Remembering
James Robison

You are viewing a page from our archive site. To browse the latest Christian TV content on The Stream, click here.

The Brew: Joe Biden Pardons Son

Hunter Biden was convicted earlier this year on several felony counts of tax evasion and illegally purchasing guns.

By Al Perrotta Published on December 2, 2024

Happy December!

A lot happened while we were giving thanks, giving grace to relatives who are still upset about the election, and giving Tums a boost in business.

Speaking of business, it’s Cyber Monday — which means we have all the shopping of Black Friday, but without having to jostle with other shoppers at stores like NBA players boxing each other out for a rebound.

Speaking more to the reason for the season, yesterday marked the beginning of Advent. We’ll have more on Advent and all things holiday-related on this afternoon’s serving of Al’s Christmas Tea. But first, Joe Biden gives his own son a blanket pardon. 

Joe Biden Pardons Hunter

Joe Biden and the White House repeatedly insisted the president was not going to pardon his son Hunter, 54, who was convicted of tax evasion earlier this year in addition to being a known cocaine addict who has illegally purchased guns while selling his father’s influence to foreign governments, then sharing the money with both his father and his uncle while consorting with prostitutes and carrying on a sexual relationship with his own sister-in-law.

In a complete reversal of his vows to respect the rule of law and not use his office to benefit his family , Joe Biden issued a general pardon Hunter not only for the gun and tax evasion felonies, but also for any offenses against the United States he “has committed or may have committed from January 1, 2014 to December 1, 2024,” according to the official White House statement.

Despite overwhelming evidence that Hunter Biden was handled gingerly and that investigators were prohibited from digging deeper into Joe Biden’s connections to his son’s business entanglements with foreign adversaries, Biden claimed his son was “selectively, and unfairly prosecuted,” and that the sweetheart plea deal the Department of Justice planned to give him that would cover all his influence peddling and money laundering connected to foreign businesses fell apart because of “raw politics.”  

According to The Associated Press,

The tax charges carry up to 17 years behind bars and the gun charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison, though federal sentencing guidelines were expected to call for far less time and it was possible he would have avoided prison time entirely.

Biden’s brazen pardon of his son not only obliterates the messaging the Democrat Party used against President-Elect Donald Trump all year that “no one is above the law,” but it also leaves Trump wide open to pardon whomever he wants after he retakes office next month without Democrats being able to say a word. Trump hinted as much on Truth Social Sunday evening, suggesting pardons for all the J6 “hostages.”

 

Trump Bullies and Charms World Leaders

Way back in the beginning of the presidential campaign, when analysts were betting good money that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis would wind up in the White House, we argued the nation was going to be in such bad shape domestically and internationally that the U.S. was going to need someone with Donald Trump’s “unique set of skills” to set things right. Someone who could both sweet talk foreign leaders and frighten the living daylights out of them on Day One.

We were wrong. Day One is still about 50 days away, and Trump is already scaring and schmoozing global elites. 

Mexico and Canada Suddenly Willing to Cooperate on the Border

Trump announced last week that he was going to slap a 25% tariff on any goods from Mexico or Canada if those governments didn’t start working to stem the flow of illegal aliens and drugs like fentanyl coming over the U.S. border.

After what he called a “wonderful” conversation with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, Trump announced that she had “agreed to stop migration through Mexico and into the United States, effectively closing our southern border.” Pardo also described the conversation as “excellent,” but added, “We reiterate that Mexico’s position is not to close borders but instead build bridges between government and people.” Which is diplomatic speak for, “He’s getting what he wants, but I don’t want to make it look like I was steamrolled by the American president.”

As for Canada, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau flew down to Mar-a-Lago recently for dinner and a sleepover.

While he didn’t take tariffs off the table, Trump said Trudeau offered “a commitment to work with us to end this terrible devastation” of fentanyl trafficking. Trudeau himself described their conversation as “excellent.”

Trump Threatens 100% Tariffs on BRICS Countries That Abandon the Dollar

While Joe Biden sat at the beach during his term in office, foreign countries began talking openly about abandoning the dollar as the staple currency of international trade — a move that would devastate the U.S. economy. Most of the threats came from the so-called BRICS countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, followed by Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates. 

