Cont: The Biden Presidency (3)

[Darat]

The nugget of truth is that Hunter is corruptly enriching himself by virtue of his close familial ties to a US politician.

Has that been established? Whether we like it or not our societies are structured that close familial ties are how most people enrich themselves, there are some ways that can be done that our societies label as "corrupt" but most aren't, so has it established that he has done what his society labels as corrupt?

I thought that was the point under consideration?

 

[TurkeysGhost]

Has that been established? Whether we like it or not our societies are structured that close familial ties are how most people enrich themselves, there are some ways that can be done that our societies label as "corrupt" but most aren't, so has it established that he has done what his society labels as corrupt?

I'm not making a legal claim. The highest form of corruption is when corruption is made legal, so looking through a strictly legal lens is not always that useful.

But no, hiring a fail-son of a politician under a vague hope that this gets you preferential treatment is not quid-quo-pro corruption. Unless something more serious is found I doubt this kind of common practice of implied but not explicit nepotism is almost certainly not a crime. This whole "investigation" appears to be nothing more than a fishing expedition at best, but more likely a cynical publicity stunt with no real prospect of uncovering actionable corruption.

I'm more talking about the broader political implications and how the Democrats are hindered from taking advantage of Trump's outlandish corrupt practices because they are also implicated in these kinds of dirty deals (though admittedly less extreme and generally more sophisticated than Trump's clownish antics).

I'm reminded how Pelosi fought tooth and nail to oppose the "don't let Congress use their privileged position to do insider trading on the stock market" law that should have been an easy PR layup that allowed the Dems to paint themselves as square dealers and trustworthy stewards of power, but these people just can't help themselves. From a purely rational point of view, "our corruption is far less extreme" is a good reason to prefer the Dems over Trump, but you can see why this isn't exactly the most inspiring message.

I thought that was the point under consideration?

Does Hunter Biden, notorious crack addict and general screw-up, actually have any expertise that would merit him being a well payed board member of a Ukrainian energy company? What exactly is he bringing to the table?

 

[Silly Green Monkey]

What do any of the wastrel children of the aristocracy-like provide to the boards they are given seats on? It's not like Hunter is in any way exceptional for his class or position.

 

[TurkeysGhost]

What do any of the wastrel children of the aristocracy-like provide to the boards they are given seats on? It's not like Hunter is in any way exceptional for his class or position.

No, nothing exceptional here at all. That's the whole point. Having this baseline level of nepotism and general corrupt dealing makes it much harder for the public to get their panties in a bunch about corruption, including Trump's corruption. If the Dem leadership is wondering why the public doesn't seem overly perturbed by Trump's flagrant self-dealing, perhaps they should look inward.

Trump is not really novel in any way. He does all the seedy crap that is normalized in our politics, only more so and more overtly.

 

[Mike!]

please draw a picture of a proxy and post it here? I've never seen one, and they seem to be SO important to the Brandon administration. Do they resemble Minions?

Or a lackey. Can you post a pic of one of those? I imagine something like Gollum, but I just don't know! It's awfully frustrating, won't you help?

Well here's a Lackey you've likely seen before...

https://villains.fandom.com/wiki/Cad_Lackey

And just who does Cad Lackey work for? None other than Simon Bar Sinister, of course.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

Biden might not be as sharp as he used to be, but he is clearly smarter than all Republicans.

Zig might do well to adjust his baseline, given how many old farts are in government.

 

[Ziggurat]

Zig might do well to adjust his baseline, given how many old farts are in government.

You mean like Feinstein?

Yeah, I don't think just accepting this as the new norm is really the right approach.

 

[The Great Zaganza]

You mean like Feinstein?

Yeah, I don't think just accepting this as the new norm is really the right approach.

you want to compare Presidents with newly minted Fields Medal recipients then ?

 

[ZiprHead]

Nbc News.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/na...hows-firm-took-11-million-2013-2018-rcna29462

Thanks.

 

[Ziggurat]

you want to compare Presidents with newly minted Fields Medal recipients then ?

You wanted to compare him to other geriatric politicians. I was following your suggestion.

 

[acbytesla]

The nugget of truth is that Hunter is corruptly enriching himself by virtue of his close familial ties to a US politician.

Is he?

Hunter Biden graduated from Yale Law School. Was a VP at MBNA.He served at the United States Department of Commerce, focusing on ecommerce policy for President Bill Clinton's administration.Biden then became a lobbyist, co-founding the firm of Oldaker, Biden & Belair. Hunter was appointed to a 5 year term on the board of Amtrak. He founded a venture capital firm.

If you look at his resume, he has credentials.

Did Hunter benefit from having a well connected father? I don't doubt it one second. And this was true of JFK, RFK, Ted Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, George Bush Sr., George W. Bush, Al Gore, McConnell's wife as well as countless politicians too numerous to list.

This doesn’t make him corrupt.

 

[Stacyhs]

Is he?

Hunter Biden graduated from Yale Law School. Was a VP at MBNA.He served at the United States Department of Commerce, focusing on ecommerce policy for President Bill Clinton's administration.Biden then became a lobbyist, co-founding the firm of Oldaker, Biden & Belair. Hunter was appointed to a 5 year term on the board of Amtrak. He founded a venture capital firm.

If you look at his resume, he has credentials.

Did Hunter benefit from having a well connected father? I don't doubt it one second. And this was true of JFK, RFK, Ted Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, George Bush Sr., George W. Bush, Al Gore, McConnell's wife as well as countless politicians too numerous to list.

This doesn’t make him corrupt.

