I received an excellent comment about yesterday's post. It said:
***Stop shaming Hunter Biden.
***I'm being a bully.
***Hunter's addiction isn't his fault.
***If he has broken laws, the justice system will deal with it.
Here is the actual letter, in full:
Why can't you stop humiliating and ridiculing someone with a complex, chronic mental illness who has done nothing to you? Shaming an addict or alcoholic only makes the situation worse, as any informed person will tell you. (Of course the pro-life hypocrites would be delighted if they totally destroyed HB, to the point of suicide.)
A person who spends their time and energy shaming, ridiculing and further harming someone with a brain disorder is just as sick, if not sicker, than the recipient of their abuse. He is also a bully.
Since you apparently are not aware, these are some of the causes of addiction (in no particular order): genetic predisposition (inherited), trauma (including childhood trauma) and having another mental illness (dual diagnosis).
Is the purpose of this blog to advance enlightenment and understanding or ignorance and hate? Do no harm.
If HB is guilty of any actual crimes, the justice system can handle it. Also the IRS.
The comment gives me pause. I hear drug and alcohol addiction and its destructive behaviors referred to as a "disease." Many diseases appear to be a mix of lifestyle and luck. It would unquestionably be shameful bullying were I to draw negative attention to Hunter Biden if his affliction were Down Syndrome or ALS or Parkinson's Disease. Maybe it is wrong of me to perceive alcohol and drug addiction differently, but I do. I have written blog posts about COVID deaths largely being a pandemic of the unvaccinated. Their decision, their death. People make lifestyle choices.
A friend points out Lizzo me. I had not heard of her, but she is a big star, beloved by millions.
My friend disapproves of her and her message. Her song lyrics express body pride. She appears on stage in glamorous outfits. My friend says her message normalizes being dangerously obese, a dangerous message given the economics and marketing of food in the U.S. Healthy food is expensive. Unhealthy food is engineered to be deliciously sweet and fat, and it is cheap and ubiquitous. He says she is killing others, not just herself.
I defend Lizzo, saying her life, her body. It is her freedom of speech to sing about pride and be proud. Her audience has the freedom accept or reject it.
Lizzo is in the arena. She gets applause, she gets shamed. People talk about her. My sense is that Hunter Biden, too, is fair to talk about. Like her, Hunter has put himself in the arena.
Hunter Biden chose a career at the intersection of politics and influence, built around his connection to a powerful political figure. He is like Jared Kushner, Ivanka, Eric, and Don Junior in that way. I think the trauma of being children of Donald Trump may be equal or worse than the trauma Hunter has endured. Hunter had tragic deaths; the Trump's had a selfish, grandiose, narcissistic father in the tabloids divorcing their mother. The Biden and Trump children all have an excuse for falling into depression, addictions, or crime. Each of them chose to be in the arena, peddling influence. They exemplify cronyism. They are accountable for it, as are their fathers for condoning it and profiting from it.
My own sense is that Joe and Hunter Biden's corruption is small compared to the Trump family's very public grifting, but Biden isn't pure here. He did not distance himself from influence peddling. He is not Jimmy Carter. It is possible for a child of Trump or Biden to have been a private citizen, with a normal, private job. Hunter graduated from Yale Law School. He could have been a private attorney doing wills and trusts in Wilmington.
I don't condemn Hunter for being an addict. I condemn him for damaging his father. I also blame Joe Biden for loving his son too indulgently. Eighty million people trusted Joe Biden to be a president, and he weakened himself by enabling his son. I liken it to Bill Clinton's selfish and self-indulgent behavior with Monica Lewinsky. We trusted both Bill Clinton and Joe Biden to be good stewards of the position we gave them. Hunter Biden damages the prospects of policies that might have better addressed income inequality, the cost of higher education, childhood poverty, the re-industrializing of American jobs, and racial justice. Hunter makes it more likely that voters will re-elect Trump, because voters will see Biden and Trump as equally corrupt. Hunter isn't a private tragedy. He is hurting the people who would have benefited from a Democratic agenda.
18 comments:
Why don't you try educating yourself on the subject? Isn't that what intelligent and responsible people do before they open their mouths or write articles and blogs? Maybe you could start with the resources provided by your esteemed alma mater.
Hunter lost his mother and sister and then his brother. The savages on the right will not be satisfied until they totally crush the last child from Joe Biden's first marriage. Joe Biden actually loves his children (and it appears that he understands the disease of addiction), so that is how they hope to destroy Joe Biden, by killing off his last son. We already know how vile they are. This is another truly disgusting example.
What would Jesus think?
Thank you, anonymous.
I don't know about Jesus. But I know what Jimmy Carter would do. He would avoid the appearance of grifting and letting his love for an influence peddling relative damage people's respect for the integrity of the office.
