Salem Political Snark

My totally made-up 2024 local and national political awards

It's the last day of 2024.

Time to spend a (very) few minutes inspecting the recesses of my brain about what struck me, politically, during the past year, before I turn my attention to a Very Important Question: will CNN be up with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen consuming copious amounts of alcohol at Times Square, or will this be a dry year for the only New Year's Eve hosts I can stand to watch?

Here's some 2024 awards.

Biggest national fuck-up. Joe Biden ignoring his almost-but-not-quite-explicit pledge to only be a one-term president before turning the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination to a much younger candidate. That ended up happening anyway, but Biden hanging on way past his best by date really hurt the Democratic cause.

Biggest local fuck-up. After five progressives on the City Council voted to approve without a vote by the citizenry an employee payroll tax on people who work in Salem, conservative business interests forced a vote anyway in November 2023, and the tax was soundly defeated. This caused Mayor Chris Hoy's popularity to sink, as he was one of those progressives, which led to a conservative, Julie "I'm not related to Chris" Hoy being elected Mayor of a city that leans progressive, except when progressive politicians are punished for doing stupid things.

Brightest local rising star. City councilor Vanessa Nordyke was the only progressive on the City Council unscathed by the payroll tax fiasco, as she wanted the tax to be voted on by citizens. Nordyke seems destined for higher office, much higher than Mayor.

Brightest national rising star. Trump's gigantic shadow blots out any Republican rising stars. On the Democratic side, I'm hoping some appear, damn soon! I like Michigan's Governor, Gretchen Whitmer. California's Governor Gavin Newsom is appealing, but his hair is too slickly styled for my taste.

People I least want to get an email or text message from ever again. No contest: Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. 

Decision that will either turn out horribly or terrific. For Salem, the soon-to-be imposition of downtown parking meters. This will either drive people away from visiting downtown or be the savior of a struggling urban core. For the United States, the attempted removal of millions of undocumented migrants. This will either cement Trump's popularity as a president who shook things up in a good way or earn the wrath of a country that realized too late how valuable those undocumented migrants were to our economy. 

Most pleasingly fanatic local citizen activists. Jim Scheppke and his merry band of library supporters, who have been besieging city officials with calls to make the Salem Library and its West Salem branch a high budget priority. Librarians are known for telling people to keep their voices down. But they've been speaking loudly about preserving library services in the face of upcoming general fund deficits.

Politician I'm really happy lived to be 100. Jimmy Carter. While he was alive, I failed to realize what a good president he was. Now that he's dead, this historians who have been talking about him remind me of Carter's accomplishments, not least of which was recognizing way back in the late 1970s that global warming was an existential threat to humanity. Putting solar panels on the White House roof was a visionary move, even though Ronald Reagan removed them after he beat Carter in the 1980 election.

Jimmy Carter's death reminds us that presidents should be decent and honest

When I got in my car this afternoon and heard talk about Jimmy Carter after I turned on the radio, I knew, or at least strongly suspected, that former President Carter had died. 

My first thought was, "He was such a decent person, the complete opposite of Trump."

Listening to reports of Carter's life -- his upbringing, his presidency, his post-presidency -- reminded me  that it wasn't that long ago that decency, honesty, strong moral character, and putting the broad interest of the nation above narrow party politics were viewed as basic qualities someone aspiring to be president needed to demonstrate.

Those days are gone, given the fact that Trump won the White House in 2016 and 2024. Which is sad, especially for those of us old enough to remember the humility, charm, and accomplishments Jimmy Carter brought to the presidency after he was elected in 1976.

Well, I needed some help from the news programs I listened to as I drove home after learning of Carter's death at the age of 100 to remember his political accomplishments. 

For I'd mostly bought into the oft-repeated conclusion that Carter's presidency was an abject failure, while his post-presidency was a great success marked by charitable endeavors like he and his wife building houses on behalf of Habitat for Humanity.

It's true that "stagflation" and Iran taking 52 American diplomats hostage produced a resounding defeat for Carter's 1980 re-election bid at the hand of Ronald Reagan. However, Carter did some very good things during his single term as president.

The Carter Center summarizes those accomplishments.