You forgot Jared and Ivanka.

 

[johnny karate]

My "appearance of impropriety" is more to do with Joe Biden. Hunter is his immediate family member and seems to be cashing in on the proximity to power. It's not like he has any marketable qualities of his own to justify such a cushy job.

The whole thing stinks like ****.

I for one will definitely not be voting for Hunter Biden in 2024.

 

[acbytesla]

You forgot Jared and Ivanka.

I didn't forget. Hell, if Fred Trump hadn't built a real estate empire, Donald almost certainly would not have become President.

But I didn't want the argument being just about Biden vs Trump. Connections make people money whether they deserve them or not. This is a universal reality.

 

[Stacyhs]

I didn't forget. Hell, if Fred Trump hadn't built a real estate empire, Donald almost certainly would not have become President.

But I didn't want the argument being just about Biden vs Trump. Connections make people money whether they deserve them or not. This is a universal reality.

And most of it is perfectly legal.

 

[johnny karate]

But it should be noted that there isn’t even a shred of credible evidence that the President did anything wrong. He hasn't obstructed the investigation into his son and he has said he wouldn't pardon his son.

No need. He's got proxies to do that for him.

What proxies? WTF are you talking about other than debunked GOP conspiracy nonsense?

Bump for Ziggurat.

What proxies? And what obstruction have these proxies engaged in? Please be specific and provide sources.

 

[TurkeysGhost]

I for one will definitely not be voting for Hunter Biden in 2024.

It certainly helps defang some of the criticism that the Biden admin is quite clearly keeping Hunter at arm's length (unlike Trump's approach to staffing the entire federal government with his children). They've actually threaded the needle quite nicely in my viewing, keeping Hunter away from any real access to the Biden admin (at least, as far as the public can tell) while also taking a quite sympathetic and reasonable stance about his many personal failings, especially his drug use. It's telling that this fishing expedition has to focus on the Obama admin days, because as far as I can tell Hunter's ability to cash in on his proximity to power is greatly diminished in the present.

It's always funny seeing the right wing tabloids trying to make an issue how Biden is not cruel to his own son about being an addict, as if being a good, understanding dad is somehow a character failing. This country is full of drug users and addicts too, so I'm guessing Biden responding gracefully to this kind of thing makes him far more relatable. Who in this country doesn't know someone that has struggled with addiction?

 

[TurkeysGhost]

Is he?

Hunter Biden graduated from Yale Law School. Was a VP at MBNA.He served at the United States Department of Commerce, focusing on ecommerce policy for President Bill Clinton's administration.Biden then became a lobbyist, co-founding the firm of Oldaker, Biden & Belair. Hunter was appointed to a 5 year term on the board of Amtrak. He founded a venture capital firm.

If you look at his resume, he has credentials.

Did Hunter benefit from having a well connected father? I don't doubt it one second. And this was true of JFK, RFK, Ted Kennedy, Caroline Kennedy, George Bush Sr., George W. Bush, Al Gore, McConnell's wife as well as countless politicians too numerous to list.

This doesn’t make him corrupt.

How do you think he got that job at MBNA?

Senator Biden was once joked as the "Senator from MBNA" because of his very pro-finance positions. Biden's son was getting a cushy VP job as Papa Biden was voting to make it harder to declare bankruptcy, which obviously benefits lenders like MBNA

How do you think these failsons keep getting into the most elite schools like Yale for that matter? You're describing a resume pattern that is only available to the most privileged, aka nepotism.

 

[acbytesla]

How do you think he got that job at MBNA?

Senator Biden was once joked as the "Senator from MBNA" because of his very pro-finance positions. Biden's son was getting a cushy VP job as Papa Biden was voting to make it harder to declare bankruptcy, which obviously benefits lenders like MBNA

How do you think these failsons keep getting into the most elite schools like Yale for that matter? You're describing a resume pattern that is only available to the most privileged, aka nepotism.

You think I don’t understand that contrary to the story we don't live in a meritocracy? That I don’t know that the progeny of the connected and well to do enjoy every advantage?

I'm just saying as unfair and unseemly as it might be, there is nothing that is especially unique about Hunter Biden that isn't true throughout society. BTW, my father was a labor leader and got me into the union. At 18 years of age in 1977 when minimum wage was $2.20 an hour, I was making $17.77 per hour. All because of who my father was. Totally unfair, totally legal.

 

[TurkeysGhost]

You think I don’t understand that contrary to the story we don't live in a meritocracy? That I don’t know that the progeny of the connected and well to do enjoy every advantage?

I'm just saying as unfair and unseemly as it might be, there is nothing that is especially unique about Hunter Biden that isn't true throughout society. BTW, my father was a labor leader and got me into the union. At 18 years of age in 1977 when minimum wage was $2.20 an hour, I was making $17.77 per hour. All because of who my father was. Totally unfair, totally legal.

Right, we have the same understanding of how things really work.

My point is been not that this investigation is merited or likely to demonstrate anything even close to being illegal, my point is more broadly about how this low level corrupt state of affairs is a large part of why such a large portion of the public seems to not care about Trump's outrageous corruption. When the whole game is rigged, it's not surprising that so many are willing to tolerate overt corruption from "their guy"

My larger point is about why this status quo is a large part of why Dems are generally unable to effectively respond to Trump, or at least not as well as you might hope or expect. That's why this fascination with Hunter Biden, even if it's never going to result in any real corruption scandal that leads to arrests, is so galvanizing or dispiriting, depending on your political persuasion. This whole charade is bad law enforcement for certain, but that doesn't mean it's not good politics.