. So we blame the female party for male failings, as nature and God apparently intended.

ON THE HUNTER BIDEN PARDON AND POLITICAL "PICK ME"S

On the subject of the Hunter Biden pardon, I don't think we should dismiss this theory:

After spending some time wondering what could have tipped the balance leading to the Hunter Biden pardon, I finally started to think that the fascists may have been planning to use Hunter as their first ginned-up treason charge followed by execution.

— Jim "Not a Football Presenter" White (@jimwhitegnv.bsky.social) December 2, 2024 at 8:04 AM

In June, just after Hunter Biden was convicted on felony gun charges, The New York Times noted this:

During the final 11 days of the 2020 campaign, Mr. Trump referred to Hunter Biden more than five dozen times at rallies, during interviews and in social media posts. Instead of focusing on an argument for why he deserved a second term, he repeatedly posted the question, “Where’s Hunter?”

“It’s treason, or whatever you want to call it,” Mr. Trump said on the last day of the 2020 race. “We caught the whole thing. The son — where’s Hunter? Where’s Hunter?”

The Times story pointed out that Trump expressed more sympathy for the president's son during the 2024 campaign (“I had a brother who suffered tremendously from alcoholism and alcohol...”). But the story also noted that this was pure cynicism on Trump's part:

In a meeting last year, Mr. Trump acknowledged privately to an associate that attacks against the president’s son had the potential to backfire politically, according to a person who attended the meeting who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation. Mr. Trump said Republicans needed to be careful, the person said, “not to go overboard” on the Hunter Biden attacks, especially on the drug addiction issue, because it could elicit sympathy and make people view the president as a caring father.

The campaign is over, so that strategy is no longer relevant. And in any case, future FBI director Kash Patel hasn't mellowed on Hunter, even strategically. Patel clearly wants to bring new charges against Hunter. He mentions the Foreign Agents Registration Act in the clip below, but who knows what else he has in mind?

One year ago, Kash Patel, while sniffling repeatedly as he does in every interview (he just can’t shake that cold) promised to prosecute Hunter for new crimes. Then Trump names him FBI Director. He told you ahead of time he’s going after Hunter. So tired of the pearl clutchers.

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— Ron Filipkowski (@ronfilipkowski.bsky.social) December 2, 2024 at 12:26 PM

I won't be surprised if Trump, Patel, and Attorney General Pam Bondi try to bring President Biden up on treason charges, now that Hunter appears to be out of their reach. Right-wingers don't just believe that Hunter was trading on his family name for cash. They believe both Bidens were cashing in, and selling America out to China and Ukraine. The proof they've amassed is as nonexistent as the proof that Democrats rigged the 2020 election. But they might feel they're bulletproof now and can pursue any case they find emotionally satisfying.

I've seen condemnations of the pardon described as "pearl clutching," but what I'm seeing in those condemnations is a self-righteousness that's almost gleeful. I like this response to the increasingly insufferable Nate Silver, from a former legislative candidate in New York State:

Remember, kids: Democrats must meet a peak and unbreakable sense of morality.

Republicans don’t have to meet any of those standards. There are no consequences.

But if Democrats falter, even for a moment, they must pay the price. https://t.co/XEdfj08K7n

— Skyler Johnson (@SkylerforNY) December 2, 2024

I'm sure it will astonish you to know that Silver was much more tolerant of presidential pardons during the previous administration:

Really, Nate? Now this is a red line for you? https://t.co/dE1tUUoi0D pic.twitter.com/7LYxUuzjiw

— Skyler Johnson (@SkylerforNY) December 2, 2024

Nate Silver has no ties to the Democratic Party. I can't say the same for Colorado governor Jared Polis:

Trump pardoned Jared Kushner's dad while Jared worked in the White House, then yesterday appointed Jared's dad as an ambassador, but Polis didn't have the same energy for that. Pathetic stuff that I for one won't soon forget.

