The big news weighing on my mind today is the pardoning of Hunter Biden by his father Joe. Though this matter is seemingly of little importance to national security, according to the die hard Democrats that flood the airwaves, I actually think it is a profound failure of Joe Biden that will have an outsized and lasting impact. To grant your son complete freedom from accountability is clearly reminiscent of the kind of absolute monarchy that some pretty famous dudes fought to be free from not too long ago. Beyond the obvious hypocrisy of Joe “law and order, America is a beacon of democracy, stfu about Gaza” Biden voiding the criminal conviction of his son, the reasoning given for the pardon is especially disheartening and worrisome to me. Joe wrote in his explanation that he decided to change his publicly stated position of allowing his son to face the consequences of his actions due to the incoming Trump DOJ which, Biden claimed, would unfairly target Hunter simply for his family ties. I would like to remind the audience that Hunter bought a gun while being addicted to crack. Unlike the totally legit and not politically motivated conviction of Trump in Manhattan earlier this year, Hunter Biden’s conviction under the exact same DOJ could only be attributed to the Donald’s extreme penchant for vengeance. Never mind the fact that Hunter posted pictures of him smoking crack on his personal social media accounts. Pay no attention to Hunter’s memoir where he openly admits to using drugs, while partying at luxury hotels he would later write off as business expenses, during the time he bought the gun. These are not the droids you are looking for. Biden good, Trump bad. End of story.

As those with a keen awareness of domestic politics may remember, less than a month ago, Democrats broadly and enthusiastically united around a career prosecutor in Kamala Harris. Harris, a born again centrist, insisted throughout her campaign that her unique experience “going after transnational criminals” and locking up the gun-owning, drug-abusing scum of skid row would put her in a better position to protect the fundamentals of democracy than her convicted felon of an opponent. It has astounded me how many Democrats have abandoned their deeply held beliefs of 30 days ago and now claim that the blatantly corrupt, gun-owning, crack addict was always being unfairly prosecuted. Other prosecutors, they say, would not have prosecuted such a crime. The evidence does not exist, the confession was not made, do not believe your eyes and ears. Move over skateboarding and break-dancing, the Democrats are making a case for adding mental gymnastics as the newest Olympic sport. The implicit justification that commonly underlies these claims is that “Trump constantly does the same and he won” so there is no need to obey the laws any more. This reasoning is, to put it as delicately as I can, utterly moronic. To, by their own accord, directly oppose the notion of equality under the law because of the fear that the incoming administration will do the same but worse is short-sighted to say the least. When Trumpism dies, and it will eventually, America will need an alternative political identity that holds the ideals of the Enlightenment in the highest regard in order to maintain the foundation of modern democracy that tens of millions have fought and died for. Even if the Democratic Party has never fully lived up to these ideals, to walk away from them entirely because of Trump is throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If the Democratic Party is not willing or able to be the party for these ideas, another will rise in its place. Political parties have life spans, the human desire for liberation is eternal.

Also, before we declare that Trump marks the end of democracy, please tell me when American democracy flourished and I will remind of you of those who this democracy was knowingly failing. Before we rip the Supreme Court for its decision on presidential immunity, show me a president who is not a war criminal. While the crumbling facade of American benevolence is scary for those true believers in both parties who grew up drinking the Kool-Aid, its collapse is the painfully necessary prerequisite to reveal the only viable way forward. If we want to build a stable house, a stable family, a stable country, we must expose the cracks in the foundation and work intensely and urgently to repair them. More layers of paint will not provide a lasting solution, nor will a wrecking ball. If Biden can pardon his son who tried to buy a gun while on crack, supply the bombs that killed untold thousands of civilians in Gaza, Russia, and Afghanistan, attempt to convince us all that we didn’t just watch him lose his marbles on live television, and still be considered one of the most progressive politicians of the modern era by political experts, maybe we need a new type of politician and a new breed of political experts. As long as thinking people like the four of you reading this essay instinctively point to the possibility of things getting worse as an imperative to fall in line, the pathways by which things could get better grow increasingly narrow. Beyond Trump, we must not resign ourselves to engaging in endless compromises that make the world less bad, but actively strive to make the world better and compromise only when necessary, carefully calculated, and without losing momentum. Before we ask this from our leaders, we need to ask this from ourselves. If we ask more from ourselves every day, and make consistent, uncompromising, and genuine attempts to make good in the world, how could we not create better leaders than we have today. It’s not too late. God’s not finished. Lock in, bitch. We got work to do.