Jimmy Carter served as president from Jan. 20, 1977 to Jan. 20, 1981. Significant foreign policy accomplishments of his administration included the Panama Canal treaties, the Camp David Accords, the treaty of peace between Egypt and Israel, the SALT II treaty with the Soviet Union, and the establishment of U.S. diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. He championed human rights throughout the world.

On the domestic side, the administration's achievements included a comprehensive energy program conducted by a new Department of Energy; deregulation in energy, transportation, communications, and finance; major educational programs under a new Department of Education; and major environmental protection legislation, including the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, which doubled the size of the national park system and tripled the wilderness areas.

For me, one of Carter's memorable moments was recollected in a Politico story about him.

But he could also be disarmingly candid, in a political culture that almost never rewards that trait (who can forget his confession to Playboy magazine that he had lusted after women not his wife and committed adultery many times in his heart?)

This seemed quaint at the time, along with being astoundingly obvious. What man hasn't committed adultery many times in his heart? But what Carter said fits with his commitment to Christian ideals and high moral standards. 

Since we have a president-elect who had sex with a pornstar soon after his wife had given birth, then was found guilty of falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to the pornstar so news of Trump's infidelity wouldn't come out just before the 2016 election, Jimmy Carter's admission of purely mental sexual affairs is refreshing by comparison.

Vice-President Trump looks weak compared to President Musk

Donald Trump has gotten a political lump of coal in his Christmas stocking. He loves to pretend that he's a macho guy, even though he actually is a grossly overweight, out of shape, hair-dying, makeup-wearing narcissist who doesn't demonstrate any genuinely manly qualities.

Now his weakness is on full display, and he hasn't even taken office yet after narrowly defeating Kamala Harris for the presidency. 

It's clear that the genuine leader of the Republican Party isn't Trump, but Elon Musk. That's why Democrats like me are finding great satisfaction in referring to President Musk and Vice-President Trump -- as these titles accurately reflect who is in charge of Washington, D.C.

Trump had no problems with the bipartisan House bill needed to prevent a federal government shutdown at midnight tomorrow, Friday, December 20, until Musk unleashed a salvo of tweets on X calling the bill a horrible piece of legislation.

After President Musk did this, Vice-President Trump meekly did what Musk commanded, come out against the bill. In a pitiful attempt to save face, Trump claimed that he was doing this because the bill didn't contain a provision to raise the debt limit.

Which wasn't an issue before, since raising the debt limit hadn't come up during the months of negotiations between House Republicans and Democrats that resulted in the bipartisan bill to keep the government functioning. 

Sure, technically the current debt limit will be exceeded on January 1, 2025. But practically speaking, the Treasury Department can take steps to avoid a default on the nation's debt until around May of next year.

Trump wanted the debt limit raised now so this will happen during Joe Biden's presidency, not Trump's term in office, since traditionally most Republicans are deeply opposed to deficit spending and detest having to raise the debt limit to accommodate the need to borrow more money to finance federal budget deficits.

It's going to be more than a little embarrassing when Trump needs to get Democratic support to raise the debt limit to accommodate the trillions of dollars in additional deficits due to a renewal of the tax cuts passed in Trump's first term that mainly benefitted large corporations and wealthy individuals.

But that's likely what's going to happen after the House failed today to pass a replacement bill to keep the government open. Thirty-eight Republicans voted against the bill, which included a suspension of the debt limit for two years. 

This doesn't bode well for Trump's legislative outlook during the next four years. He clearly isn't in charge of the Republican Party. Elon Musk is. And Musk is even worse at congressional politics than Trump, which is a low bar. 

What Musk and Trump have in common is a vastly exaggerated sense of their own competence and knowledge. Both men are savvy in a cunning sort of way, but not in an effective way. They stumble along, being rescued by associates who make up for their leadership deficiencies. 

Here we are, a month from Trump's inauguration, and he already has suffered a major legislative defeat. This should be the honeymoon period for Trump. It's a nightmare for him, having his subservience to Musk being put on such an obvious display.

Trump, don't mess with Daylight Savings Time!

Since I was a strong Kamala Harris supporter, it isn't surprising that much of what Trump wants to do in his second term as president worries me. But there are big differences when it comes to my emotional reaction toward Trump's proposals.

