Have Democrats learned nothing at all from Trump??
Change the focus.
Hunter Biden is an embarrassment. He is an acknowledged drug addict. He used his father's position to get himself jobs and business deals. He was stupid and careless about it. He created embarrassing documents, some of which he left on a laptop.
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Mitch McConnell said that Trump incited a crowd to overthrow the election. Trump responds by saying that McConnell's wife has corrupt dealings with the Chinese. When pressed about taking documents, Trump said George Bush took them and stored them in a bowling alley and Obama took millions of them to Chicago. Trump's accusations are easily dispatched as false, but the focus changed from Trump to McConnell, Bush, and Obama. The tactic works. It takes shamelessness. Hunter Biden can do this.
Of course Hunter Biden had access to jobs and business deals because he was Joe Biden's son. Every adult child of powerful people in America has some version of that advantage. It is one of the reasons parents work hard to get their children into elite universities. They get credentialed. They meet people who know people who are gatekeepers. Celebrity and relation to powerful people are one of the ways of getting through the gates to become a fellow gatekeeper.
Hunter Biden offers organizations association with a high-profile name. It is why opera singers are put onto the boards of banks. It is why retired generals are hired by military contractors to be lobbyists. It is why people who leave the House and Senate go to work on K Street. Given Hunter's sloppiness, I do not doubt emails and texts show that Hunter Biden was peddling access. Peddling access is what D.C. is all about.
When something is undeniable, lean into it. Name names. Make it costly for his accusers to accuse. Hunter Biden should be talking about the Saudi investment in Jared Kushner's new fund. Everyone in the financial services business knows that the Saudi investment smells of corrupt payback. Investment managers work years to build a track record that can justify an investment like that $2 billion Kushner got from Saudi Arabia. No fiduciary could justify it on objective merit. It was a payoff. It was a "thank you" for Trump foreign policy tilt toward Saudi Arabia. Friends help friends.
Hunter Biden should answer every inquiry about his behavior with a "whatabout." Make their inquiry about Republican corruption.
Q: "What did you do for Burisma that merits the enormous amount they paid you?"A: "They may have thought my legal advice brought credibility and intangible goodwill like the kind Ivanka Trump's trademark deal brought China. China was in intense trade negotiations with the Trump administration when China awarded Ivanka those million-dollar trademarks. Why aren't you looking at the jobs and qualifications of the adult children of members of this committee? Did they get a job that someone else was better qualified for, just because their parent is in Congress? Did they go to Yale Law School?
He would sound unlikeable and unresponsive. The answers do not need to be responsive. He is pointing a finger. Hunter Biden now has the reputation and look of someone pathetic. He has meth teeth. He looks like easy prey. Fox News would not be so comfortable attacking him if Hunter's responses to them kept being about the Fox coverup of Bill O'Reilly's sexual predation and the qualifications of Rupert Murdock's sons to run the company. Change the focus. Make attacks boomerang. Of course, Biden would look like a guy who doesn't answer questions and who is constantly on the attack. That is the point. That might also be why Burisma would pay him handsomely. (That Hunter Biden can fight!) Better to look like a pit bull than a doormat.
Hunter Biden has a giant target, one that should be hugely uncomfortable for his attackers. Crony capitalism and crony politics are two parts of the same system. Hunter is in it. So are his accusers.
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25 comments:
A tissue of projection and anticipatory, defensive spin, however well-articulated. Though my own prognostications have proven poor of late I will, naturally, continue to offer them This dog (this apologia from Mr. Sage) won't hunt.
First, forget the passive-voice or indirect "He used his father's position". Yes...plus he appears to have used used his father's handshakes on and off Air Force Two and in business meetings through which his father and uncle also profited.
Second, the protective media's already tarnished reputation is at an all-time low. CBS News just ran an "investigative" report wherein they concluded (gasp!) Hunty's laptop and contents are authentic. Dems simply can't be trusted here.
