The moment the Republicans have been waiting for has finally arrived: today, House Oversight Committee hearings will start their investigation into the shady business dealings of Hunter Biden. Though Republican leaders insist that their efforts will ultimately be focused on uncovering a connection to Joe Biden, claiming that the President is “chairman of the board” of an illicit Biden family enterprise, in practice, the hearings are meant to expose and publicise the sins of the son as a means of damaging the father, and hurting his re-election chances in 2024.
As former Trump chief strategist Steven Bannon said, “I don’t care about Hunter’s feelings. This is war.” Hunter is treating it as such and has been preparing a legal counteroffensive in the form of his own threats of prosecution and defamation lawsuits against prominent conservatives. With these opening moves, the battle lines of the 118th Congress have been set, and Americans can expect to hear more and more about Hunter and his laptop (and all its tawdry contents) in the months ahead. Whatever else Joe Biden hopes to accomplish in the second half of his term, his administration will now be weighed down by the need to fight a daily rearguard battle against a Republican House determined to illustrate just how far his second son has fallen from grace.
Occasions like this may help to remind Americans of how their forebears came to found a government rooted, at least in theory, in a rejection of monarchical and aristocratic principles. Members of the founding generation apparently even rejoiced that the father of the nation, George Washington, could not father any children of his own. Many, including Washington himself, saw his infertility as a providential blessing on America’s republican experiment, lest the general’s heirs form the basis of a new kingly dynasty or, more likely, trade in the prestige of the Washington name for personal profit. Which is precisely the charge that today’s Republicans have levelled against the Bidens and the Clintons, and what Democrats have, in turn, accused the Trump children and in-laws of doing.
What Tolstoy wrote about unhappy families rings truer still for political families. Though patricians and political dynasties are — despite its professed ideals — as old as America itself, no one among them has yet written a manual for how to manage the merciless pressures of public life, which inevitably strain the bonds that are supposed to hold families together as well as keep them grounded. Furthermore, the often grossly uneven distribution of talent within such dynasties (which may produce an abundance of leadership traits in one child and a total absence of them in another) leads to expectations that are impossible to fulfil and throws the inadequacies of the "failson" into even starker relief. Indeed, the term “failson” may be a recent coinage, but the archetype it describes — “an incompetent, unsuccessful middle-class or upper-class man who is protected from… duress by his family's wealth or influence” — is an all too familiar sight in the annals of American politics. Hunter Biden may be its ultimate Platonic form but presidential history furnishes plenty of examples of this dynamic.
Theodore Roosevelt had to deal with the alcoholic excesses of brother Elliott (father of Eleanor), whom he called "a maniac, morally [and] mentally” before his untimely death; the Kennedys had one fabled generation with Jack, Bobby, and Ted, only for Camelot to be inherited by a largely mediocre and often no less controversy-prone successor generation. Among George H.W. Bush’s sons, it was widely assumed that Jeb would take the mantle of leadership while eldest George W. was “the family clown” who threatened to disgrace the Bush name with beer-fuelled antics (to his credit, George W. overcame his alcoholism, became the 43rd president, and managed to disgrace the Bush name while sober). Donald Nixon, Billy Carter, and the Rodham brothers, all with their own questionable business ventures, can similarly stake a claim to being their family’s designated failsons.
[su_unherd_related fttitle="More from this author" author="Michael Cuenco "]https://staging.unherd.com/2023/01/is-george-santos-a-machiavellian-prince/[/su_unherd_related]
But perhaps the most poignant historical parallel to the current president’s dilemma vis-à-vis his deeply troubled son can be found in Joe Biden’s predecessor as both vice president and president, John Adams. Like Biden, Adams had one son who excelled in all the virtues of statesmanship, John Quincy, and another who utterly failed in the race of life, Charles. While the former went on to succeed his father as president and became a political titan in his own right, the latter, a rakish drunkard and philanderer, was disowned by President Adams (a dramatic rendition was performed to heartbreaking effect by Paul Giamatti in the 2008 HBO miniseries John Adams). Charles Adams died a broken man not long after.