If he wants to get back to building his border wall, even if Mexico doesn't pay for it, I say, fine, go ahead. If he wants to pardon some or all of the January 6 rioters, a wrong-headed idea, I say, fine, go ahead. However, if he wants to do away with Daylight Savings Time and make the entire nation stick with Standard Time year-round, I say, no freaking way, keep your political hands off of DST!

Problem is, that's what Trump has said he wants to do.

This is a bad idea. It's also an unpopular idea. In a blog post I wrote in February of this year, when a Republican legislator was trying to get Oregon to adopt permanent standard time (the bill failed), I argued why my state should keep DST. 

National polls show that most Americans prefer permanent daylight saving time.

[In one poll] two-thirds of those polled said they prefer daylight saving time in some form, permanent or part of the year, with just one-third preferring permanent standard time.

We'll be returning to daylight saving time on March 10. I can hardly wait. It's great to be able to walk our dog in the late afternoon when the sun is still shining brightly, instead of close to or after it sets. My mood perks up when daylight saving time returns. 

Sure, it's a bit of an inconvenience to switch clocks twice a year. I adjust to the change in sleep pattern quite easily, though I realize others have more of a problem with this. Well, the solution for them is to press Congress to approve the request of Oregon, Washington, and California to make daylight saving time permanent in the west coast states.

It sure isn't to pass unpopular legislation making standard time permanent. The only states that have done this are Hawaii and Arizona. Note their characteristics: they have lots of sun and are much farther south than Oregon!

A much more comprehensive and geekier argument in favor of Daylight Savings Time appeared in my email inbox today, courtesy of Nate Silver -- whose substack I subscribe to.

Silver is skilled at analyzing complex issues. Here's a PDF file of his nicely researched essay, "Save Daylight Savings Time: Donald Trump and Elon Musk's plan would literally make the average American's life darker."
Download Save Daylight Savings Time - by Nate Silver

Some excerpts:

Last week, President-elect Trump pledged to “eliminate” Daylight Savings Time1, which he called “inconvenient, and very costly to our Nation”. The idea may have been inspired by DOGE, the Department of Government Efficiency, an agency set to be run by Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, after Musk and Ramaswamy pitched a similar plan earlier this month.

I suppose I’m not anti-DOGE, though it’s hard to say because its structure and its mandate are unclear. I’d certainly like for it not to cost $2.5 billion to build a single mile of subway track in New York, for instance. But without having any real teeth to implement its policies, DOGE may focus more on gimmicks — and will run the risk of violating the precept of Chesterton's Fence by changing things that are perfectly fine or where the current rules are in place for a reason.

Daylight Savings Time is a perfect example of this. Eliminating it would deprive the average American of 40 minutes of waking daylight in the summer months. This is a terrible idea.

Just to be explicit about what we’re talking about — because I know it can be confusing exactly which is “DST” and which is “standard time” — Daylight Savings Time pushes the clock forward by an hour in the summer months, along with the spring and early fall. (This year, DST was in place from March 10 to November 3.)

For instance, with DST — the status quo — the sun rises in New York at 5:24 a.m. and sets at 8:31 p.m. on the longest day of the year in June. If we reverted to year-round standard time as Trump proposes, those times would shift forward an hour, meaning sunrise at 4:24 a.m. and sunset at 7:31 p.m. No more of those glorious summer evenings spent at Citi Field or Yankee Stadium where it’s still light out until the sixth inning.

True, the twice-annual time changes — you know the drill: spring forward, fall back — are annoying and associated with some tangible consequences, such as an increase in traffic accidents because of sleep deprivation. But to be honest, those consequences are pretty minor. One estimate is that they only amount to about 30 extra traffic deaths per year in a country of 335 million people. And we’re talking about just one hour, something most people can take in stride.

Let’s say you’re living in New York, and a friend who popped into town cancels plans to hang out because they complain of jetlag. If they’re arriving from Paris or Hong Kong — sure, total pass. West Coast? Fine. But what if they’ve flown in from Chicago, just one time zone away? You’d think that person was an incredible loser or was just making an excuse because they clearly didn’t want to hang. If we change a program like Daylight Savings Time that’s been in place for almost 60 years, we need a better reason than that.

