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“Throughout my life, my father was the perfect role model, and when Joe pardoned Hunter, I found another one,” writes John Casey.
I lost my father to a massive heart attack when I was just 12 years old. In that short amount of time he was alive, I felt his unwavering love. And since his death over 45 years ago, I still feel that love. I’m convinced he has been standing by my side, and guiding me, throughout my entire life.
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His presence was especially felt when I was coming to terms with my sexuality. There was no one I could trust to understand what I was going through — except my father.
He, more than anyone, always seemed to know what was happening to me, what I was thinking, and how I felt. He undoubtedly understood who I was, and that was a comforting feeling.
That’s what a father does. He stands by his son, through thick and thin, even if that means sacrificing part of himself. The parable of the prodigal son comes to mind — a father accepts his son after the son goes awry and comes back a repentant man. Only a father can understand the unconditional love for his son. And only fathers could grasp what President Joe Biden did for his son Hunter.
Biden — the human being — is a father first and foremost. That was…is his main job in life: protecting his children and embracing them, holding them tight with an unquenchable desire to keep them safe. And for Biden this exceptionally holds true. He lost his wife and daughter, and nearly his sons in a devastating car crash in 1972. And then later he lost his beloved adult son Beau several years ago.
Parents who lose their children are inconsolable for most of their lives. Biden is fully aware of how delicate the lives of his children are. They have always been a central part of his life. His daily, long train rides from Washington, D.C. to Wilmington, Del., were to make sure he was home for his children, even if he had to endure a 90-plus-minute commute. They were always his first priority. Always. And if you knew anything about Joe Biden, you knew that was his one overriding truth.
While Beau excelled, his brother Hunter, like the proverbial son, went awry; however, Hunter picked himself up, cleaned himself off, and changed his life for the better, while his father never lost faith in his once wayward son. Joe Biden supported Hunter every step of the way. Joe Biden being there for Hunter Biden was a true example of the unwavering love of a father that I have felt all my life.
When Joe Biden pardoned his son yesterday, he did what any father would do to shield his son from pain and hardship. Joe Biden, as president, had the capacity to help his son, and that’s exactly what he did. And his son earned that help because Hunter worked hard to better himself.
By all accounts, Joe Biden was a father who expected his kids to work hard and earn their place in society. They were all required to hold down jobs through high school and college. It is glaring apparent that as a parent, Joe Biden is worshipped. His kids, and grandkids, adore him.
And, for all their hard work, Joe Biden has been immensely proud of his children.
Joe Biden never wanted his kids to take the easy way out by relying on their powerful and influential dad. Joe Biden recognized how his son Hunter had earned the right to be pardoned by overcoming drug addiction and paying his debt.
Despite his admissions of guilt, Hunter endured trials and sentencing that were too harsh in their severity for the crimes he committed. He was only charged because Hunter’s father was president of the United States. His gun possession crime predominately warranted no jail time. Hunter never used the gun to commit a crime. The same holds true for the tax evasion charges. Overwhelmingly, people are given the opportunity to pay back their debt. Hunter did, and yet he was singled out.
And there’s no doubt at all that Joe Biden, as a father, felt immeasurable guilt for all of that.
Hunter Biden didn’t take the easy road back. He endured what he had to in order to move forward in his life. His father could have stepped in at any time and done away with the Hunter charges, but he didn’t. And now, as Joe Biden gets closer to being a private citizen, he chose to help his son, naysayers be damned. And they should be.
It’s a trojan horse for those who say that Hunter’s pardon proves the justice system is corrupt. It worked as it should, even if the charges were warped. Hunter was convicted by a jury of his peers. For those who say that Joe Biden reneged on his promise not to pardon his son, I say he had every right to. When faced with the decision, Joe Biden demonstrated that he was a father first and foremost. Fathers change their minds when the circumstances of the son change.
And as for Republicans and Trump lambasting Joe Biden for what he did? The hypocrisy in their contempt is as thick as syrup. Moreover, Trump’s justice department would have scorched Hunter in ways we can't imagine, and Joe Biden did what he could to prevent that.
Yes, on the surface Joe Biden’s decision to pardon his son appears selfish — he didn’t put party or country or decorum first. But when it came down to it, Joe Biden’s choice was the only logical one: to help his son. There’s no introversion in that. None at all.
What Joe Biden did took courage, and he was fully aware of the heat and criticism that would come down on him once he signed Hunter’s pardon papers. But as a father, Joe Biden would run through hell and high water to protect his son, even if that meant sacrificing part of himself.
I was never a father myself, but I have known all my life that the father I had was the perfect role model. And when Joe Biden bravely stepped up to help his son, I saw another father that I could look up to.
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