Ironies. More ironies.

Hunter Biden is in trouble for guns and taxes.

Republicans are celebrating.

Reality is stranger than farce. 

Hunter Biden is a deeply troubled man. He has traded on his proximity to power throughout his adult life. He may well have a great deal of raw talent -- he got into and through Yale Law School — but that fact is lost in the larger fact that he worked the angle of the family name. This included putting his father on speakerphone so business colleagues and clients could hear for themselves that Senator Joe Biden, and later Vice President Biden, was a loving father in communication with Hunter.

Irony One. Now that proximity jumps up to bite Hunter Biden. Republicans want a scalp named Biden. Hunter Biden is a celebrity in conservative media. Having worked hard for years to show others how tight he is with his father, now the entire GOP political and media establishment is doing that work for him. 

Fox News Alert: Hunter emailed his father!

Irony Two. Of all the things that Biden did that were provably criminal, Republicans got him on a gun charge. I personally am thrilled there are laws making it a crime for a user of illegal drugs to buy a firearm, and illegal, too, for a person to sign a government document falsely swearing one is not an addict. (As with the fake elector certifications, I take seriously false swearing on government documents.) From my point of view, the more ways that government can take guns away from dangerous people, the better. But GOP gun rights orthodoxy and a near-unanimous GOP take a different view. They assert that people have a constitutional right to acquire and bear arms, and that broad restrictions on that right are wrong and illegal. We are in the odd situation where Republican politicians and media are celebrating Hunter Biden getting charged with a crime that Republican politicians and media, and many GOP-appointed judges, don't think should be a crime at all. 

Irony Three. Hunter was late paying his taxes for two years. He has repaid them, but he was, indeed, in arrears for two years. I personally am thrilled that Democrats are working to step up enforcement of tax laws, but an article of GOP orthodoxy is to reduce funding of IRS enforcement. Orthodox GOP messaging is that the IRS is inflexible and unforgiving and too harsh in treatment of taxpayers. Give taxpayers a break. Until now, with Hunter.

Irony Four. Much of what Trump has done is freely and proudly admitted by Trump. It may not be provably criminal beyond a reasonable doubt to a unanimous jury that contains people with MAGA bumper strips on their pick-up trucks. Still, there is ample"probable cause" of misdeeds to bring an indictment and a trial. GOP messaging has focused less on defending Trump than attacking the "politically motivated" prosecution; political considerations are wrong in prosecutions! Hunter Biden and the Special Prosecutor at the Department of Justice had worked out a plea agreement that was generally consistent with how these gun and IRS cases were resolved with other defendants. Plea agreements are near-universal in cases like these. The GOP-majority House learned about the deal and threw a fit, calling it a sweet deal, too sweet. With that politically-motivated involvement, the plea deal fell through, and now Hunter Biden has been charged with multiple counts of felonies. 

Irony Five. I think the nepotism that surrounds political figures is immoral and corrupting. It looks swampy because it is swampy. Gifts, benefits, contracts, and jobs to children are a way for private interests and foreign governments legally to curry favor with American politicians. Hunter is an example of this, and the GOP has leaped on it. GOP politicians and media call it the "Biden crime family." The irony is that we have examples of the same thing taking place for seven years without objection from Republicans, in the form of Don Junior, Eric, Ivanka, and Jared Kushner getting trademarks, investments, golf tournament deals, and hotel business, which benefit Donald Trump's family and businesses. Now the GOP cares about nepotism.

I am not inclined to minimize or excuse Hunter Biden's behavior. Yes, I know he was touched by misfortune. Troubled people -- people with tragedy in their pasts and addictions to deal with -- sometimes commit crimes. That is who we imprison, troubled people who commit crimes. Hunter is another iteration. I am perfectly happy to have him treated like everyone else. If that means the "the book" is thrown at him, and he serves years in prison with other troubled people, so be it. Possibly both Democrats and Republicans will better examine our prisons and justice system -- especially if people of privilege start ending up there. If Republicans get on board prosecuting gun and tax crimes, it is all the better for America. And if Hunter's prosecution means that Republicans acknowledge that criminal behavior should be investigated and prosecuted, all the better. And if Hunter's influence-peddling is examined for criminality, and that puts light onto Trump's children, onto gifts to Supreme Court justices, and of nepotism generally among House and Senate members, again, all the better.

Irony can serve a good purpose. It helps us see hypocrisy. Maybe Hunter Biden will be in the same prison as Trump.

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Here is a short video I just posted on YouTube.