...Overall, this is just not a close call. Eliminating DST might even be a political risk for Trump and Musk. Big, top-down-imposed changes that nobody is asking for check all the boxes for an unpopular policy. It would be a highly noticeable change that would affect Americans of all social classes. If people are used to it being bright out at 7 p.m. in the summer — whether for their kid’s softball game or long evening jogs on the beach or al fresco dining in the West Village — they’re going to be very annoyed if that gets taken away.

...So I say keep the status quo — or make only minor tweaks, like letting states opt into year-round DST, which isn’t currently allowed. The twice-annual time changes aren’t such a big burden. Year-round DST is debatable, but year-round standard time is terrible. DOGE can shove it where the sun don’t shine.

Avelo Airlines reduces Salem flights. Only one place to go now: Burbank

Just as skeptics about the newest attempt to bring commercial air service to Salem predicted, in a short time Avelo Airlines has gone from three destinations for outbound flights -- Santa Rosa, Las Vegas, and Burbank -- to only one, Burbank.

The best way I've found to describe the recurring fantasy of Salem's Chamber of Commerce and City Council that commercial air service is viable here is an image from the Peanuts comic strip, along with an excerpt from my January 2023 blog post, "City Council approves $2.4 million for airport in dumb move."

Here we go again.

Monday night the City Council approved spending $2.4 million in precious general fund dollars in yet another attempt to lure an airline willing to provide commercial air service at the Salem airport.

I guess Mayor Hoy and the eight city councilors have short memories. Or a penchant to forget the not-very-distant past when airlines came to town, and soon left town.

Because Chamber of Commerce types here keep promising that this time an airline will commit to providing commercial air service if enough public money is spent to show that Salem is serious about making the airport suitable for it.

Time to dust off the Charlie Brown and Lucy football metaphor. (If you aren't familiar with it, every fall Lucy promises that she'll put her finger on the ball so Charlie Brown can kick it, and every fall Lucy pulls the ball away just as Charlie Brown thinks this time she won't do it.)

Now, there's a chance this time will be when commercial air service comes to Salem and stays in Salem. But likely the $2.4 million, which is just the beginning of what the City of Salem needs to spend on airport improvements and subsidies, will be lost and gone forever before too long.

A December 12, 2024 Salem Reporter story describes the recent reduction in service, which follows the Avelo Airlines cancellation of flights to Santa Rosa.

Avelo Airlines is canceling flights from Salem to Las Vegas until at least the spring, dealing a blow to Salem’s efforts to build a robust commercial air service at the city-owned airport.

The budget carrier, which began flying out of Salem last October, announced Thursday it was shifting to a seasonal route, citing low demand.

“We are suspending our SLE-LAS service between January 7 and April 27 due to low demand during that time frame,” said Avelo spokeswoman Courtney Goff. 

She said regular flights would resume in late April or early May. Customers with previously purchased tickets received refunds.

Amazingly, on November 25 of this year, just three weeks ago, Salem's airport manager, John Paskell, gave the City Council a rosy report of how Avelo Airlines was doing and described plans for expanding service to our city. 

Avelo Airlines officially launched commercial air service at the Salem-Willamette Valley Airport on October 5, 2023, with two flights weekly to Las Vegas and Burbank. In the spring, Avelo added a third weekly flight to Burbank and launched new service to Sonoma County/Santa Rosa as a third destination. In September the service reverted to the original schedule of four flights weekly; seasonal increases in service are likely through the holidays and the spring/summer travel season.

City staff, community partners, and Volaire Aviation Consulting representatives continue recruiting efforts for additional air carriers and additional destinations with Avelo Airlines. The focus continues to be on key markets including other Los Angeles Basin airports, Phoenix/Mesa, San Diego, San Francisco Bay Area airports, and eastbound to Denver and Salt Lake City. 

Yeah, sure. Salem will be fortunate to get back the Las Vegas route, which, so to speak, is a gamble. Paskell's report included mention of a study by Volaire Aviation Consulting that claimed "Over $19M of spending in the community is attributed to commercial air service (as of July 2024)."

There was no link to that study. I searched for the study via Google. Couldn't find it. It wasn't on the Volaire Aviation Consulting web site either, so I guess we'll just have to trust that Volaire correctly estimated the economic impact of Avelo Airlines service to Salem.

Maybe. However Volaire Aviation Consulting clearly is a booster for air travel, not a dispassionate researcher. Here's what their web site says about Economic Impact Analysis. 

