WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:05.719 Yesterday, Catholics throughout the United States attended Mass for the 2 00:00:05.719 --> 00:00:09.199 Feast of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. 3 00:00:11.960 --> 00:00:14.279 This is an important feast day for Catholics in the 4 00:00:14.359 --> 00:00:18.640 United States. The Blessed Virgin Mary, under her title of 5 00:00:18.719 --> 00:00:22.000 the Immaculate Conception is actually the patron Saint of the 6 00:00:22.079 --> 00:00:26.199 United States of America. A lot of different countries, regions, cities, 7 00:00:26.239 --> 00:00:31.600 et cetera, have some saint designated as their patron saint, 8 00:00:31.760 --> 00:00:36.039 and the Blessed the Blessed Virgin Mary under that title 9 00:00:36.280 --> 00:00:42.960 is the patron Saint of the United States. And there's one. 10 00:00:43.399 --> 00:00:47.240 And basically the thought of this is that Mary is 11 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:52.000 a kind of was foreshadowed in the Old Testament by 12 00:00:52.039 --> 00:00:53.799 the Ark of the Covenant, that as the Ark of 13 00:00:53.799 --> 00:01:00.799 the Covenant was the dwelling place for God among the 14 00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:06.959 Jewish people, Mary became the dwelling place for her son Jesus, 15 00:01:08.159 --> 00:01:12.560 and Catholics think a corollary of that is that Mary 16 00:01:12.680 --> 00:01:17.239 was without sin, including from the first moment of her conception, 17 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:20.760 that she was freed from original sin, the inherited sin 18 00:01:21.239 --> 00:01:25.200 of Adam and Eve that all of us receive. So 19 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:30.400 that is what that feece celebrates anyway. So because it's 20 00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:33.840 kind of a significant feast day, kind of like you know, 21 00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:36.840 like Christmas is. Christmas is not on a Sunday, but 22 00:01:36.920 --> 00:01:39.480 it's during the week, and the church says, hey, this 23 00:01:39.519 --> 00:01:41.920 is important enough, you should go to church. So a 24 00:01:41.959 --> 00:01:43.840 bunch of us went to church, and most of us 25 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:46.719 Catholics who are observant of these sorts of things, we 26 00:01:46.799 --> 00:01:50.280 all went to church yesterday. And there's one part of 27 00:01:51.120 --> 00:01:56.359 the Catholic Mass, the prayer of the faithful, where we 28 00:01:57.359 --> 00:02:02.159 ask God for particular things. We are praying sometimes it's 29 00:02:02.200 --> 00:02:06.159 called the intercessions, and we're you know, asking for different 30 00:02:06.200 --> 00:02:11.080 particular things. And in one of the intercessions, there was 31 00:02:11.120 --> 00:02:15.000 a prayer at my parish, and I suspect that this 32 00:02:15.120 --> 00:02:19.759 happened in parishes throughout the country. There was a prayer 33 00:02:19.800 --> 00:02:27.719 for clemency for all persons on death row. Now, I 34 00:02:27.759 --> 00:02:33.840 am amenable to the expression of the Church's teaching on 35 00:02:34.000 --> 00:02:37.319 the death penalty as formulated by, for example, John Paul 36 00:02:37.319 --> 00:02:41.159 the Second. I don't necessarily know that the death penalty 37 00:02:41.199 --> 00:02:48.680 is a particularly helpful criminal justice tool nowadays. I you know, 38 00:02:49.400 --> 00:02:53.599 obviously that's not a popular opinion among Conservatives, but neither 39 00:02:53.639 --> 00:02:58.599 here nor there. I thought it was an odd intercession, 40 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:03.639 like particular on this day. Why where are we doing that? 41 00:03:04.000 --> 00:03:10.680 And I subsequently learned that the Pope specifically called on 42 00:03:10.759 --> 00:03:14.759 this for persons condemned to death in the United States. 43 00:03:14.840 --> 00:03:16.639 He asked during his Angelus, I guess there was a 44 00:03:16.639 --> 00:03:22.719 group of Catholics from the United States there. Often the 45 00:03:22.759 --> 00:03:26.639 Pope will make a mid day address to the crowds 46 00:03:26.680 --> 00:03:31.639 within Saint Peter's Square during this Catholic prayer called the Angelous, 47 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.319 and he'll pray the Angelus prayer and then make a 48 00:03:34.319 --> 00:03:37.599 little speech, and pilgrims who are in Rome can then 49 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:43.400 see the Pope and it's cool. He prayed for those 50 00:03:43.439 --> 00:03:47.199 condemned to death in the United States. And the bishops 51 00:03:47.240 --> 00:03:52.240 of America are appealing to President Biden to