Commentary on Judge KBJ, judging Smith & Rock, and Hunter Biden's legal jeopardy

The Hump Day Hot Topics!

Since I spent the better part of today traveling on business, I decided to inscribe a few Hump Day Hobbservations before retiring for the evening:

***While Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation was all but secured last week when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) stated that he would vote "yay," I was quite pleased to learn that Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine will break ranks with her party and vote to confirm!

Sen. Collins with future Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown-Jackson…

Said Sen. Collins, "After reviewing Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s extensive record, watching much of her hearing testimony, and meeting with her twice in person, I have concluded that she possesses the experience, qualifications, and integrity to serve as an Associate Justice on the Supreme Court."

Kudos, Sen. Collins, for putting the petty politics of your fellow Republicans aside and voting for a wise young jurist who will bring a wealth of legal knowledge and judicial experience to the Supreme Court!

***During the 2020 election, those of us who spent time reading right wing news media were hard pressed to tell whether then President Donald Trump was running against Joe Biden or his son, Hunter, due to Trump's obsessive chatter about probing the younger Biden's business activities in Russia and Ukraine. 

Well, earlier today, CNN analyst Elie Honig reported that a federal investigation into Biden's business activities is moving forward for "potentially serious federal crimes." 

Biden the Elder and Biden the Younger

Now, what's interesting here is, 1. The timing as far as mid-term elections looming later this year and the potential that a GOP base (which despises Hunter Biden) will turn out in even greater numbers with hopes of securing a conservative majority in the House and Senate; 2. Attorney General Merrick Garland answers to Hunter Biden's father, the POTUS, a fact that screams "conflict of interest" that could set up the “I”-word—“Impeachment;” 3. The reality that federal criminal conviction rates are typically high because most defendants plead guilty, and those who don't usually find themselves paddling upstream against federal prosecutors (and the FBI) who typically dot all “i's” and cross all “t's” before securing indictments. 

While Hunter Biden, if indicted, would be shrouded with the same presumption of innocence like other criminal defendants, should he eventually get convicted, would his father, the POTUS, commute or pardon his federal crimes? If such a commutation or pardon did occur, would a GOP led Congress (depending on the mid-term results) launch investigations and impeachment proceedings just to get some “get-back” to please the twice impeached Donald Trump?

Feel free to drop your opinion on these questions in the comments!

***Speaking of the former president, I guess it doesn't matter too much to him that Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin has invaded Ukraine and placed the world on the verge of World War III—not if Putin can help him strike back at President Biden.

Trump and Putin circa 2018

While appearing on the Just the News show on Real America’s Voice Network this week, Mr. Trump wheezed, "One thing, while I'm on your show, as long as Putin now is not exactly a fan of our country, let him explain, where did — because Chris Wallace (of CNN) wouldn't let me ask the question — why did the mayor of Moscow’s wife give the Bidens, both of them, $3.5 million dollars? That's a lot of money."

So, there was a time in Western civilization when men who praised, spoke to, or collaborated with enemy combatant leaders were pilloried by the press in the public square. Whether it was Nazi sympathizer Edward VIII of England being made a pariah among the British Royal family, or Joe Kennedy, patriarch of the Kennedy clan of Massachusetts, being roasted as a Nazi sympathizer while serving as American Ambassador to Great Britain, even the hint of being a traitor was dealt with swiftly! 

British Prince Edward VIII, the former King, is all smiles with his new wife, Wallis Simpson, and Adolf Hitler circa 1937

The problem is that these days, even a normally in lock-step Republican Party has a schism where Trump and his acolytes support (to differing degrees) Putin, while other Republicans are zealous in their support of Ukraine and its leader, Volodomyr Zelensky. 

I do not expect for Trump to dial back his request for Putin to intervene in the Biden inquiry while Putin battles a hot war in Ukraine, and a cold war with the U.S. and her NATO allies. But I do point out, once more, how far some Republicans have fallen in less than a decade from anti-communist crusaders—to cheerleaders for unrepentant "former" communists in the Kremlin. 

***I wrote earlier today on Facebook that what's triggered me with regards to the Oscars incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock is that it reminds me of growing up in an extended clan of Hell raisers who occasionally ruined cook outs, reunions, weddings, funerals, and repasts. There are so many events in my past that I should be able to look back on with a smile but can't because someone said something that pissed off someone else and shortly thereafter, the cussin', the slappin', the punchin', and the whoopin' commenced.  Regrettably, I, too, have been in the middle of the “you's a got damn lie/ no, mf'er, you's the lie” arguments a time or two in my 49 years on Earth.

Sadly, those were the vibes on display this past Sunday night and the major reason that three days later, I am still sitting here wishing that life had a rewind button for the times when we fall short of the mark and while needing grace, receive condemnation from kin, friends, or the public writ large. 

Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a wonderful evening!