Joe Biden has love and empathy for his son, Hunter. That makes him a good father, perhaps. Certainly a loving father. I want Joe Biden to be a good president, too, and if forced to make a choice, to be a better president than father. Hunter Biden's drag on his father will hurt tens of millions of poor children. They won't get the Child Tax Credit they might have gotten. A president asks people to put their lives on the line on behalf of America. To do their duty and put themselves in the line of enemy fire.
Meanwhile Joe let Hunter be no better than Trump lets his kids be. The net result is that American voters may bring back Trump. Joe cannot stop Hunter from self destructing but he could have made utterly clear that Hunter's influence peddling had no connection whatever to him. Alas, he didn't do that.
Peter Sage
P.S. Stop helping them.
"...equally corrupt..."
So far there are no compelling facts to condemn Joe Biden. It is necessary to disparage the FBI, and any other institution involved, including the press, in order to make a case against the Bidens. As such it's nothing more than rumor mongering, exaggeration and innuendo, all of which has zero value except to those who will profit from promoting it.
You are right, though, Hunter did chose to be where he is, and he was allowed to fall with all the collateral damage that ensued. It's hard to look away. Ugh...
Most of us have done things we regret. Poor lifestyle choices bring misery not only to those who indulge in them, but to those around them. That has certainly been the case with Hunter Biden. His poor judgment doesn’t need to be excused. On the other hand, it couldn’t be more obvious that Republicans are desperately trying to distort him into something far worse than he is to divert attention from their treasonous party leader, not because Hunter matters but because he’s Joe Biden’s son. Attacking someone by attacking his family is standard gangland practice.
From all that’s actually known after the years spent investigating him, it sounds like a grand jury might indict Hunter for tax fraud and lying on a gun application. All the right-wing hysteria over him has about as much credibility as “Pizzagate.” Far too much newsprint has already been wasted on him, but I’m afraid House Republicans are just getting started. As the mob likes to say, "It's not personal."
Anon @ 7:43's points about addiction generally have some merit, but the overall tone and application bespeaks familiar partisan sanctimony. There is indeed tension between the disease model of addiction, and longstanding societal tendencies to cast addiction as a failure of will and character.
That said, Hunty continued to display his true character long after by all accounts addressing his addiction and the Biden family tragedies. Bedding his brother's widow before leaving her for a stripper in one thing. Then he abandoned the stripper and had to be forced into court to assume basic financial support for the child of that union, even after paternity was established, while he resided in a $15K a month mansion in Los Angeles. Other than Hunty's court-ordered check, the noble Bidens still don't acknowledge the child's existence. These are sleaazy graspers, like the Trumps.
The point for me here is to note liberal hypocrisy on the Bidens after relentless smears and assumptions about the Trumps. It's a corrupt family of gladhanding puffery and cheap salesmanship in both caees. The often accurate justifications are in fact similar. Joe reacted to the death of his wife and child by defaming another family for decades, repeating dishonestly for maudlin effect to this day that they were victims of a drunk driver, when in fact the driver was sober and Mrs. Biden was in the wrong in causing the accident. Joe continues to puff that his son Beau died in wartime service in Iraq. Never mind his own countless self-aggrandizing "autobiographical" whoppers.
Likewise in political terms, "rumor-mongering, exaggeration and innuendo" capture nicely the entire three years of saturation "news" coverage and leftist moralizing over Trump's supposed complicity as a Russian/AlphaBank pawn. In that cae, the mere existence of reportage was enough to permit conclusory intoning. It also describes the specious but influential pre-election claims by proven intel liars like James Clapper (under oath: no Patriot Act metadata collected on American civilians) that Hunty's laptop was a Russian plant. Only uninformed or obstinate liberals today deny the original NY Post reporting on the laptop has been factually vindicated. It is more sourced than Russiagate.
"Rules for thee but not for me" used to be a primarily conservative failing. Not so much in recent years.
I suspect that Joe Bidens love for Hunter was strongly influenced by the tragic loss of the Presidents first wife and Hunters sister early on, and later the death of Beau, the elder (and favorite?) Son. I also yhink that Joe has never engaged with Al-Anon, which might have given him the necessary tools to establish boundaries in dealing with Hunter, and Hunters addictions.
I agree, Peter, Joe would, and should have learned much from Jimmy Carter about dealing with troubled relatives.
My sincere advice is to 1) stick to subjects that you know something about, 2) get a qualified guest blogger or 3) do some actual research using credible and reliable sources with up to date information First. Because dragging Lizzo into the conversation is not helping.
For some reason you have decided to rank order diseases, disorders, afflictions. Yes, some health problems are relatively minor. But substance use disorder is not one of them. That is why it is so important to do one's homework and get the FACTS.
So much judgment, misinformation and ignorance from "perfect people."
A few words about Lizzo, fat shaming and body image issues, which plague many women. Was Lizzo a big baby and a chubby child? Was she born into an obese family? Was she raised on a high fat, high calorie diet? Does she have an eating disorder? Has she had other health or family issues that have contributed to and complicated her situation? Has she been emotionally, physically or sexually abused? Plus the added stress of being a black female.