commute the 52 00:03:52.280 --> 00:03:59.439 death penalty sentence for forty people who are on death row. 53 00:03:59.479 --> 00:04:03.280 There are people within the federal prison system who have 54 00:04:03.319 --> 00:04:12.919 received a death sentence. Now, I obviously I am far 55 00:04:12.960 --> 00:04:17.079 more concerned about the abortion issue. We're talking a million 56 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:20.439 people per year as opposed to a grand total of 57 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:25.959 forty people in the entire federal prison system who are 58 00:04:26.120 --> 00:04:30.360 condemned to death. I'm not saying those cases aren't significant 59 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:33.879 or important, but it's a million innocent human beings as 60 00:04:33.879 --> 00:04:42.000 opposed to forty condemned, forty convicted murderers. Presumably, Again, I'm 61 00:04:42.040 --> 00:04:44.399 not saying I am supportive of the death penalty. I'm not. 62 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:51.720 I focus my energies where I focus them. Nonetheless, I 63 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:57.199 find it to be an interesting talking an interesting way 64 00:04:57.240 --> 00:05:03.000 to talk about Joe Biden, to talk about Joe Biden, 65 00:05:03.079 --> 00:05:11.480 and to talk about Catholicism among liberal Americans and the 66 00:05:12.279 --> 00:05:17.839 liberal kind of especially Irish Catholic tradition. Now, this little 67 00:05:17.839 --> 00:05:25.319 tradition that we've seen develop in America where Catholicism places 68 00:05:25.959 --> 00:05:32.680 essentially no public obligations on at least in the way 69 00:05:32.720 --> 00:05:40.920 that liberal Catholics see it. Catholicism places absolutely no obligations 70 00:05:41.040 --> 00:05:44.279 on the public life of liberal Catholics. That is basically 71 00:05:44.279 --> 00:05:52.360 how they view it. Catholicism is for liberal Catholics. And 72 00:05:52.439 --> 00:05:55.399 I'm including, by the way, in this certain Catholics who 73 00:05:55.480 --> 00:06:00.000 vote for Republicans, or certain Catholics who maybe are republic 74 00:06:01.639 --> 00:06:05.240 there's a total I'll throw in, for example, Chris Christy. 75 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:13.399 There's this sense that Catholicism the practice of my Christian faith. 76 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:15.519 And in this case, because I'm on the Catholic side 77 00:06:15.560 --> 00:06:16.959 of the street, I will talk about what's on my 78 00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:21.120 side of the street. Evangelical listeners may maybe you will 79 00:06:21.120 --> 00:06:24.000 find something analogous for your side of the street. Protestant 80 00:06:24.040 --> 00:06:26.519 listeners may find something analogous for your side of the street. 81 00:06:30.279 --> 00:06:32.600 Jewish listeners, you may find something analogous for your side 82 00:06:32.639 --> 00:06:43.199 of the street. That Catholicism basically became for upwardly mobile Americans, 83 00:06:44.120 --> 00:06:49.199 Boomer era Catholics, Catholics the age of Joe Biden, the 84 00:06:49.240 --> 00:06:51.839 age of people up to twenty years younger than him, 85 00:06:53.480 --> 00:07:02.120 this totally privatized thing where basically his commitment was, I 86 00:07:02.199 --> 00:07:12.079 want to live exactly the way that other successful American 87 00:07:13.480 --> 00:07:18.279 professionals in law, in medicine, in commerce. I want to 88 00:07:18.319 --> 00:07:26.480 live the way they live. And if Catholicism fits into that, great, 89 00:07:26.920 --> 00:07:32.439 those aspects of Catholicism that fit into that supertty duper. 90 00:07:36.240 --> 00:07:39.920 If it's the Catholic Church's commitment to helping the poor, 91 00:07:40.839 --> 00:07:45.600 sure great, I'll give money to you know, this charitable 92 00:07:45.720 --> 00:07:48.399 entity that is focused on helping the poor. This is 93 00:07:48.439 --> 00:07:51.920 not a knock, by the way, at Catholic charities. A 94 00:07:51.959 --> 00:07:55.439 lot of Catholic charities organizations around the country do fine work. 95 00:07:55.600 --> 00:07:58.279 Catholic Charities in the dioces of President does excellent work. 96 00:07:58.439 --> 00:08:01.160 I have nothing but wonderful things to say about them, 97 00:08:01.360 --> 00:08:05.399 but it's quite clear that they have a broader appeal 98 00:08:06.319 --> 00:08:11.000 than say, my organization does Right to Life of Central California. 