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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) December 1, 2024 at 8:52 PM

Polis was last seen saying nice things about the man who wants to Make Polio Great Again:

I’m excited by the news that the President-Elect will appoint @RobertKennedyJr to @HHSGov. He helped us defeat vaccine mandates in Colorado in 2019 and will help make America healthy again by shaking up HHS and FDA. I hope he leans into personal choice on vaccines rather than… pic.twitter.com/cILtTYplcn

— Jared Polis (@jaredpolis) November 14, 2024

The young have a name for people like Polis: he's a "pick me." It's a name that isn't political, and is sometimes regarded as offensive. Urban Dictionary says:

A pick me is a woman that is willing to do anything for male approval. She will embarrass or throw other women under the bus to achieve this goal.

That's Polis, except he's a Democrat willing to throw other Democrats under the bus for the approval of Republicans (and members of the media, and other self-hating Democrats). Nate Silver isn't a Democrat, but he built an audience full of Democrats when he was making his name as a politcal forecaster, and now he wants to be noticed every time he slags a Democrat. It's the surest path to widespread approval in the world of politics.

Our politcal culture thinks genuine Democrats are pathetic and disgusting. It's always polite to insult Democrats. Fox News will praise you. James Carville will praise you.

The only people who won't praise you are ordinary committed Democratic voters. Unfortunately, very people in the world of politics care what we think.

WHY PETE HEGSETH WILL SURVIVE THAT EMAIL FROM HIS MOTHER

This New York Times story was published a couple of days ago, and it already seems like old news:

The mother of Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald J. Trump’s pick for secretary of defense, wrote him an email in 2018 saying he had routinely mistreated women for years and displayed a lack of character.

“On behalf of all the women (and I know it’s many) you have abused in some way, I say … get some help and take an honest look at yourself,” Penelope Hegseth wrote, stating that she still loved him.

She also wrote: “I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man (and have been for years) and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.”

When I read the story and the email, it seemed possible that Hegseth would quickly withdraw his name from consideration for the job. But he hasn't done that, and there are no signs that he might.

And between then and now -- remember, it's been only two days -- Trump has given us two utterly batshit appointments: Jared Kushner's felon father, Charles Kushner, as ambassador to France, and Kash Patel as a replacement for Christopher Wray at the FBI, even though Wray was a Trump appointee and his term has three years to go. Kushner's awfulness has been attested to by Chris Christie, who prosecuted him as a U.S. attorney:

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said that “one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes” he prosecuted more than a decade ago when he was a US attorney was committed by the father of President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and top adviser Jared Kushner....

Christie was referring to an elaborate revenge plot that the older Kushner hatched in 2003 in order to target his his brother-in-law, William Schulder, a former employee turned witness for federal prosecutors in their case against Kushner, who was under investigation at the time for making illegal campaign contributions.

As a part of the plot, Kushner hired a prostitute to lure Schulder into having sex in a Bridgewater, New Jersey, motel room as a hidden camera rolled. A tape of the encounter was then sent to Kushner’s sister and Schulder’s wife, Esther.

Ultimately, the intimidation stunt failed. The Schulders brought the video to prosecutors, who tracked down the call girl and threatened her with arrest. She promptly turned on Kushner.

In a plea deal negotiated by Christie, Kushner pleaded guilty to 16 counts of tax evasion, one count of retaliating against a federal witness – his brother-in-law – and another count of lying to the Federal Election Commission.

Trump pardoned Kushner in 2020.

Patel has made support for Trump his entire personality. He's written three children's books about Trump. He's made clear that he'll use the job to punish Trump's enemies, both within the Bureau and elsewhere in politics, law enforcement, and the media.

Presto! We've all forgotten about the Hegseth email. If it's brought up in his hearings, it'll seem like a tired old tale that's been litigated and forgotten.

The Times seems to have done the responsible thing with this story: it was apparently run as soon as it was ready. But if the parties were reversed and Fox News had a story like this on a Democratic appointee, I don't believe it would have run the piece on the Friday of a four-day holiday weekend. I think Fox would have saved the story until Monday morning.

I don't think the Times ran this story over a holiday weekend as a favor to Hegseth or the incoming Trump administration. The real favor would be not running the story at all. But the timing means the story will be lost.

Maybe this wouldn't be happening if some Democrats were making noise about the unfitness of Trump's worst picks -- Hegseth, Patel, Kushner, Robert Kennedy, Tulsi Gabbard. But they seem to be waiting until next year. It really might be too late then.