Answer: I do not know and it is none of my business.
Other problems: comparing mental illnesses with "physical" illnesses. Many sick and disabled people frequently run into a similar problem because some disabilities are "invisible."
The use of the term "lifestyle" reminds me of people who criticize the "gay lifestyle" and who still think that being LGBT is a lifestyle choice.
I am no expert on more recent pop music, but Lady Gaga has a song called, "Born This Way," about self-acceptance and self-love (not in the narcissistic sense). Maybe someday all of the perfect, judgey people will get the message and get over themselves.
This is the classic tension between empathy and personal responsibility. Jonathan Haidt lsys this out very clearly in his book, The Righteous Mind. Liberals tend to care much more about caring for people. Conservatives tend to care much more about personal responsibility. Both are valid concerns, the emphasis varies by individual orientation.
There is no way to prove which one is correct; they both are. Some people like chocolate ice cream; others like vanilla.
To "Anonymous"
1. I have published your comments verbatim. I am not resisting guest posts or comments from knowledgeable people. I consider you knowledgeable.
2. I have some experience with the addictive qualities of alcohol. I deal with it by not having drunk any of it since 1991, 32+ years.
3. I try to think clearly about branding, messaging, and politics, so that is the focus of my comments on Hunter Biden. I think Joe Biden's brand has been tarnished by his being implicated in Hunter Biden's money-making schemes to leverage his father's offices and power.
4. I feel sorry for Hunter Biden. I think he is, indeed, suffering from his addictions. Joe Biden can keep loving him, but he needs clearly and forcefully to communicate that his position and influence are not being put to the service of anyone, including Hunter. That isn't a comment on addiction. It is a comment on governance and influence-peddling.
5. I believe I am doing Democrats a favor. Democrats should not imagine they can ignore the Joe/Hunter connection. By averting our eyes they may have given Joe the impression this was a private matter and not something he had to deal with as a politician, only as a father. That has backfired. Hunter's influence peddling looks bad for Joe.
6. I would welcome guest posts from people talking about addiction, although the primary focus of this blog is politics, messaging, and branding. If someone considers him/her self expert, please send a guest post.
Mr. Dudgeon dismisses the points made by “anonymous” as partisan sanctimony and compares concern over Trump’s Russian connection to the prurient interest in Hunter’s depravity. It makes me wonder if he considers concern over the Republican Party leader’s coup attempt another example of “partisan sanctimony,” or agrees with Marjorie Taylor Greene, that Hunter’s behavior should be used as an excuse to impeach Biden.
An impeachable offense by Joe Biden would consist of having allowed Hunter Biden to sell actual influence on his father’s presidential actions. We don’t know whether that happened or not; that’s what investigations are for.
"Born That Way" is a largely obsolete and unhelpful concept even among latter-day pop-culture initiates, given the prominence these days of elective, interchangeable sexualities and other intimate identities.
Perhaps that's as it should be, in that otherwise Admiral Rachel Levine and Caitlyn Jenner. e.g. spent decades either lying to their wives and children, or lying to themselves, or else not being sure what was going on. With that backdrop, how would anyone know they have their heads screwed on, er, straight as of the most recent announcement. Maybe "Born (Again) That Way"?
It's an interesting transition to cast Lizzo, at least far as any problems she might have are concerned, as much more the product of nurture than nature, then to dismiss out of hand the same analysis when it comes to sexual minorities. Nonetheless, while I myself agree homosexuality is an operative identity as opposed to a "lifestyle", serial unprotected sex with strangers in bathhouses, public toilets and Grindr piles, proudly lionized by homosexuals especially, is indeed a lifestyle choice, and perniciously unhealthy one at that.
There’s an awful lot of false equivalence going on around here. First it’s Trump and Hunter Biden, as if they were in any way comparable. Now it’s eating disorders and unprotected sex in public toilets, with Lizzo being somehow equated with…Grindr piles? WTF.
I like Anonymous' suggestion of sticking to facts. Hunter's inappropriate behavior is a fact. Baseless Biden/Ukraine conspiracy theories, not so much.
Wow, that first sentence is a mouthful! "Born That Way" (released in 2011) may be "obsolete..." to you, but not to me. Maybe other readers will listen to the song this weekend and decide for themselves what they think about it. Some might even start dancing to it on the spot.
Taste in music is very personal, so there is no point arguing about it. But some folks love to argue about almost anything/ everything because, perhaps, they were "Born That Way."
Happy Listening!
Anon @2:34
Fine, but nonresponsive. If Caitlyn was Born That Way, why lie to loved ones? Or was she lying to herself? Was she more aptly Born (Again) That Way?
Sheesh! Whether it's nature or nurture, who cares about other people's sex life? Oh, that's right - those with none of their own.
Concession on the merits accepted.
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