99 00:08:11.480 --> 00:08:16.120 Why well, to say I support Right to Life of 100 00:08:16.160 --> 00:08:21.279 Central California means hey, I am allowing my Catholic faith 101 00:08:22.519 --> 00:08:30.920 to dictate to me that I must stay committed to 102 00:08:31.040 --> 00:08:36.919 a cause of justice for marginalized people in a fashion 103 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:42.960 that is deeply unpopular or could be deeply unpopular with 104 00:08:43.039 --> 00:08:47.519 a large segment of my peer group, that could cause 105 00:08:47.559 --> 00:08:51.480 me to lose social status and social standings in the 106 00:08:51.519 --> 00:08:59.240 eyes of broader society. No one gets that flack when 107 00:08:59.240 --> 00:09:02.519 they donate to Catholic charities. And again, it's not throwing 108 00:09:02.559 --> 00:09:05.480 shade at Catholic charities. The work they do is wonderful 109 00:09:05.559 --> 00:09:08.720 and good and I encourage you. I encourage you. If 110 00:09:08.759 --> 00:09:12.399 you're listening and you want to help poor people, needy people, 111 00:09:12.480 --> 00:09:16.080 hungry people, people want clothes for their backs, I would 112 00:09:16.120 --> 00:09:18.360 encourage you to give to Catholic charities. They do wonderful, 113 00:09:18.360 --> 00:09:21.879 wonderful work here in Fresno, but it's undoubtedly the case 114 00:09:23.120 --> 00:09:27.639 that that's an easier give. And Joe Biden as I 115 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:34.279 think typical of this posture of Catholicism where he refused 116 00:09:34.519 --> 00:09:40.360 he has basically refused to allow his Catholic faith to 117 00:09:40.639 --> 00:09:47.200 inform what he thinks, how he acts, how he does anything. 118 00:09:47.799 --> 00:09:51.360 With regards to his public life as an America as 119 00:09:51.399 --> 00:09:55.360 one of the most you know, one of the more 120 00:09:55.480 --> 00:09:59.559 prominent American politicians in the history of the twentieth to 121 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:03.240 twenty first centuries, as someone who was a senator for 122 00:10:03.320 --> 00:10:05.840 thirty six years, vice president for eight years, and a 123 00:10:05.879 --> 00:10:13.960 one term president, I don't think his Catholicism has ever 124 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:19.200 meaningfully impacted his work. He could have been a Presbyterian, 125 00:10:19.240 --> 00:10:20.480 he could have been a Lutheran, he could have been 126 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:22.720 an atheist. And I don't think any of the choices 127 00:10:22.759 --> 00:10:27.159 he would have made for the political things he supports 128 00:10:27.240 --> 00:10:29.279 or opposes, I don't think any of those things would 129 00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:32.679 have changed. And I think the death penalty is a 130 00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:47.639 classic example of this. I have felt challenged about what 131 00:10:47.840 --> 00:10:53.240 would have been maybe my initial instincts on the death 132 00:10:53.279 --> 00:10:56.480 penalty would be by the teaching of say John Paul 133 00:10:56.519 --> 00:10:58.200 the Second, the teaching and example of John Paul the 134 00:10:58.200 --> 00:11:06.600 Second Benedict the sixteenth. I think my initial instinct would 135 00:11:06.639 --> 00:11:09.519 be yes, I think the death penalty is a legitimate tool. 136 00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:15.639 And the great caution that postwar Catholic leaders had towards 137 00:11:15.720 --> 00:11:20.840 the death penalty, I think was instructive. I think John Paul, 138 00:11:21.320 --> 00:11:28.039 coming from you know, an iron country, behind the iron curtain, 139 00:11:29.000 --> 00:11:33.320 and seeing the ways in which the death penalty was 140 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:39.279 utilized in capricious fashion, in such a capricious fashion, He's 141 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:41.360 got a perspective on the death penalty that maybe I 142 00:11:41.399 --> 00:11:46.159 don't in America, and the conditions under which it should 143 00:11:46.159 --> 00:11:48.000 be applied, which in John Paul the Seconds view were 144 00:11:48.039 --> 00:11:54.440 far more limited than maybe what I would have initially thought. 145 00:11:55.919 --> 00:11:59.679 And I have allowed my you know, as a Catholic, 146 00:12:00.519 --> 00:12:04.759 I have allowed what my preconceived political notions are about 147 00:12:04.759 --> 00:12:08.879 politics and in this case, criminal law, you know, law 148 00:12:09.360 --> 00:12:12.840 a question with which I'm professionally interested, you know, you know, 149 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:16.120 I went to law school, I practice as an attorney. 