Hunter Biden, like CRT and ‘wokeness,’ are Weapons of Mass Distraction that Republicans have deployed to divert our attention from their Supreme Leader’s treachery. They’re champions of guns and hatred, a lethal combination that we read about almost every day. As domestic terrorists shoot their culture war targets and climate change wreaks increasing havoc, they continue ranting and raving about Hunter’s laptop, as if it had any bearing on the existential issues our country is facing. When are we going to start electing grownups?
I suppose this is good advice. Hunter Biden is a lawyer and an addict in recovery (apparently), so hopefully he could pull it off. The Trump kids have (and have had) other legal problems as well.
To be fair to Hunter, his family and anyone fighting the disease of addiction (Matthew Perry, the actor, immediately comes to mind), perhaps it would be more accurate to say that Hunter was a mess. Getting and staying clean and sober is a monumental accomplishment for addicts/alcoholics. Their hard work and progress should not be ignored or minimized. And by the way, relapsing is very common. Recovery from addiction is a life-long endeavor.
Active and passive voice:
"He used his father's position to get himself jobs and business deals," is the active voice. My own sense is that going on to say: He was stupid and careless about it. He created embarrassing documents, some of which he left on a laptop" does a pretty clear job of assigning blame.
I would say that Trump speaking untruthfully that Obama took documents or Jared saying nothing about the Saudi investment or Ivanka saying nothing about the trademark deal or all of the Trump kids saying nothing about diverting foundation money for person use--well THAT is what avoidance looks like.
I urge readers to read and re-read LD's comment. It is an excellent example of my argument. It would have saved me time simply to show it as a brief and direct an example of an educated person's way of simulating Trump. Note the segue to blaming the mainstream media. Whatabout them! Hunter should not blame Kushner and Trump can attempt a coup because the media didn't credit Hunter's laptop as being as credible as Republicans hoped it was. Forget Kushner. Forget Ivanka, Forget the Foundation. Forget overthrowing an election. Whatabout the NY Times!!
LD is a superb practitioner of the art form and we can all learn from her.
"Educated person's way of simulating Trump" is a contradiction in terms, sirrah! Or is it a non sequitur? I did mess up the active/passive voice, as noted.
When there is only spin, and reaction, there can be no baseline reality. Here we are somehow back to Trump, from my insistence on Joe in relation to Hunty.
More tail-chasing: as difficult as it must be, progressives will simply have to note the MSM's repeated dishonest, disastrous performance in recent years.
My own sense is the only people who care about Hunter Biden are Republicans who are never going to be anything other than what they are. Hunter Biden doesn’t seem all that important. Republicans can enjoy taking him down if that is what they want to do. It doesn’t reflect on much more than that. Hurtful politics is a loser game for them in my opinion.
Question for Peter:
Once the mainstream media totally discredits itself, as they did in the suppression of the Hunter Biden laptop story, what basis remains for an objective, fact-based evaluation of the truth?
NPR and the New York Times are object lessons in how liberal groupthink destroys credibility. The incentives for subscription-based media like them prioritize resonating with the prejudices of their subscribers.
I predict they will get nothing out of investigating Hunter Biden. Who names a kid "Hunter" in the first place?'
But I digress...
Given the real problems facing the country I doubt Republicans will get voters all that riled up over poor Hunter. I guess the first question would be would he appear at all? I see no reason why he couldn't lawyer up and stall indefinitely, which would keep the heat on Republicans to refer him for contempt, something it's doubtful would pass.
I don't share the sympathy expressed by a good chunk of observers. Plenty of folks struggle with addiction without losing their dignity and making a public spectacle of themselves, including the obligatory self-deprecating book and talk show appearances. I wish the man no ill will but, c'mon! If he indeed has tax problems he will eventually be held accountable. The influence stuff is a Pandora's box nobody wants to open for obvious reasons. Other than 1/6, Democrats have resisted going after the kids, right?
It's a sideshow, and people eventually tire of them...
Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation for years and all they’ve come up with is tax cheating and lying on a gun application. No wonder the Insurrection Party wants to defund the DOJ and squander more taxpayer money “investigating” him in the House.