Don’t even think about it, Trump said Saturday. He threatening to impose 100% tariffs on any BRICS nation that abandons the dollar.

Please Support The Stream: Equipping Christians to Think Clearly About the Political, Economic, and Moral Issues of Our Day.

“The idea that the BRICS countries are trying to move away from the collar while we stand by and watch is OVER,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “We require a commitment from these countries that they will neither create a new BRICS currency, nor back any other currency to replace the mighty U.S. dollar or, they will face 100% tariffs and should expect to say goodbye to selling into the wonderful U.S. economy.”

Heads Explode as Trump Appoints Kash Patel to be FBI Director

Once again, Trump has sent the Deep State into a panic. On Saturday, the president-elect announced that Kash Patel will be the next director of the FBI. This is the same Kash Patel who vowed to shut down FBI headquarters on Day One and turn it into a museum.

Though he looks like he walked off the set of a Bollywood blockbuster, the 44-year-old Patel has run up an amazing resume in his years of public service.

Most on point, as chief investigator for former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Patel did yeoman’s work in uncovering the Trump-Russia collusion black op the FBI ran against Trump.

One of those Patel exposed, disgraced former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, was on CNN Saturday freaking out. McCabe called it a “terrible development.” 

“The installation, or the nomination I guess we should say at this point, of Kash Patel as FBI director can only possibly be a plan to disrupt, to dismantle, to distract the FBI and to possibly use it as a tool for the president’s political agenda,” McCabe said.

The Federalist’s Mollie Hemingway offered the best response: “In retrospect, perhaps it was a bad idea for the FBI to collude with the propaganda press and other Democrats to run the Russia collusion hoax against President Trump [and] the American people.” Ya think?

Patel’s appointment is absolutely great news for the FBI whistleblowers who’ve had their careers wrecked for coming forward, while people like McCabe got rewarded with fat deals at cable news networks. It’s fantastic news for those who watched the FBI betray its mission, but were too fearful to stand up because they knew their lives would be ruined and nothing would come of it. It’s great news for agents who just want to do the job like G-men do in the movies.

It’s also good news for those who want to finally learn the truth about J6 and the level of FBI involvement in setting up Trump supporters. It’s good news for pro-life activists who will no longer have to worry about agents barging into their homes or sneaking into their churches. It’s good news for parents who don’t want to be called “domestic terrorists” for being concerned about what public school administrators are using to groom their children.

It’s good news for the cause of equal justice under the law. 

Hey, FBI. You want a new building for your headquarters? Help Patel clear out the rot. If he gives us a new, reborn agency, we’ll give you your shiny new building. 

Patel’s appointment is only a terrible development for the crooked agents at the FBI.

Say What?! New York Times Now Identifies Biological Women as “Non-Transgender Women”

It wasn’t enough for The New York Times to consider biological men “women” if they decide to identify that way. Now they’re making actual women out to be the odd ducks.

In an article about San Jose State University’s controversial women’s volleyball player Blaire Fleming, the Times referred to biological women on the team as “non-transgender women.”

At another point, writer Juliet Macur described female athletes as “athletes assigned female at birth.”

Tennis legend and open lesbian Martina Navratilova was rightfully enraged. “NYT — you stink,” she wrote on X. “We are women, not NOT TRANSGENDER WOMEN. Just WOMEN will do in the future.”

Trans-Led San Jose State Loses Mountain West Conference Championship

Speaking of San Jose State, Blaire Fleming’s college run is likely coming to an end. San Jose State lost the Mountain West Conference women’s volleyball championship to #1 seed Colorado State. SJSU had a relatively easy run during the season, what with having a biological male blasting away and five teams, including four division rivals, refusing to play against them out of fear their players being injured. In fact, SJSU’s path to the championship game was cleared when Boise State forfeited rather than put its players in harm’s way.

 

Along the Stream…

John Zmirak argues that “COVID Fascism Was the Greatest National Crime Since Slavery.”

Meanwhile, Jonathan Cahn had a Thanksgiving message recently: “America’s 400-Year Prophecy.”

 

Al Perrotta is The Stream’s Washington bureau chief, coauthor with John Zmirak of The Politically Incorrect Guide to Immigration, and coauthor of the counterterrorism memoir Hostile Intent: Protecting Yourself Against Terrorism.