150 00:12:16.159 --> 00:12:18.879 I have thoughts about criminal law and criminal justice, and 151 00:12:19.000 --> 00:12:24.639 I've allowed my Catholic faith to help shape and inform 152 00:12:24.720 --> 00:12:27.320 what I think about the death penalty. You know, I 153 00:12:27.519 --> 00:12:32.960 don't think I'm I'd say I'm one hundred percent in 154 00:12:33.039 --> 00:12:35.519 everything I do trying to adhere to what the Church 155 00:12:35.639 --> 00:12:41.679 authentically teaches about the death penalty. I don't think the 156 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:46.759 death penalty is an inherent an intrinsically immoral thing. I 157 00:12:46.799 --> 00:12:51.720 just think the circumstances under which it's used are could 158 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.360 be fairly rare, and I don't know how helpful it 159 00:12:54.399 --> 00:12:58.840 is within the context of modern Western states like the 160 00:12:58.960 --> 00:13:03.240 United States of America. Now I have allowed myself to 161 00:13:03.720 --> 00:13:09.240 I try to form my beliefs, my conscience on the 162 00:13:09.240 --> 00:13:12.720 basis of what the Catholic Church teaches. Let's compare this 163 00:13:12.799 --> 00:13:18.200 to Joe Biden. Though Joe Biden is a Democrat. Democrats 164 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:22.039 don't like the death penalty. They never have. It's been 165 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:29.039 a pretty consistent aspect of Democratic Party policy for going 166 00:13:29.080 --> 00:13:37.000 back decades to not really support the death penalty. And 167 00:13:37.200 --> 00:13:42.279 among liberal Catholics that was always the thing they would say, well, yeah, well, 168 00:13:42.600 --> 00:13:45.039 you know, we're not really agreeing with the pope on abortion, 169 00:13:45.159 --> 00:13:49.440 but we agree with him on the death penalty, you know, 170 00:13:49.720 --> 00:13:52.440 as you know, as if that balances it out. You know, 171 00:13:52.480 --> 00:13:55.840 the death penalty again, the death penalty that we have 172 00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:04.559 forty total inmates condemned to execution within the federal prison system, 173 00:14:05.200 --> 00:14:08.759 probably the total number throughout the entire United States of America. 174 00:14:08.919 --> 00:14:11.440 I'm not sure what the number is. It is it 175 00:14:11.559 --> 00:14:15.039 is dwarfed by the number of children aborted in one 176 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:22.799 day in America, completely dwarfed. It's a drop as compared 177 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:26.519 to a bucket. It's not even close. Now, it doesn't 178 00:14:26.519 --> 00:14:30.679 mean that those individual lives aren't important, but let's get 179 00:14:30.720 --> 00:14:36.919 some perspective here. Furthermore, abortion being killing of an innocent 180 00:14:37.080 --> 00:14:43.480 is a different kind of thing from executing a convicted murderer, 181 00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:47.039 where executing convicted murderer is not, I think in Catholic 182 00:14:47.039 --> 00:14:49.679 teaching something that would be inherently wrong. It's just under 183 00:14:49.720 --> 00:14:52.960 what conditions can you do it? Is it a very 184 00:14:52.960 --> 00:14:56.200 limited set of circumstances when you can do it, or 185 00:14:56.320 --> 00:14:59.399 is it just anyone who's been convicted of murder. I 186 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:03.240 think John Paul the second, again coming from the Communist experience, 187 00:15:03.840 --> 00:15:06.679 having grown up in a country that was conquered by 188 00:15:06.679 --> 00:15:12.360 the Nazis and then conquered by the Soviets, his perspective 189 00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:14.879 on the death penalty is that this is not something 190 00:15:14.919 --> 00:15:17.960 that's usually applied very fairly or evenly or justly. And 191 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:23.600 that's I think that's a very legitimate perspective. But here's 192 00:15:23.679 --> 00:15:26.799 Joe Biden. Why did the American bishops even have to 193 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:31.679 ask him to commute the sentences of everyone on death row? 194 00:15:31.879 --> 00:15:37.000 Gavin Newsom did that for California inmates easy. Gavin Newsom 195 00:15:37.360 --> 00:15:40.279 just basically said, because this is part of the pardon 196 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:46.480 power that the president has over people, you know, being 197 00:15:46.519 --> 00:15:50.559 accused or convicted of federal crimes. It's the same power 198 00:15:50.600 --> 00:15:53.840 that a governor of a state has for people accused 199 00:15:53.879 --> 00:15:58.120 or convicted for state crimes. Gavin Newsom has basically said, 200 00:15:58.399 --> 00:16:02.519 as long as I am governor, I am commuting the 201 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:08.000 sentence of any person on California's death row so that 202 00:16:08.000 --> 00:16:11.279 they're not executed because I don't believe in the death penalty. 