We approach the economic impact an airport has on its community and region differently; from a pragmatic viewpoint. We want to understand, specifically, how the money generated by an airport flows through a regional economy. We work to break down specific impact from visitors generated by air service and to understand what would happen to an economy if air service disappeared overnight. These stark realities help garner community support and aid people in understanding just how important that runway really is.

We’re also able to project forward economic impact. We can pinpoint future impacts of a new airline route – a specific new service. We can forecast new hotel nights, new tourism revenue, and new business activity. We can also illustrate how new air service can grow a tax base – a key consideration in garnering air service support from surrounding communities.

It's possible that Avelo Airlines will restore service to Las Vegas. It's even possible that additional cities will be added to/from Salem.

However, based on Salem's past experience with commercial air service, the most likely possibility is that before too long Avelo will pocket the subsidies given it by the City Council and say "goodbye" to the Salem airport.

Thanks to Mayor Hoy and three others who are leaving the Salem City Council

Tonight is the last Salem City Council meeting for the year. So this is a goodbye of sorts for four members of the council who won't be returning after their terms end on December 31, either because they lost a re-election bid or chose not to run again.

Mayor Chris Hoy (lost reelection bid)

Ward 1 Councilor Virginia Stapleton (chose not to run again)

Ward 3 Councilor Trevor Phillips (chose not to run again)

Ward 5 Councilor Jose Gonzalez (chose not to run again)

I've adapted a "thanks for running" blog post from 2016 and 2020 for this occasion, because it does a good job of expressing my appreciation to the people above. 

I offer a heartfelt Namas'cray to Mayor Hoy and Councilors Stapleton, Phillips, and Gonzalez.

Thank you for being crazy enough to put in so much time, effort, and money seeking an office that pays exactly nothing, requires a hell of a lot of work, and puts you in the firing line for constant criticism. 

Politics really is a crazy sport.

At first I had "cruelest sport" in the title of this post, because there's also that side to politics. Putting up with the craziness/cruelty is admirable on any level of elective office-seeking, but it really deserves accolades on a local level like Salem's. 

Like I said, no pay, long hours, lots of aggravation. 

Of course, just about everybody happily volunteers to do things that are somewhat similar. Such as, competing in various kinds of sports as an amateur. 

In many ways, politics is a sport. But here's why I consider running for political office -- and specifically, Salem Mayor or City Councilor -- is a super-crazy sport. 

The "season" is one game. In golf, tennis, basketball, football, or whatever, losing or winning is temporary. Almost always another game is coming up soon. Next time... we'll learn from this loss... coming up with a better game plan. In politics, though, it's two or four years before another chance. And maybe never. 

In Oregon, the "final score" pops up abruptly. I really feel for candidates on election night, May 19. Since we have vote by mail, ballots are tabulated quickly on election day. Often, if not usually, results are available online a few minutes after 8 pm that stand up. Meaning, the winner is known. It's akin to playing a game hard for months, but not knowing if you're winning or losing. Then, when you're exhausted, the final score pops up. In most other states, returns dribble in, so you have time to adjust to the outcome. In Oregon, it's pretty much Instant Joy or Sorrow.

Rules are loose. Trick plays abound. All sports have rules. So does politics. However, the political game is played pretty fast and loose. Even more so than in football, say, where arguably holding or pass interference could be called on almost every play, if the referees were sticklers. So feelings get hurt. Sort of like when a team goes for a touchdown in the last 30 seconds even though it is ahead 48-0. Hey, you're supposed to take a knee! But the rules allow it.

The stakes are large. So is disappointment. Candidates for political office, especially in local races, run because they care about their community. When they lose, it must feel like more than a personal loss. Wanting to do something positive for their fellow citizens, they've failed. (Well, the way I see it, actually they've won, no matter the outcome, because running for office is such a positive thing to do; but I'm sure it hurts a lot to come up short at the ballot box.)

There's more crazy aspects to the sport of politics, but I'll stop here. With a final thank-you to the departing members of the City Council, and a hope for the political scene in Salem:

Let's remember that politics is a game, albeit a serious and important one. Both teams going out together after a game for beers, pizza, and some laughs is a big part of many amateur sports. There's no reason politics can't be somewhat the same. 

Fight. Battle. Scream. Yell. Push. Argue. Leave it all on the field. 