In the case of the Bidens, the part of the natural leader belonged to Joe’s firstborn, the late Beau Biden, who was said to have had all the father’s virtues and none of the flaws, very much the John Quincy to Hunter’s Charles Adams. The contrast between the two could not be clearer: when Hunter flailed in business, sunk into addiction, and began to meet with foreign oligarchs (around the time Joe Biden became vice president), Beau built a profile in Delaware as Attorney General, served in the Iraq war, and was considering a 2016 run for governor just as he was felled by cancer in 2015. He died aged 46.
This was the crowning tragedy in the life of a political family defined by the concurrence of tragedy and triumph. Four decades previously, in 1972, Beau and Hunter survived a car crash that killed Joe’s first wife Neilia and their infant daughter; the accident took place just weeks before the beginning of Joe Biden’s first term as senator. When Beau died, the path opened for Joe to run for president for a third time and win, although the ex-vice president always felt that he was a placeholder for his dead son: the day before his own inauguration, Joe reportedly said: “We should be introducing him as president”.
[su_unherd_related fttitle="Suggested reading " author="Ruy Teixeira "]https://staging.unherd.com/2023/01/joe-bidens-false-optimism/[/su_unherd_related]
Beau had also been a caring and attentive brother to Hunter who made sure he stayed on the wagon and attended Alcoholics Anonymous. Beau’s death only accelerated Hunter’s decline. His involvement with Ukrainian and Chinese energy firms and various tax troubles, for which he is under investigation by a US attorney, as well as the more lurid accounts of his drug and alcohol addictions have been reported on extensively and need not be repeated here. Twitter’s rash decision to censor the New York Post report about “Hunter’s laptop” (which, like “Hillary’s emails”, is now a rallying cry for Republicans) in the middle of the 2020 election campaign turned what could have just been a personally embarrassing story into a far more politically compromising affair. The tragic lot of Hunter Biden, especially in the shadow of his brother’s death, was given expression by Hunter himself when he said to a friend after having just purchased a new .38 handgun, “I know you all think the wrong brother died.” Unlike the Adams’s family, it was the future president who perished and the failson who lived.
Republicans have yet to prove that Joe Biden had any complicity in the suspicious business activities of his son. It is more likely the case that, rather than being the “chairman of the board” and mastermind of a criminal outfit, as the Republican narrative holds, the President’s pitfall, if it can be called that, is in being too doting a father to his delinquent son. There is not enough of the stern Puritanism of John Adams or the cold Victorianism of Theodore Roosevelt in Joe Biden for him to be able to say to his flesh and blood what Adams said to his: “I renounce you.” The excerpt of a call released last year in which Joe Biden offered some tender words of support to his son (which was mocked on conservative media) was simply what any loving American parent (who didn’t subscribe to John Adams’s colonial-era social values) would say to a child, no matter how far lost or broken.
[su_unherd_related fttitle="More from this author" author="Michael Cuenco "]https://staging.unherd.com/2022/12/biden-can-win-on-immigration/[/su_unherd_related]
Do the unwholesome actions and overpriced artworks of Hunter Biden warrant the attention and scrutiny of the press and — where evidence for potential criminal wrongdoing exists — of the relevant authorities? Absolutely. Should the House of Representatives (as all the evidence indicates is the plan) now spend the bulk of its political energies over the next two years on revisiting every sordid twist and turn of the Hunter Biden story before the American public? Absolutely not.
If Republicans were smart, they would know to focus their fire on the President’s policy record, not the human frailties that afflict his already scarred family. A discerning opposition would know how to separate the personal from the properly political, the petty issues from the truly meaningful ones, and this goes for Democrats obsessed with Trump’s tax returns just as much as for any Republican. While the instinct to remain vigilant against corruption is a sound one, taken too far, it can devolve into desperate conspiratorial scandalmongering.
Keeping the focus of politics on actual issues around the functioning of government, instead of on such personality-driven tabloid stories at least helps to make sure that the American people are well-served at an everyday institutional level by their elite, whatever their personal failings or vulnerabilities. For in spite of what Americans have been telling themselves since 1776, “the iron law of oligarchy” ensures that all societies must have an elite composed of elite families, whether it be the Adamses, the Clintons, the Trumps, or the Bidens. And if the country is to have a ruling class, at least make them rule well. Failsons and all.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
Subscribe“Republican leaders insist that their efforts will ultimately be focused on uncovering a connection to Joe Biden, claiming that the President is “chairman of the board” of an illicit Biden family enterprise, in practice, the hearings are meant to expose and publicise the sins of the son as a means of damaging the father, and hurting his re-election chances in 2024.” I disagree with this. The intentions are clear indeed but that does not make it less true that Joe was indeed chairman of the board. Later in the article the author suggests Joe has little involvement himself. This is proven untrue; he has been shown to have authorised various payments and mostly, received many payments from the dodgy deals. Emails have been discovered discussing them. Let’s not discard Joe as an innocent grandpa with a troubled son. He is a grandpa. He is old. He is not innocent. He is a crook and age nor unfortunate druggy sons don’t put him in the clear.