203 00:16:11.919 --> 00:16:14.159 Joe Biden, who opposed the death penalty pretty much his 204 00:16:14.200 --> 00:16:16.879 whole public career, just has not done that for prisoners 205 00:16:16.879 --> 00:16:22.919 in the federal system, the one area where even it 206 00:16:22.960 --> 00:16:31.120 would be easy for him to have his Catholicism inform 207 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:37.720 his public work, and he hasn't done it. When we return, 208 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:42.159 he's pardoning Hunter, but not commuting the sentence of people 209 00:16:42.200 --> 00:16:47.399 on death row. Next on the John Girardi Show, talking 210 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:51.600 about Joe Biden's Catholicism, Basically, the Pope has this appeal 211 00:16:51.799 --> 00:16:58.399 out that President Biden would commute the death sentences for 212 00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:03.840 the forty inmates on death row within the federal American 213 00:17:04.240 --> 00:17:07.079 within the American federal prison system, there are forty men 214 00:17:07.359 --> 00:17:09.960 who are I guess men, maybe some of our women, 215 00:17:10.720 --> 00:17:14.119 who are condemned to death, and Pope Francis has asked 216 00:17:15.000 --> 00:17:19.720 Joe Biden to commute their sentences. The fact that he 217 00:17:19.720 --> 00:17:22.440 even asked to ask him is I think such a 218 00:17:22.559 --> 00:17:28.759 damning testament to how anemic Joe Biden's Catholicism is. Here 219 00:17:28.839 --> 00:17:33.839 is something where you some kind of a Catholic commitment. 220 00:17:34.160 --> 00:17:38.119 And I wouldn't say that the Catholic tradition is unifical 221 00:17:38.200 --> 00:17:41.559 about the death penalty being bad. I think modern Catholic 222 00:17:41.559 --> 00:17:47.960 teaching has resulted in more concern and a narrowing of 223 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:51.000 the circumstances under which the death penalty can legitimately be 224 00:17:51.079 --> 00:17:53.079 applied to such an extent that the popes have basically 225 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:57.640 just said, and especially after the experience of Soviet Communism 226 00:17:57.640 --> 00:18:03.799 when the death penalty was applieddly, liberally, and unjustly, where 227 00:18:03.799 --> 00:18:05.920 the popes have basically said, hey, we don't think the 228 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:08.119 death penalty is a useful thing, and we're totally okay 229 00:18:08.200 --> 00:18:17.319 with Catholics, you know, agitating to abolish it. Basically, this 230 00:18:17.359 --> 00:18:21.119 would be a thing where Joe Biden could very easily 231 00:18:21.200 --> 00:18:26.960 allow Catholic teaching in some way, shape or form to 232 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:35.759 impact or effect how he has governed, how he has 233 00:18:35.799 --> 00:18:38.160 lived out his public life. His life is a public official. 234 00:18:40.279 --> 00:18:43.240 It would be easy. The Democrats don't like the death penalty. 235 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:47.200 He and he alone has the pardon power as the president. 236 00:18:47.319 --> 00:18:50.640 You have the power every single all these forty men 237 00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:52.839 who are on death row. With a snap of his fingers, 238 00:18:53.240 --> 00:18:55.480 Joe Biden could pardon that. He could let them walk 239 00:18:55.519 --> 00:19:01.839 out of jail tomorrow. But short of that, beyond, you know, 240 00:19:01.960 --> 00:19:04.519 short of a full pardon, the president has the power 241 00:19:04.519 --> 00:19:09.839 to commute a sentence. So if someone you know, this 242 00:19:09.960 --> 00:19:12.759 is part of the president's pardon power and the pardon power, 243 00:19:13.160 --> 00:19:16.279 give my little spiel on the pardon power. The pardon 244 00:19:16.599 --> 00:19:20.759 power of the president is something that we kind of 245 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:26.839 inherited from the English unwritten Constitution and tradition that the 246 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:31.960 monarch of Great Britain has the ability to pardon people 247 00:19:32.160 --> 00:19:37.079 for crimes. In fact, I actually read about Queen Victoria 248 00:19:38.079 --> 00:19:44.200 who very often she was getting requests to pardon basically 249 00:19:44.720 --> 00:19:50.680 men who found their wives in flagrante delicto with their 250 00:19:50.720 --> 00:19:54.759 lovers and who in a moment of fury wound up 251 00:19:54.799 --> 00:19:57.640 killing them and killing somebody killing their wives. And that 252 00:19:57.799 --> 00:20:00.920 was very often the kind of per person who was 253 00:20:00.960 --> 00:20:04.799 presented to Queen Victoria for a pardon, and Queen Victoria 254 00:20:04.799 --> 00:20:07.119 eventually was like, no, I'm not going to do these anymore. 