As for the legitimacy of Hunter’s alleged laptop, only a Fox Noise fan could find that convincing. Anyone at all familiar with its provenance and laws regarding the chain of evidence would be well aware what a partisan crock that whole story is.
As the proverb says, Timing is everything.
Today, Newsweek online has an article by Dr. Carder Stout, who had been addicted to cocaine and crack. He had a very privileged upbringing in Washington DC and NH. His father founded National Journal.
Carder Stout wrote that he lost everything, became homeless in LA and worked for a drug dealer making deliveries. He finally got help and got into recovery.
The repeated hard-wired failures of current legacy media journalism and its attenuated relationship with fact collection and truth is writ large right now with coverage of the mass murder in Colorado Springs. Politicized truthiness, over truth.
The alleged shooter was branded a hate-soaked MAGA zealot overnight to suit a desired leftist narrative, with a view to pathologizing wide swaths of opinion skeptical of prevailing LGBTQ+ verities. Turns out he's a disturbed they/them nonbinary person.
An old chestnut was duly resurrected, to wit the Orlando gay nightclub horror. Never mind that that perp was a jihadist who simply picked one hotspot over another, initially Disney venue. Like the Mathew Shepard killing, it's part of leftist hagiography.
This is the "journalistic" backdrop to initially censored and now minimized assessments of longstanding, credible accusations of specific fraud and influence-peddling by President Biden and members of his family. The MSM is simply untrustworthy.
I have to laugh at allegations that the mainstream media’s skepticism about Hunter’s laptop is evidence of why they can’t be trusted. The Great Laptop Scandal was concocted by MAGA hatters in hopes of derailing the Biden campaign, and eagerly swallowed by those who believe whatever they want, regardless of the facts. For those who prefer information and context, the following article is thoughtful and interesting:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/04/12/now-warning-about-hunter-biden-laptop-disinfo-guy-who-leaked-it/
Answer from Peter, re Trigaboff:
It is not clear to me that the Hunter Biden laptop has much in it. The fact that the DOG hasn't found enough to prosecute and jail him makes me think the stuff in it is embarrassing but not illegal. I totally grant he is an embarrassing drug addict. Given the unlikely provenance of the laptop--brought forward by a Republican operative who allegedly found it mislaid and therefore subject to being doctored--their skepticism was well warranted.
Rather like the Brett Kavanaugh who were absolutely certain that he was a predator based on 35 year old memories of a 15 year old, where a little bit of caution was warranted, I think people eager to find fault with the media and turn Hunter into an equivalence to a corrupt president, I urge the anti-left people to cool their jets a little. Or, as I suggest, let's rush to judgement on Hunter, Don Jr., Eric, Ivanka, and Jared with the exact same speed. Let's lock them all up now. It gets all of them off the street. Hunter may be forced into getting clean. The Trump crew will be in a place where they can no longer grift and steal and corrupt for money.
Or, alternatively do my preference, which is to investigate them all and persecute them for all crimes. And I am OK with the mainstream media being cautious. If only Fox were. Whatabout Fox. Whatabout Fox. Whatabout Fox.
Can anyone explain the cruel comments being made about Hunter Biden? Addiction is an brain disorder, not a sin or a crime (although addicts in active addiction may commit sins and crimes). I thought that as a society we were working to get past stigmatizing mental illness, including addiction. We are well into the 21st century after all.
Addiction is a family disease, not only because a person can inherit a genetic predisposition, but because addiction adversely affects every member of the family.
Organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Al-Anon, Nar-Anon, Alateen and ACOA (Adult Children of Alcoholics & Dysfunctional Families) are free, peer support fellowships for alcoholics, drug addicts and the family and friends of addicts/alcoholics.
Be very thankful if you and your loved ones have been spared from this disease. It runs in my family and it is a tragedy for everyone involved.
Anon @ 6:26–
Fair enough on the wages of addiction in general terms. Can you in turn explain the kid gloves accorded a man with a laundry list of long-established transgressions, abetted by a corrupt father in power, which make addiction itself look like using naughty words?