I think this article gives way too much credit to sleepy Joe. This man was a mediocre college student and immediately became a second rate grifter in politics, nothing else. No major legislation or ideas. He did not accomplish anything else in life outside being re-elected and using his name as such for 50 years.
It’s true that “Republicans have yet to prove that Joe Biden had any complicity in the suspicious business activities of his son.” But its only early February. And after 6 years of the drumbeat, the same can be said about Russian collusion and countless other diversions under Trump’s entirety of 4 years in politics!
“Republicans have yet to prove that Joe Biden had any complicity in the suspicious business activities of his son.”
The evidence is as conclusive as that the earth circles the sun – but the Biden Inquisition organization has all the MSM and Social Media, and ‘Justice’ system, and all the ‘Security’ State in its thrall – so like Galileo, the truth is kept locked up, and the ones saying truth are punished.
The evidence is conclusive that Biden is a criminal, and head of a crime family – it is just not allowed to discuss – his crime family is so powerful the Omerta is almost absolute.
“Republicans have yet to prove that Joe Biden had any complicity in the suspicious business activities of his son.”
The evidence is as conclusive as that the earth circles the sun – but the Biden Inquisition organization has all the MSM and Social Media, and ‘Justice’ system, and all the ‘Security’ State in its thrall – so like Galileo, the truth is kept locked up, and the ones saying truth are punished.
The evidence is conclusive that Biden is a criminal, and head of a crime family – it is just not allowed to discuss – his crime family is so powerful the Omerta is almost absolute.
This article is 99% Biden apologia….I guess Unherd thinks this is just giving all sides a place – but including propaganda for the evil Biden Crime Family is maybe a case of why sticking to the news on this is better than opinion essays disguised as information.
I also copied:
”in practice, the hearings are meant to expose and publicise the sins of the son as a means of damaging the father,”
Which is both 100% wrong from what I believe and know – but is also pure conjecture ( a lie) stated as fact. The whole article continues like this – utter drivel.
Haha, just think how this political swamper would have written this article if the name on the laptop had been ‘Don Jr’ instead of Hunter.
I think this article gives way too much credit to sleepy Joe. This man was a mediocre college student and immediately became a second rate grifter in politics, nothing else. No major legislation or ideas. He did not accomplish anything else in life outside being re-elected and using his name as such for 50 years.
It’s true that “Republicans have yet to prove that Joe Biden had any complicity in the suspicious business activities of his son.” But its only early February. And after 6 years of the drumbeat, the same can be said about Russian collusion and countless other diversions under Trump’s entirety of 4 years in politics!
This article is 99% Biden apologia….I guess Unherd thinks this is just giving all sides a place – but including propaganda for the evil Biden Crime Family is maybe a case of why sticking to the news on this is better than opinion essays disguised as information.
I also copied:
”in practice, the hearings are meant to expose and publicise the sins of the son as a means of damaging the father,”
Which is both 100% wrong from what I believe and know – but is also pure conjecture ( a lie) stated as fact. The whole article continues like this – utter drivel.
Haha, just think how this political swamper would have written this article if the name on the laptop had been ‘Don Jr’ instead of Hunter.
“Republican leaders insist that their efforts will ultimately be focused on uncovering a connection to Joe Biden, claiming that the President is “chairman of the board” of an illicit Biden family enterprise, in practice, the hearings are meant to expose and publicise the sins of the son as a means of damaging the father, and hurting his re-election chances in 2024.” I disagree with this. The intentions are clear indeed but that does not make it less true that Joe was indeed chairman of the board. Later in the article the author suggests Joe has little involvement himself. This is proven untrue; he has been shown to have authorised various payments and mostly, received many payments from the dodgy deals. Emails have been discovered discussing them. Let’s not discard Joe as an innocent grandpa with a troubled son. He is a grandpa. He is old. He is not innocent. He is a crook and age nor unfortunate druggy sons don’t put him in the clear.