255 00:20:07.599 --> 00:20:10.519 All these women are just getting killed, and yeah, what 256 00:20:10.559 --> 00:20:13.240 they're doing is bad, but I don't want to give 257 00:20:13.279 --> 00:20:16.559 people a free pass like that is also bad. But 258 00:20:16.680 --> 00:20:18.880 it was interesting about how her views on how the 259 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:21.799 pardon power should or the circumstances under which shouldor shouldn't 260 00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:27.839 be exercised. Anyway, in the American Constitution, this kind of 261 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:32.640 royal prerogative went to the president, and it goes to 262 00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:38.640 the president over federal crimes. So if someone is suspected 263 00:20:38.680 --> 00:20:42.720 of accused, of convicted of a federal crime, the president 264 00:20:42.799 --> 00:20:47.920 has the power to pardon them. Short of a full pardon. 265 00:20:47.960 --> 00:20:52.200 The president could also just commute someone's sentence. Someone's been 266 00:20:52.279 --> 00:20:56.680 convicted and sentenced to forty years, the president can commute 267 00:20:56.680 --> 00:21:01.960 the sentence to forty days to time sir, to twenty 268 00:21:02.039 --> 00:21:06.400 years instead of forty years. And the president can commute 269 00:21:06.440 --> 00:21:09.920 a death sentence to life imprisonment or to something less 270 00:21:09.960 --> 00:21:12.839 than less than death, okay, to not the death penalty. 271 00:21:15.440 --> 00:21:27.240 So Joe Biden has total complete power to absolve these people, 272 00:21:27.319 --> 00:21:31.200 to just say all forty of these prisoners no death penalty, 273 00:21:31.720 --> 00:21:35.599 and no subsequent president can remove that. It's not justiciable. 274 00:21:35.720 --> 00:21:39.640 Congress can't reverse it, the courts can't reverse it. Literally, 275 00:21:39.720 --> 00:21:41.640 Joe Biden can do this with a snap of his fingers. 276 00:21:44.720 --> 00:21:48.799 And it's just a testament to this JFK. And it 277 00:21:48.839 --> 00:21:52.799 started with JFK. JFK was running for president. A bunch 278 00:21:52.839 --> 00:21:55.880 of American Protestants were like, still had some of this 279 00:21:56.039 --> 00:21:59.319 old no nothing attitudes towards Catholics, still thought they were 280 00:21:59.319 --> 00:22:01.200 a little weird o. JFK is gonna have a red 281 00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:04.960 line to the Pope. And what JFK should have said was, 282 00:22:06.960 --> 00:22:12.279 I'm a Catholic. My beliefs will inform how I govern 283 00:22:12.599 --> 00:22:16.160 the principles of justice that I know through divine revelation 284 00:22:17.319 --> 00:22:19.480 and through the authentic teaching of the Church. That will 285 00:22:19.480 --> 00:22:21.839 be how I govern. If you like it, vote for me. 286 00:22:21.880 --> 00:22:28.480 If you don't, that's fine. Instead, what he said was, well, no, no, no, 287 00:22:29.079 --> 00:22:31.599 I'm you know, I'm going to do what's right for 288 00:22:31.640 --> 00:22:36.119 the country first before I do what's correct, based on 289 00:22:36.160 --> 00:22:38.599 what my religion tells me. If it's the national interest 290 00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:40.680 over here and what my religion tells me, I'll do 291 00:22:40.720 --> 00:22:45.319 it's in the national interest. As if for a Catholic 292 00:22:45.400 --> 00:22:47.640 those two things could be it could possibly be opposed. 293 00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:54.319 And from that small step came people like Mario Cuomo, 294 00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:56.839 the governor of New York, who gave a speech at 295 00:22:56.880 --> 00:23:01.400 Notre Dame in nineteen eighty four saying, well, I know 296 00:23:01.480 --> 00:23:05.160 what my church teaches me about abortion, but I can't 297 00:23:05.279 --> 00:23:09.000 impose that on everyone else. In the national interest dictates that. 298 00:23:09.039 --> 00:23:11.359 You know that we're a pluralistic society and people should 299 00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.599 be free to make their own choices. And yeah, I 300 00:23:13.640 --> 00:23:19.279 know what my faith tells me over here. But and 301 00:23:19.400 --> 00:23:21.759 this leads all the way to Joe Biden. Here's Joe Biden, 302 00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:26.400 who even for something that would be totally popular among 303 00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:31.559 Catholic among his fellow Democrats to commute the death sentence 304 00:23:31.680 --> 00:23:35.319 for these people. He won't do it. Why because he 305 00:23:35.359 --> 00:23:42.839 realizes it would be politically unpopular in general. Now maybe 306 00:23:42.839 --> 00:23:44.480 he'll do it now. Maybe he'll do it now that 307 00:23:44.519 --> 00:23:46.640 he's a lame duck, kind of like how he pardoned Hunter. 