Hunter Biden's Big Mistake

One of my exes is an alcoholic. I know the devastation drink and drugs wreaks on addicts, their families and friends. Chef don’t judge. I’m not a religious man, but I get it: there but for the Grace of God go I.

Addicts deserve our empathy, sympathy and support. If there's salvation/sobriety to be had, I reckon it starts right where Alcoholics Anonymous' first step places it: getting out of denial.

After reviewing Hunter Biden's biography Beautiful Things, I can assure you that the President's son hasn’t fully acknowledged or accepted his condition – despite charting the downs and downs of his personal shit show. But you don't need me to tell you that.

The fact that Hunter Biden is in court for ticking "no" on question 11e on ATF form 4473 ("Are you an unlawful user of, or addicted to, marijuana or any depressant, stimulant, narcotic drug, or any other controlled substance?") is proof enough that he's failed to come to terms with his addiction.

To have any shot at redemption, an addict has to take responsibility for their behavior.

It’s not about feeling guilty. It's about understanding the importance of your sobriety. Knowing that protecting sobriety protects others as well as yourself. Because damage.

The right thing for Biden to do: plead guilty to the gun charge and ask for leniency.

The obverse is equally true: Hunter's innocent plea demonstrates he's not taking responsibility for his addiction.

Defending

During opening arguments , Biden's lawyer claimed the evidence doesn’t show her client was using drugs the day he bought the gun. Irrelevant. "User of" doesn't mean the addict is clean on his/her/their a day off.

There’s overwhelming evidence that Hunter was an addict before, during and after his gun purchase.

Ipso facto, thanks to his biography (including an audio book), time-stamped images and texts on his FBI-authenticated laptop and, I assume, eyewitness testimony.

Incredibly, Biden's defense attorney Abbe Lowell contradicted the preponderance of evidence about to be presented by the prosecution. abc.com:

Lowell told the jury that Hunter Biden was using alcohol at the time of the gun purchase, but that his drug use "did not start until later." During the time in 2018 that Hunter Biden was in Delaware, where he purchased the gun, his behavior was "totally inconsistent" with how he presented when he was on drugs

"He spoke with his father, his uncle, his daughters," Lowell said, suggesting they would have noticed if he was "smoking crack every 15 minutes," in the manner that Hunter Biden described in his memoir, "Beautiful Things."

"There is no such thing as a high functioning crack addict," Lowell told jurors.

Lowell also maintained that the government must prove Hunter Biden "knowingly" violated the law. Since when is ignorance of the law an acceptable defense? Since never. Doubly true for a firearms purchase.

The only way Hunter could plausibly claim he didn't "knowingly" purchase the Colt pistol: testify that he was too drugged (drunk?) to understand the question. A laughable defense – if this was a laughing matter.

It isn't. The infamous picture of naked Hunter Biden holding the gun by his thigh shows his finger on the trigger. Proof – if proof be needed – that a crack addict isn't likely to use a gun responsibly, following the four rules of gun safety. Just sayin'...

What About Whataboutism?

Let me be clear. An American’s right to keep and bear arms is not use dependent. But it is drug use dependent.

Should it be? Hunter Biden's defense team could claim that the law forbidding addicts from purchasing firearms is fundamentally flawed.

Tens of millions of Americans are addicted to "marijuana, depressants, stimulants, narcotics and other controlled substances."

If gun stores refused to sell customers a firearm if the purchaser tested positive for those substances – requiring proof of a prescription to complete the sale – the dealers would lose a significant portion of their sales.

Biden's lawyer hinted she might go there: "There's nothing on the form about the definition of a user."

Ms. Lowell seems to have missed the word "unlawful” in question 11e. An understandable blind spot given that cocaine - Hunter’s drug of choice - is a prescription-only Schedule II drug.

Another possible if Trump-ironic defense: Hunter Biden is the victim of selective prosecution.

According to The Washington Post, in 2019 (the year Hunter Biden tooled-up), the ATF processed 27 million form 4473s. Federal prosecutors received 478 reports of lying on the form. Of those, 298 buyers/potential were prosecuted.

Was Hunter targeted by the feds? Well..

Uncle Sam's Boyz did everything they could to make Hunter Biden's incredibly flagrant and public crime go away.

They slow-walked the case, then offered the President's son a slap-on-the-wrist plea deal (that fell apart when the judge asked WTF).

It Wazzunt Me!

Yet another alternative strategy's hit the rumor mills: a gun store employee filled out the form for him. The defense's opening statement also left that door open.

Yes, well, Federal law requires that an individual buying a gun from a licensed gun dealer must personally fill out ATF Form 4473.

Even so, the idea that the salesman filled out the offending form for Hunter might be enough to convince a sympathetic juror or jurors to vote to acquit, the law be damned.

There Is That...

Juries are supposed to render a verdict based on the evidence presented, not their emotional reaction to testimony. Or their opinion of the defendant's demeanor, character or status. And certainly not out of sympathy or empathy for his actions.

Unlike Trump's trial, held in sky-blue Manhattan, Hunter Biden's jury was selected in Delaware (a.k.a., Bidenland). CNN reports that the panel includes "several people who lost loved ones to addiction."

So there's a chance Hunter Biden's jury will find some reason to pronounce the President's son "not guilty." If so, the Biden clan will celebrate the verdict as vindication – of a victim!

Is he? The argument is easily made and not without merit. But it doesn't change the underlying truth: to have even the slightest chance of sustained sobriety, an addict must face the reality of their addiction. Cause and effect. Past, present and future.

It doesn't please me to say it, but someone should: Hunter Biden has a better chance of a sustained recovery after a guilty verdict than “exoneration.”

Hunter Biden's best case scenario is also his worst. I'm not saying a prison sentence would aid his recovery. But I'm not not saying it either. Put another way, Hunter Biden's big mistake was not pleading guilty.

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