It is possible to focus on Biden’s terrible legislative record and on the political corruption of his son as well.
The American political system is one of the most corrupt of all western democracies. And they’re all guilty – Democrats and Republicans.
It seems like the only things the two parties can agree on is their unwillingness to impose campaign spending limits, or restrict themselves from making stock trades with insider knowledge.
Despite this, the Biden family has managed to take corruption to a whole new level. The crack addict son was getting paid $1 mill a year from a Ukrainian gas company and here we are funneling massive amounts of money into the Ukrainian war effort. On top of this, there is strong circumstantial evidence that the FBI, CIA and DOJ were actively trying to cover up this corruption.
If Trump’s son in law is peddling his influence to the Saudis, that should be investigated too. Investigate and expose all of this corruption. Don’t turn a blind eye to any of it.
The Republicans are focused on Joe Biden’s corrupt gains from the Hunter “Business” deals, and are not trying to merely embarrass Biden for the shenanigans of his corrupt Son.
The article is a mere whitewash for Joe “the Big Guy” Biden. There is plenty of evidence that Joe is the “big Guy” who was to receive the 10% – especially by direct confirmation by Hunter’s Business partner, who was involved with and copied on several of the emails.
The Republicans are focused on Joe Biden’s corrupt gains from the Hunter “Business” deals, and are not trying to merely embarrass Biden for the shenanigans of his corrupt Son.
The article is a mere whitewash for Joe “the Big Guy” Biden. There is plenty of evidence that Joe is the “big Guy” who was to receive the 10% – especially by direct confirmation by Hunter’s Business partner, who was involved with and copied on several of the emails.
It is possible to focus on Biden’s terrible legislative record and on the political corruption of his son as well.
The American political system is one of the most corrupt of all western democracies. And they’re all guilty – Democrats and Republicans.
It seems like the only things the two parties can agree on is their unwillingness to impose campaign spending limits, or restrict themselves from making stock trades with insider knowledge.
Despite this, the Biden family has managed to take corruption to a whole new level. The crack addict son was getting paid $1 mill a year from a Ukrainian gas company and here we are funneling massive amounts of money into the Ukrainian war effort. On top of this, there is strong circumstantial evidence that the FBI, CIA and DOJ were actively trying to cover up this corruption.
If Trump’s son in law is peddling his influence to the Saudis, that should be investigated too. Investigate and expose all of this corruption. Don’t turn a blind eye to any of it.
I honestly feel for Hunter Biden. The guy is a massive self-destructive screw up with enough self-awareness to know he is but not enough willpower or common sense to get him out of the spiral. Thing is, I have absolutely no sympathy for Joe. See the problem with Joe Biden is he has made a political career of bringing down the legislative hammer on those who have made similar terrible life choices to his son. The ’94 Crime Bill, getting stiffer sentencing for crack cocaine over powdered cocaine, and helping his son out of the gun issue are just a few examples that come to mind. I get Joe loves his son, but you cannot go crusading against things you overlook your family for doing.
I have zero sympathy for Hunter. He was born to wealth and privilege and has been granted opportunities others can only dream of. I get it for a 20-year-old kid to make poor decisions, but he’s been doing this his entire adult life. And now we hear about the depraved way he treated his staff. It’s gross and creepy and narcissistic.
Once the downward spiral starts it doesn’t seem to matter what life benefits you were born with.
Oh, yes it does! The best attorney and a sympathetic media is certainly a life benefit of the powerful today.
Oh, yes it does! The best attorney and a sympathetic media is certainly a life benefit of the powerful today.
Once the downward spiral starts it doesn’t seem to matter what life benefits you were born with.
The author of the article was apparently successful in turning the focus away from Joe’s corruption (accepting “something of value” for political influence). The association with John Adams and Theadore Roosevelt is hilarious.
You’re funny. Apparently commenting on the other failings of the Biden family means I’m completely ignoring their long history of influence peddling.
You’re funny. Apparently commenting on the other failings of the Biden family means I’m completely ignoring their long history of influence peddling.
I have zero sympathy for Hunter. He was born to wealth and privilege and has been granted opportunities others can only dream of. I get it for a 20-year-old kid to make poor decisions, but he’s been doing this his entire adult life. And now we hear about the depraved way he treated his staff. It’s gross and creepy and narcissistic.
