PAID FORWARD — The Weekly Opine

A mother and daughter participated as paying it forward sweeps across the nation. (Photo credit The Weekly Opine)

Guilty Hunter Biden gets a break

Last week, I thought the MAGA crowd would be elated when President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter, took responsibility by admitting guilt related to two misdemeanor tax offenses. As part of his deal with the Trump-appointed federal prosecutor, Hunter Biden will not face a felony charge of illegally possessing a firearm as a drug user, thus likely avoiding prison.

It’s been five years since the Trump administration authorized U.S. Attorney David Weiss, Delaware’s top federal prosecutor, to investigate Hunter Biden. Although appointed by Trump, Weiss agreed to stay on during the Biden administration to bring his investigation of Hunter Biden to conclusion.

In other words, President Joe Biden, who easily could have replaced Weiss with a prosecutor of his choice, did what Trump never would have done, if one of his children was under investigation by an Obama-appointed federal prosecutor. Biden allowed the investigation to continue without supplanting the prosecutor in charge of the case. To his credit, President Biden stood down and did not interfere with Weiss’ investigation.

Hunter Biden, who eventually did pay his delinquent taxes, has also done something Trump and MAGAs never do; finally admit responsibility for creating the mess he found himself in.

The judicial system “paid it forward” for the QAnon Shaman, who served just 19 months of a paltry 41-month sentence. Why all the fuss over Hunter Biden benefitting, too? (Photos credit Global News / NBC News)

Hunter gets by

The lightbulb lit up last week shortly after I had breakfast, alfresco, on the first day of summer. It was a delicious meal consisting of a veggie omelet, potatoes, pancakes and coffee at one of my favorite restaurants. When I asked for the check, the server said another table already paid for my breakfast. Astounded, I walked over to where a woman and her teenage daughter were sitting and thanked them for their wonderfully kind gesture.

Then I relayed a story to the woman and her daughter. While travelling via Amtrak to Dallas in 2019, the dining car attendant seated me at a table with a young, off-duty military man and an older civilian man. When our checks arrived, I took the military serviceman’s check and paid for his breakfast. He was surprised and very thankful.

Now, four years later, a stranger spotted me sitting a few tables away and decided to pay for my breakfast. Beautiful. (I ascended to Cloud 9 and remained there for several days.) The woman said she takes every opportunity to demonstrate to her daughter that expressing kindness to others is a blessing, and something we all need to do more often. In her words, she was “paying it forward.”

Driving home after breakfast it occurred to me that some federal judges are swept up in a crude form of paying it forward. Unfortunately, and to the benefit of many January 6 rioters, judges are handing out sentences far less than appropriate, considering the gravity of what transpired on January 6, 2021. So, I suppose it makes sense that Delaware U.S. Attorney Weiss is doing the same, recommending probation for Hunter Biden. Weiss, same as some of the judges handing out measly sentences to January 6 criminals, just “paid it forward” to the benefit of Hunter Biden.

Too easy

For those guilty of entering the U.S. Capitol, while an insurrection to overthrow our government was in progress, a sentence of anywhere from probation to a few years in prison is contemptibly insufficient.

Some judges “pay it forward” handing down generously light sentences to January 6 insurrectionists. (Photo credit the Washington Post)

If it was up to me, anyone who entered the U.S. Capitol Building that day, as part of the riotous mob, would get 15 years in prison. Even if a person did nothing more than walk around for 20 minutes, they were illegally in the Capitol supporting an attempted coup. Their mere presence contributed to the mob overwhelming police officers who fought to defend our government from being overthrown.

The conclusion I draw is that judges handing down slap-on-the-wrist sentences to the MAGA mob are, misguidedly, paying it forward.

Therefore, it seems fair that the Trump-appointed federal prosecutor “paid it forward,” considering Hunter Biden’s much less egregious crime of twice failing to pay his income taxes on time. Comparatively, Weiss got it right by recommending Hunter Biden receive probation but no jail time. After all, the long-winded, GOP-frenzied Hunter Biden investigation largely came up empty.

(Note: It is willful/unwilful ignorance, a.k.a. a false equivalence, when MAGAs compare the Hunter Biden case to Trump’s multiple confessions that he stole top-secret documents.)

Going forward, let’s all look for opportunities to pay it forward, but only to people deserving of a kind gesture.