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I don't love it either, but I'm not sure how you tell a man that he should let his only surviving son rot in prison to respect norms, institutions, and the rule of law, when the country you devoted your life to serving just pretty comprehensively voted they don't give a shit about any of that.

Disastrous how? Spell it out for me. The public just voted for a guy running on the explicit promise he is going to pardon himself and the goons who stormed the capital on January 6th. What intact norm has Biden weakened here?

Yes, very real chance that future Democratic Presidents on their way out of office also pardon their children for non-violent offences. The Republic hath fallen.

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Don’t be silly, I’m not making a difficult claim. If you want to protect a democratic norm then it makes a big difference whether one party continues to respect it or both give up on it (however different the specifics).

This wasn't an amendedment to the Democratic Party Platform or a floor vote in Congress, but a unilateral decision by the lame duck President who wasn't the Party's ultimate nominee and will never run again. Maybe take like four deep breaths?

If your point is an abstract philosophical one then I agree with you. As I said in the OP, I don't love that this happened. If your point is that this will have any kind of practical impact in shaping how either party, or voters act in the future, then I strongly disagree.