Then, when the match is over, do our best to remember that the Bigger Game is life itself, way beyond politics. 

South Korea's brief stint of martial law is a warning of what Trump might do

South Korea, like the United States, is a democracy.

But that didn't stop President Yoon Suk Yeol from declaring martial law today, reversing his order a few hours later following massive outrage and demonstrations from South Korea's citizens and a unanimous vote from parliament rescinding the order. But for a while, troops tried to prevent members of parliament from entering their building, since Yoon's order declared political gatherings unlawful.

For a while, things were really ugly in South Korea.

Yoon's martial law announcement sounded like a dream come true for Donald Trump. If the decree had been put into effect, political assemblies and demonstrations would have been banned, news outlets and journalists would have been jailed for promoting "fake news," and arrests would have been allowed without a warrant.

In short, Yoon wanted to be an authoritarian ruler of a democracy by invoking the danger North Korean sympathizers, communists, and such supposedly posed to Yoon's right-wing sensibilities. A story in The Atlantic, "South Korea's Warning for Washington," starts out with a compelling couple of paragraphs.

A right-wing wannabe authoritarian president—a leader who attacks the press, is accused of abusing power for personal gain, uses his power to block investigations into his family’s potential corruption, hopes to stay in office to avoid heading to prison, and only seems to have concepts of a plan to address his nation’s inflation and health care—declared martial law earlier today.

This is not a dystopian fever dream for what may soon come to pass in the United States, but instead a rapidly unfolding crisis in South Korea, where President Yoon Suk Yeol shocked his nation with a hastily executed surprise power grab under the pretext of an unspecified military threat from North Korea and enemies within. Late Tuesday evening in Seoul, Yoon issued a statement calling the country’s National Assembly a “den of criminals” and claiming that it was undermining governance. Martial law was needed, Yoon claimed, to stop the “anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people.”

Indeed, parts of Yoon's statement sound like they were adapted from a Trump campaign speech.

Dear citizens, I declare emergency martial law to defend the free Republic of Korea from the threats of North Korean communist forces and to eradicate the shameless pro-North Korean anti-state forces that are plundering the freedom and happiness of our people and to protect the free constitutional order.

Through this emergency martial law, I will rebuild and defend the free Republic of Korea, which is falling into ruin. To this end, I will surely eradicate the criminals of the anti-state forces who have been committing atrocities so far.

This is an inevitable step to ensure the freedom and safety of the people and the sustainability of the country, and to pass on a proper country to future generations from the unrestrained activities of anti-state forces aiming to overthrow the system. I will eradicate anti-state forces as soon as possible and normalize the country. I will crush the anti-state forces and normalize the country as soon as possible.

The declaration of martial law will cause some inconvenience to the good people who have believed in and followed the values of the Constitution of the free Republic of Korea, but I will focus on minimizing these inconveniences.

The good news for lovers of democracy is that South Korea appears to have weathered Yoon's attempt to substitute his own right-wing authoritarianism for the rule of law. After being narrowly elected president in 2022 by a margin of just 0.8% (not a whole lot less than Trump's 1.5% margin of victory in the 2024 popular vote), Yoon's approval rating sank to a dismal 17%. 

In April 2024, South Korea's citizens overwhelmingly voted for the opposition party, leaving Yoon with a parliament firmly against him -- for good reason. 

Mr. Yoon’s party had seen the 2024 elections as an opportunity to win back the chamber.

Instead the crises and scandals built. A Halloween celebration became a deadly catastrophe, and North Korea ramped up its threats. Doctors went on strike, describing a medical system of harsh working conditions and low wages. Allegations of corruption involving Mr. Yoon’s wife and a $2,200 Dior pouch roiled his party, with one senior member comparing her to Marie Antoinette.

Protests organized on social media by rival political activists became common, with a rough division of churchgoers and other older citizens on the right, and mostly younger people on the left.

The election devolved into vicious recriminations, with left-wing protesters calling Mr. Yoon a “national traitor” over what they called his anti-feminist policies and attacks on news outlets he accused of spreading “fake news.” They also criticized him for the Halloween crowd crush and his efforts to improve ties with Japan, the onetime colonial ruler of Korea.

