President Biden's extraordinary decision to pardon his son Hunter has exposed deep Democratic fissures that are complicating the party's efforts to rebuild after a disastrous election, Axios' Zachary Basu writes.

• Why it matters: For years, Democrats responded to Donald Trump's lying, shattering of norms and alleged corruption by emphasizing their own respect for the truth, institutions and the rule of law.

By pardoning Hunter on gun and tax convictions — or any other crimes he "may have committed" between Jan. 1, 2014, and Dec. 1, 2024 — some Democrats believe Biden has sacrificed a moral high ground that's been foundational to the party's identity in the Trump era.

• Other Democrats see that framing as hopelessly naive, and have posed the blunt question: What's the point of holding the moral high ground when America just elected a convicted felon?

🔎 Zoom in: Biden's sweeping pardon of Hunter — arguably the broadest since President Ford's pardon of Richard Nixon — drew condemnation from even Biden's staunchest allies in Congress.

• Many sympathized with Biden's fatherly instincts, especially given the tragedies his family has endured — but warned that the pardon would further erode Americans' trust in government.
• For some liberal pundits, the about-face was an astonishing betrayal: Biden had explicitly ruled out pardoning his son on multiple occasions, including after it was clear Trump had won the election.

The other side: For other Democrats, the outrage reveals a laughable double standard.

• Trump made sweeping use of his pardon power to help out personal friends and family members, including his daughter Ivanka's father-in-law Charles Kushner — whom Trump just named ambassador to France.
• Trump openly campaigned on pardoning people convicted on charges stemming from the Jan. 6 riot — discrediting the notion that Hunter's case will somehow give Trump political cover to issue controversial pardons.

🖼️ The big picture: Some Democrats have grown sick of their party's pearl-clutching in the wake of the election, seeing it as symptomatic of a broader failure to fight Trump's fire with fire.

• "It's time to stop playing nice. We need to stretch the limits of what's possible and be as ruthless as Republicans when it comes to using every tool at our disposal," Democratic strategist Mike Nellis wrote last week.
• The focus on upholding norms has been especially frustrating to members of the populist left, who say Democrats' cultural elitism cost them enormously with working-class voters.

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This afternoon, Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen will hold their inaugural Axios AM Executive Briefing — kicking off a limited-run series of subscription webinars to help you and your team navigate the New Washington.

• Why it matters to you: Whatever your sector, the Washington disruption is your disruption. Today, Jim and Mike will map D.C.'s new world order.

Subscribe here for actionable insights from the AM Executive Briefing.

Gen Z's lofty salary goal of nearly $600,000 a year — revealed in a survey last month — underlies a generational shift to the political right, Axios managing editor Ben Berkowitz writes.

• Why it matters: Young voters were already moving away from a liberal worldview. But if these attitudes hold, the implications for the next few election cycles are profound.

Financial services company Empower surveyed more than 2,200 Americans in September and the Gen Z respondents — born between 1997 and 2012 — said they'd need to make $587,000 a year to be "financially successful."

• That's roughly 3x-6x what any other age group said they'd need.
• It's almost nine times the average U.S. salary.

🔭 Zoom out: A number of factors at play have a cumulative effect on Gen Z's financial attitudes.

• Angst: "Many people feel they're coming up short — with half believing they're less financially successful compared to others around them," Rebecca Rickert, head of communications at Empower, tells Axios.
• The influence of influencers: "These macro trends are exacerbated by social trends. Influencers portray false versions of reality that suggest wealth building being easy and hard work being outdated," says David Laut, CIO of Abound Financial in California.
• Persistently high costs: "'Feeling successful' when you have to have a roommate to afford rent undermines all capacity for consumption," David Bahnsen of the investment firm Bahnsen Group.

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PG-rated films have made up one-third of ticket sales at the domestic box office this year — the highest percentage since 1995, Axios' Sara Fischer writes.

• Why it matters: "PG is the new PG-13," said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore. "It no longer has the stigma of not being hard-edged enough."

🎞️ Family-friendly films — and animated movies in particular — have dominated this year's box office.

• Disney's "Inside Out 2" set multiple records in its $155 million domestic debut earlier this year. The movie became the highest-grossing animated film of all time — and the highest-grossing picture in North America so far this year.
• Disney's "Moana 2" led to a record-breaking Thanksgiving box office weekend, bringing in $221 million in domestic sales over the five-day holiday weekend.
• Universal's "Wicked," rated PG, set a record for the biggest opening weekend for a Broadway adaptation last weekend, with a $114 million domestic debut.

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The once-in-a-generation overhaul of Washington's Union Station will take an estimated 13 years and cost three times as much as One World Trade Center, Axios D.C.'s Cuneyt Dil writes in his "Town Talker" column.

• Why it matters: This tremendous modernization of Union Station — making it a high-speed rail hub and tripling passenger capacity — may define whether America can still build public megaprojects.

Doug Carr is in charge of modernizing the 116-year-old gateway to the nation's capital, and the transportation heart for a metropolis of 6.3 million people.

• Rebuilding Union Station "is not a fantasy," says Carr, who moved his family from Brooklyn to Northwest D.C. to take the reins two years ago. "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time."
• In New York City, he worked on the World Trade Center project before helping build the Moynihan Train Hall — a widely lauded, on-time, on-budget pantheon to American public rail.

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Christmas tree prices peak around Thanksgiving — then drop steadily, Axios' Alex Fitzpatrick writes from Square data.

• Why it matters: For the live tree lovers among us, timing your annual purchase is a delicate balance between what you pay — and how long you'll get to enjoy a majestic pine or spruce.

🧮 By the numbers: The average Christmas tree went for a high of $131 on Thanksgiving last year, then fell to $55 by Christmas Eve.

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First Lady Jill Biden unveiled the holiday decor for her final Christmas at the White House, Axios' Paige Hopkins writes.

• The display took over 300 volunteers to install.

☃️ By the numbers: It includes 83 Christmas trees, 9,810 feet of ribbon, 28,125+ ornaments and 165,075 holiday lights.

• More pics.

"Garden Party" — illustrator John Cuneo's take on the New York Knicks — is this week's cover of The New Yorker.

• "To describe myself as a long-suffering Knicks fan would be redundant. But these last few years, they have shown real promise," Cuneo says in the magazine's "Cover Story."