The author of the article was apparently successful in turning the focus away from Joe’s corruption (accepting “something of value” for political influence). The association with John Adams and Theadore Roosevelt is hilarious.
I honestly feel for Hunter Biden. The guy is a massive self-destructive screw up with enough self-awareness to know he is but not enough willpower or common sense to get him out of the spiral. Thing is, I have absolutely no sympathy for Joe. See the problem with Joe Biden is he has made a political career of bringing down the legislative hammer on those who have made similar terrible life choices to his son. The ’94 Crime Bill, getting stiffer sentencing for crack cocaine over powdered cocaine, and helping his son out of the gun issue are just a few examples that come to mind. I get Joe loves his son, but you cannot go crusading against things you overlook your family for doing.
When Edward the Third at the Battle of Crecy was told his one, the Black Prince was surrounded and fightng for his life he said “Let him earn his spurs “. Spurs were recived on being knighted. The Black Prince was sixteen years old.
Midshipmen went to sea at the age of twelve( Horatio Nelson) and were expected to lead boarding parties.
What we see is the creation of an affluent effete venal ineffectual oligarchal plutocracy. As Zeus said mortals will need gods as long as they cowardly, venal and lazy.
The business of America is business and it would appear people do not care how it is conducted.
The main thing I like about the UK Royals, or upper classes, is that they are seldom afraid to step up to the plate, or have their children do so (even if sometimes constrained), shoulder to shoulder with the lowest soldier in their army. Something few politicians, or celebrities, seem willing to inculcate in their offspring.
Probably because as Samuel Johnson so perfectly put it:“Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea”.
In Britain there is a difference in wealth. Where it comes from land with a strong tradition of naval and military service there is a tradition of service. A landowner who shows cowardice is shamed. The actions of a single child may cast shame over hundreds of years of dutiful brave service.
Mercantile wealth is not shamed by cowardice or criminality. Prohibition( 1920- 1933) created massive wealth for criminals. How many Americans who aquired wealth in the 1920s and 1930s are tarnished by it ?
Is the discussion promoted by Democrats over reparations for slavery a diversion to stop examination of money made by criminal activity during Prohibition?
“How many Americans who aquired wealth in the 1920s and 1930s are tarnished by it?”
The Kennedy Clan for starters.
YES! The start of the Kennedys was Mafioso in the Prohibition – then the legit Patriarch, JFK.s Father was Ambassador to England in the 1930s and was totally on Germany’s side – he hated British and Loved Na* ies! Set the USA UK sides way apart. An EVIL Man.
This Lefty-Liberal writer forgets to mention Bobby Kennedy Jr (son of the assassinated one) and his incredible work in Children’s Health! The family is more of benefit to humanity now than it was in the past. Look on Netflix for ‘The Real Anthony Fauci” a Best seller on the horrors of the Covid response, the mass murders Fauci committed as head ot AIDs, and the dangers of so much Pharma Corruption. – the EVIL at the heart of the Bio-Pharma industry and the political capture. Bobby Jr is a hero and a great man. Naturally writers like above discredit him as they are pro vax zombies as part of their Democrat creed.
YES! The start of the Kennedys was Mafioso in the Prohibition – then the legit Patriarch, JFK.s Father was Ambassador to England in the 1930s and was totally on Germany’s side – he hated British and Loved Na* ies! Set the USA UK sides way apart. An EVIL Man.
This Lefty-Liberal writer forgets to mention Bobby Kennedy Jr (son of the assassinated one) and his incredible work in Children’s Health! The family is more of benefit to humanity now than it was in the past. Look on Netflix for ‘The Real Anthony Fauci” a Best seller on the horrors of the Covid response, the mass murders Fauci committed as head ot AIDs, and the dangers of so much Pharma Corruption. – the EVIL at the heart of the Bio-Pharma industry and the political capture. Bobby Jr is a hero and a great man. Naturally writers like above discredit him as they are pro vax zombies as part of their Democrat creed.
Yeah they just hung starving people for poaching rabbits instead, having stolen the land from their ancestors many centuries earlier….as for today’s landed elites, they’re just as likely to hail from the Middle East or Russia as they are from Britain – see for instance the Fairlawne estate near Sevenoaks – don’t think the crown Prince cares much for ‘service’….