Hunty abandoned his own wife and kids to shack up with his brother’s widow’s wife and kids, before abandoning them in turn for a stripper he impregnated, who had to drag Hunty into court simply to make him acknowledge his paternity and concomitant obligations.
Most of these repugnant activities occurred while Hunty was (officially) OFF drugs. Meanwhile, the scumbag has been lining his pockets with money gulled but way of official trips with his father. Calumny against Trump segues into calumny against Biden. So sorry,
"Can anyone explain the cruel comments being made about Hunter Biden?"
Sure: The white-wing whackos are just trying to "Pizzagate" him. As the Mafia likes to say, "Nothing personal - it's just business."
Clarification: Anonymous was undoubtedly not referring to Hunter's well-known faults and failing, but to the spurious accusations of human trafficking being made about him by Republican politicians and talking heads.
Perhaps learning more about the causes of addiction (such as genetic predisposition and childhood trauma) would be enlightening.
Also how the brains of addicts differ from the brains of non-addicts.
Based on the comment, it seems that the commenter is not well versed in the terms and language often used on the recovery community. For example, an addict Not in active addiction is still an addict, with an addict's brain. There is no magic cure. Recovery is a continuous process, One Day at A Time.
The information is readily available on the internet from medical, scientific and government sources. All that is required is a desire to learn.
AA and the like are spiritually based programs, not medical or scientific.
Lucky for Hunty he didn’t commit mass murder! Like with the suddenly soon to be memory-holed Colorado Springs bad boy, the dialectic of credentialed victimhood and addiction governs there too. Modern leftists are mystics at heart, really…..
Response to Peter:
You make some good points about media caution. The problem is that if It had been, say, Jared Kushner’s laptop, the mainstream media would have engaged in no caution whatsoever. Just look, for instance, at all the “Russia collusion” coverage that turned out to be about nothing. Where was the “caution” about that?
I am not unhappy that Trump is not the president. I think he’s way too incompetent and irresponsible to be in that job. But the mainstream media absolutely destroyed their credibility with at least half of the country by dropping any semblance of objectivity with their treatment of Trump, and that is not good for our society.
The world learned about the laptop from Rudy Giuliani, who gave the story to the NY Post as an exclusive, and it had a very implausible story, i.e. being "found" left in a repair shop. That is three red flags on top of each other.
And whatabout Fox which had a reporter claim that Paul Pelosi's attacker was in his underwear which then immediately corrected it, and yet the cable Fox News continues to push the story of how "we don't really know just what kind of kinky gay sex might have been going on," "there are still questions," "how come we don't see body cam footage and might it have sex toys or condoms they don't want us to see, just asking questions." Whatabout Fox.
Yah, Peter, but as LD says, Whatabout the Colorado Springs shooter - quick, look over there!
Additional red flag on the laptop: The owner of the shop it was supposedly found in is one of Trump's chumps.
Mr. Sage—
You’re a half-measure siloed and credulous on that story too. Were you aware that NBC just last week suspended a longtime national news reporter, Miguel Almaguer, after he reported live on the Today show that local sources close to the case told him—contrary to the previous official “correction”—that Pelosi answered the door to police and then walked back inside toward DePape. The video was pulled from NBC online as unfitting for publication as somehow not meeting unspecified NBC “standards”. Almaguer is incommunicado since,
The feds were brought in the curate the story, for better or worse. They may well be protecting the actual truth. The problem is there’s almost no way to know. Close your eyes and pretend you’re processing a national news report in 1972 on Watergate or Vietnam.
Hunter Biden is in trouble all on his own. This is the GOP nuts are proposing the same nonsense the Democrats were saying in ‘06 when they were going to impeach GWB for the Iraq 🇮🇶 war. None of the promises will come true and America 🇺🇸 will continue to move forward one day at a time. Believe the hype or live and enjoy your life the choice is yours.
Sounds like the definition of a hopeless crackpot:
Someone who insinuates without evidence that an 82-year-old married married man might have been having kinky sex with the 42-year-old right-wing conspiracy theorist who attacked him with a hammer.
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