308 00:23:49.279 --> 00:23:53.559 When we return, are there going to be more pardons? Oh? Yeah, 309 00:23:53.720 --> 00:23:58.920 that's next. On the John Girardi Show, President Biden pardoned 310 00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:06.079 his son Hunter. Who's next? A couple of new thoughts 311 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:08.960 things I've been reading from other people, hearing from other 312 00:24:09.000 --> 00:24:15.359 people about the Hunter Biden pardon and who is likely 313 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:18.799 coming up next as far as pardons that the president 314 00:24:19.039 --> 00:24:29.160 may very well issue. So there's two different stories. One 315 00:24:29.799 --> 00:24:34.319 is other people in the Biden administration who might get pardons. 316 00:24:35.079 --> 00:24:38.519 Two is other people in the Biden influence peddling scheme 317 00:24:39.279 --> 00:24:42.079 who may get pardons. So let's start with other people 318 00:24:42.079 --> 00:24:46.799 in the Biden influence peddling scheme. All right, Hunter got 319 00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:51.079 pardoned about a week or how long was that? I 320 00:24:51.079 --> 00:24:56.640 guess it was two Sundays ago. Hunter got pardoned two 321 00:24:56.680 --> 00:25:00.599 Sundays ago. Why did he get pardoned in December I 322 00:25:00.599 --> 00:25:02.400 had a friend who was asking me, what's going on? 323 00:25:02.440 --> 00:25:05.599 Why is Hunter being pardoned so early? Is Joe gonna 324 00:25:05.599 --> 00:25:08.680 step down to let Kamala be president for like a month? 325 00:25:09.079 --> 00:25:11.440 I was like, He's not gonna let Kamala be president. 326 00:25:11.559 --> 00:25:15.519 The reason why he pardoned Hunter so soon, relatively speaking, 327 00:25:15.559 --> 00:25:18.920 is because Hunter was about to face a sentencing hearing 328 00:25:19.160 --> 00:25:26.960 for one of his conviction slash believing guilty. So to 329 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:29.119 obviate the need for that, Biden's like, all right, well, 330 00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:30.599 I'll just pardon him now. Then he doesn't have to 331 00:25:30.640 --> 00:25:35.960 go through the sentencing hearing. But most of the time, 332 00:25:36.160 --> 00:25:39.960 when presidents pardon people, they do it, you know, the 333 00:25:40.039 --> 00:25:42.680 minute before they leave. They do it on you know, 334 00:25:42.759 --> 00:25:45.880 on the morning of January twentieth. So the new president 335 00:25:46.960 --> 00:25:50.920 takes the oath of office at noon on January twentieth. 336 00:25:52.200 --> 00:25:56.960 So often the outgoing president will issue his pardons that morning, 337 00:25:58.440 --> 00:26:06.799 you know, hours before he relinquishes his office. So there's 338 00:26:06.960 --> 00:26:12.119 more Biden pardons coming, like, no question, no question that 339 00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:19.200 there are whom will he pardon? So one thing to 340 00:26:19.200 --> 00:26:22.599 think about with the Hunter pardon is the Fifth Amendment stuff, 341 00:26:23.200 --> 00:26:32.160 All right, in America, we have a protection against being 342 00:26:32.279 --> 00:26:35.119 forced to testify. Ordinarily, you have to testify if you're 343 00:26:35.160 --> 00:26:39.200 subpoenaed in some kind of criminal matter or what have you. 344 00:26:40.440 --> 00:26:46.119 But the one exception to this is your privilege under 345 00:26:46.119 --> 00:26:53.720 the Fifth Amendment. You're being questioned, grand jury hauls you 346 00:26:53.799 --> 00:27:01.240 in for questioning, for gathering evidence, you can say, well, 347 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:10.720 I'm invoking my Fifth Amendment rights against self incrimination. If 348 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:14.079 there's a chance that you could incriminate yourself, you may 349 00:27:14.119 --> 00:27:17.839 simply invoke your Fifth Amendment rights, and then you don't 350 00:27:17.839 --> 00:27:21.839 have to testify. You don't have to testify over that 351 00:27:22.960 --> 00:27:30.799 area of concern. Hunter has now waived his ability to 352 