I suggest you read Arthur Bryant and GM Trevelyan. Archers were well paid , up to six times labourers wages and were volunteers, everyone could raise sheep and sell wool and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries extensive poor laws were enacted, overseen by the Privy Council and run by Jutices of the Peace.
Compare condition to other countries in Europe, especially the Peasants Revolt of 1381 and the Jaquerie Revolt of 1358 in France.
Historically people of all classes were able to eat far more meat in Britain than elsewhere in Europe, s sign of properity.
I suggest you read Arthur Bryant and GM Trevelyan. Archers were well paid , up to six times labourers wages and were volunteers, everyone could raise sheep and sell wool and after the Dissolution of the Monasteries extensive poor laws were enacted, overseen by the Privy Council and run by Jutices of the Peace.
Compare condition to other countries in Europe, especially the Peasants Revolt of 1381 and the Jaquerie Revolt of 1358 in France.
Historically people of all classes were able to eat far more meat in Britain than elsewhere in Europe, s sign of properity.
“How many Americans who aquired wealth in the 1920s and 1930s are tarnished by it?”
The Kennedy Clan for starters.
Yeah they just hung starving people for poaching rabbits instead, having stolen the land from their ancestors many centuries earlier….as for today’s landed elites, they’re just as likely to hail from the Middle East or Russia as they are from Britain – see for instance the Fairlawne estate near Sevenoaks – don’t think the crown Prince cares much for ‘service’….
Probably because as Samuel Johnson so perfectly put it:“Every man thinks meanly of himself for not having been a soldier, or not having been at sea”.
In Britain there is a difference in wealth. Where it comes from land with a strong tradition of naval and military service there is a tradition of service. A landowner who shows cowardice is shamed. The actions of a single child may cast shame over hundreds of years of dutiful brave service.
Mercantile wealth is not shamed by cowardice or criminality. Prohibition( 1920- 1933) created massive wealth for criminals. How many Americans who aquired wealth in the 1920s and 1930s are tarnished by it ?
Is the discussion promoted by Democrats over reparations for slavery a diversion to stop examination of money made by criminal activity during Prohibition?
The main thing I like about the UK Royals, or upper classes, is that they are seldom afraid to step up to the plate, or have their children do so (even if sometimes constrained), shoulder to shoulder with the lowest soldier in their army. Something few politicians, or celebrities, seem willing to inculcate in their offspring.
When Edward the Third at the Battle of Crecy was told his one, the Black Prince was surrounded and fightng for his life he said “Let him earn his spurs “. Spurs were recived on being knighted. The Black Prince was sixteen years old.
Midshipmen went to sea at the age of twelve( Horatio Nelson) and were expected to lead boarding parties.
What we see is the creation of an affluent effete venal ineffectual oligarchal plutocracy. As Zeus said mortals will need gods as long as they cowardly, venal and lazy.
The business of America is business and it would appear people do not care how it is conducted.
Hunter Biden was his father’s proxy. China and Ukraine funneled money to Joe Biden for years. A president who is doing the bidding of a hostile foreign government for cash is a criminal danger to the nation. That is the issue. No one outside his twisted family gives two sh*ts about Hunter Biden.
FINALLY someone is focusing on this. It’s Joe’s corruption we are focused on, not some derelict coke addict.
FINALLY someone is focusing on this. It’s Joe’s corruption we are focused on, not some derelict coke addict.
Hunter Biden was his father’s proxy. China and Ukraine funneled money to Joe Biden for years. A president who is doing the bidding of a hostile foreign government for cash is a criminal danger to the nation. That is the issue. No one outside his twisted family gives two sh*ts about Hunter Biden.
This article adds to the false hagiography of Beau Biden. He had a debilitating stroke several years before his death from which he never recovered. He was medically unable to act as attorney general and his stand in was involved in a sordid assignation with a 16 year old male prostitute. The plan was to stick Delaware with a completely incapable governor based on the Biden name, while covering up how bad the stroke was. It’s a small state but still deserves something better than that. Of course if the White House can be Joe’s nursing home why not?