Opposition leaders warned that Mr. Yoon was taking South Korea onto the path of “dictatorship.” In turn, members of Mr. Yoon’s party called the opposition “criminals,” and voters on the right rallied against what they called “pro-North Korean communists.”

"Instead the crises and scandals built." It sure seems like those words are a premonition of what awaits the United States after Trump is inaugurated next month.

I only hope that our 2026 midterm election hands Trump's Republican Party such a resounding defeat that we too will have shown that Americans value democracy and competent governance much more than bending the knee to a wanna-be authoritarian.

Biden pardons his son, Hunter. Good for him. Trump's pardons were way worse.

When I saw this afternoon that President Biden had pardoned Hunter, his son, my immediate reaction was "Great news! Hunter was given a raw deal by the special prosecutor who investigated him."

It seems clear that if Hunter didn't have the last name of Biden, he never would have faced such serious charges for merely stating on a federal gun purchase form that he wasn't an addict or user of illegal drugs. Hunter has said that when he filled out the form, he wasn't a user and didn't consider himself an addict.

I'm pretty sure that lots of people in states where marijuana is legal state on that form that they don't use marijuana, even if they do, since because marijuana is illegal under federal law, no one who uses marijuana can purchase a firearm if they say they use it. And if they lie on the form, that's a federal offense. 

Regarding Hunter's other offense, failing to pay federal income taxes, he has paid the IRS what was owed. Again, lots of people fail to pay their taxes, but they rarely face jail time, as Hunter did.

So President Biden is justified in pardoning his son. A Politico story says:

President Joe Biden on Sunday signed a “full and unconditional” pardon for his son Hunter, saying he “wrestled” with the decision but believed that “raw politics” had “infected” the process that led to the younger Biden’s criminal convictions on gun and tax charges.

“No reasonable person who looks at the facts of Hunter’s cases can reach any other conclusion than Hunter was singled out only because he is my son — and that is wrong,” the president said in a statement.

It's amusing to hear the predictable Republican cries of outrage over the pardon. Astoundingly, another Politico story is about Republicans decrying Biden's lying, since he had been saying that he wouldn't pardon his son. Somehow those Republicans seem to have forgotten that Trump is the Liar in Chief, with just about everything he says being filled with blatant lies.

Biden didn't lie. He simply changed his mind. Trump has said that he's going to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada. There's a good chance this will never happen. If so, hopefully Republicans will scream "Liar!" at Trump as loudly as they're calling Biden a liar. 

Trump's pardons during his first term as president were much more objectionable than Biden's pardon of his son. A December 2020 CNN story describes Trump's latest batch of pardons before he left office. 

President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening announced 26 new pardons, including for longtime ally Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafortand White House senior adviser Jared Kushner’s father, Charles.

The pardons extend Trump’s streak of wielding his clemency powers for criminals who are loyalists, well-connected or adjacent to his family. While all presidents issue controversial pardons at the end of their terms, Trump appears to be moving at a faster pace than his predecessors, demonstrating little inhibition at rewarding his friends and allies using one of the most unrestricted powers of his office.

The pardons of Manafort and Stone reward two of the most high-profile and widely condemned former advisers of the President, both of whom were indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller, went to trial and were convicted by juries of multiple crimes.

Manafort, who is serving home confinement, admitted his crimes and initially agreed to cooperate with Mueller then lied to prosecutors, while Stone never cooperated after lying to Congress to protect the President. Manafort spent close to two years in prison for bank and tax fraud, illegal foreign lobbying and witness tampering conspiracies before being released because of the Covid-19 pandemic, while Stone’s sentence for obstruction of Congress and threatening a witness was commuted by Trump earlier this year days before he was set to surrender.

Charles Kushner, meanwhile, had been prosecuted by then-US Attorney for New Jersey Chris Christie in the early 2000s for tax evasion, witness tampering and illegal campaign contributions.

So I have no sympathy for Republican hypocritical moaning and crying over Biden using his pardon power to benefit his son. If the political shoe was on the other foot, Trump would have ordered a criminal investigation by the Justice Department into one of his sons to be dropped right off the bat. 

To his credit, President Biden allowed the special prosecutor's investigation of his son to proceed, stepping in with a  pardon only after it became obvious that the legal system was being used to single out Hunter for special punishment rather than treating him like any other defendant.