00:27:30.839 --> 00:27:38.720 do that because he's been pardoned. Hunter faces no criminal 353 00:27:38.759 --> 00:27:43.759 jeopardy whatsoever for any and let's remember, Joe gave him 354 00:27:43.799 --> 00:27:49.920 a really big, really broad, really sweeping pardon all the 355 00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:55.079 stuff that Hunter's attorneys wanted in the sweetheart deal that 356 00:27:55.119 --> 00:27:59.240 they tried to hatch with the federal prosecutors to give 357 00:28:00.160 --> 00:28:05.240 Hunter this complete immunity bath for all the shenanigans he 358 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:09.920 was doing in Europe and China from twenty fourteen through 359 00:28:11.119 --> 00:28:14.400 approximately twenty eighteen twenty nineteen, all the stuff he was 360 00:28:14.440 --> 00:28:21.680 doing doing possible money laundering violations of the Farah, the 361 00:28:21.680 --> 00:28:27.559 Foreign Agent Registration Act, anything that might have been bribery, 362 00:28:28.480 --> 00:28:33.519 you know, et cetera, et cetera, his tax evasion, all 363 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:37.799 of it. Hunter has a clean slate. He's got it. 364 00:28:37.839 --> 00:28:40.839 And the gun you know, and the gun thing clean slate, 365 00:28:41.200 --> 00:28:45.279 newly sun life. Hunter faces no criminal jeopardy whatsoever. As 366 00:28:45.319 --> 00:28:48.279 a result, he doesn't have a leg to stand on. 367 00:28:48.400 --> 00:28:52.279 If they say, hey, Hunter, we the FBI under cash PTEL, 368 00:28:52.880 --> 00:28:55.200 We're calling you in. We would like you to testify. 369 00:28:56.799 --> 00:29:04.559 We are investigating Jim Biden, Joe Biden, Halle Biden, this Biden, 370 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:15.240 that Biden for possible criminal violations. And Hunter would say, oh, 371 00:29:15.480 --> 00:29:17.400 I don't want to testify. Well, no, no, you've got 372 00:29:17.400 --> 00:29:21.400 a grand jury subpoena. Well, I invoked my Fifth Amendment rights. 373 00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:27.480 You can't self incriminate. Hunter cannot incriminate himself anymore because 374 00:29:27.559 --> 00:29:30.319 he's been pardoned. He's been pardoned for anything he might 375 00:29:30.400 --> 00:29:34.559 have done in that timeframe. That's how expansive the immunity 376 00:29:34.680 --> 00:29:39.759 bath was that he got. He's clean, he's pure as 377 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:44.039 the wind driven snow. He is untouchable. As a result, 378 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:48.680 he can testify. He has to testify, and if he 379 00:29:48.880 --> 00:29:52.839 lies under oath, then well, that's something he won't be 380 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:56.279 immune for from. If he lies under oath to a 381 00:29:56.319 --> 00:30:02.680 grand jury, he's not immune. You know, Joe Biden can 382 00:30:02.720 --> 00:30:04.960 pardon him for anything in the past, he can't pardon 383 00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:08.400 him for anything he might do in the future. So 384 00:30:11.400 --> 00:30:15.039 clearly Joe is concerned about all this stuff Hunter did. Otherwise, 385 00:30:15.039 --> 00:30:17.960 there's no reason why he would have given Hunter such 386 00:30:17.960 --> 00:30:20.759 a broad, expansive immunity bath. If he just said, I 387 00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:24.799 pardon Hunter for his conviction for the tax thing that 388 00:30:24.839 --> 00:30:27.240 he pled guilty to, or I pardon Hunter for the 389 00:30:27.279 --> 00:30:29.599 tax stuff that he pled guilty to, and I pardon 390 00:30:29.720 --> 00:30:34.039 Hunter for his gun charge conviction. If that was all 391 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:37.839 Joe had done, that would be one thing. But no, 392 00:30:38.279 --> 00:30:43.839 Joe completely the parameters of his pardon were so broad 393 00:30:44.920 --> 00:30:50.640 it's covering the entire Biden family influencing pedaling scheme, influence 394 00:30:50.680 --> 00:30:56.119 pedaling scheme. So I think it would be insane to 395 00:30:56.519 --> 00:31:02.640 just pardon Hunter. He probably has to pardon Jim, his brother, 396 00:31:04.799 --> 00:31:07.640 and there may be other associates that he has to 397 00:31:07.720 --> 00:31:15.119 pardon just to cover everyone's base, cover everyone's rear end. 398 00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:22.359 Now I'm guessing he won't pardon himself this is. One 399 00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:24.400 of the interesting things about the pardon power is that 400 00:31:24.599 --> 00:31:30.039 it's it's outside parameters have not really been fully tested yet. 401 00:31:30.799 --> 00:31:36.839