As we say in England:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4uivPpzCGo
As we say in England:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4uivPpzCGo
This article adds to the false hagiography of Beau Biden. He had a debilitating stroke several years before his death from which he never recovered. He was medically unable to act as attorney general and his stand in was involved in a sordid assignation with a 16 year old male prostitute. The plan was to stick Delaware with a completely incapable governor based on the Biden name, while covering up how bad the stroke was. It’s a small state but still deserves something better than that. Of course if the White House can be Joe’s nursing home why not?
“America’s elites have a habit of breeding tragic heirs”It can happen to British Royals too. Something to do with your sense of entitlement being frustated.
Regarding British royals, please remember that no DNA test ever proved the ascendance of Mr Markle.
Regarding British royals, please remember that no DNA test ever proved the ascendance of Mr Markle.
“America’s elites have a habit of breeding tragic heirs”It can happen to British Royals too. Something to do with your sense of entitlement being frustated.
This is undoubtedly a fine assertion. But arguments about policy are too refined when politics have become highly polarised and personal attacks more satisfying. If you accept that ‘elites’ come and go over a number of decades then perhaps the old guard (Republican and Democrat) is on the way out and we are currently seeing the vendetta phase of the breakdown.
How can Republicans focus on policy when the MSM omits anything negative and only repeats the administration’s wildly positive and completely disengenuous talking points?
This guy is 100% a proof of journalist ‘Capture’ by the Democrat Swamp.
This article is a parody of the truth.
This guy is 100% a proof of journalist ‘Capture’ by the Democrat Swamp.
This article is a parody of the truth.
How can Republicans focus on policy when the MSM omits anything negative and only repeats the administration’s wildly positive and completely disengenuous talking points?
This is undoubtedly a fine assertion. But arguments about policy are too refined when politics have become highly polarised and personal attacks more satisfying. If you accept that ‘elites’ come and go over a number of decades then perhaps the old guard (Republican and Democrat) is on the way out and we are currently seeing the vendetta phase of the breakdown.
Hunter, ponce of no-mark.
Hunter, ponce of no-mark.
“Among George H.W. Bush’s sons, it was widely assumed that Jeb would take the mantle of leadership while eldest George W. was “the family clown” who threatened to disgrace the Bush name with beer-fuelled antics (to his credit, George W. overcame his alcoholism, became the 43rd president, and managed to disgrace the Bush name while sober)”
Wonderful. The best sentence I have ever read on Unherd.
“Among George H.W. Bush’s sons, it was widely assumed that Jeb would take the mantle of leadership while eldest George W. was “the family clown” who threatened to disgrace the Bush name with beer-fuelled antics (to his credit, George W. overcame his alcoholism, became the 43rd president, and managed to disgrace the Bush name while sober)”
Wonderful. The best sentence I have ever read on Unherd.
“And if the country is to have a ruling class, at least make them rule well. Failsons and all.”
Monarchists understand that, and make it official. The smart move tho is that the inherited title comes with ceremonial duties but no real power. Thus William will inherit the Crown, but not the government whereas, say, Boris Johnson obtained the PM’s title by virtue of … by virtue of … what was I saying?
“And if the country is to have a ruling class, at least make them rule well. Failsons and all.”
Monarchists understand that, and make it official. The smart move tho is that the inherited title comes with ceremonial duties but no real power. Thus William will inherit the Crown, but not the government whereas, say, Boris Johnson obtained the PM’s title by virtue of … by virtue of … what was I saying?
Of course this never happens in the UK. There has never been a widely respected Monarch who has had a son who, say, is a close friend of a convicted paedophile.
And not a high window in sight when you need one (or two?).
And not a high window in sight when you need one (or two?).
Of course this never happens in the UK. There has never been a widely respected Monarch who has had a son who, say, is a close friend of a convicted paedophile.
It may be personal only. But then again, it may be much more. Hunter traded on his father’s name, and reports are that he promised access to those Ukrainians who gave Hunter millions for doing nothing. What else did Hunter, and or Joe, get? That’s why it should be investigated.
For those who say “there’s no proof…” I would say, yes. Now there is no proof. But the absence of proof is not evidence of absence. It may be waiting to be discovered.
Biden has made colossal mistakes as president, and has punished this nation in a variety of ways. Schadenfreude, here we come.
It may be personal only. But then again, it may be much more. Hunter traded on his father’s name, and reports are that he promised access to those Ukrainians who gave Hunter millions for doing nothing. What else did Hunter, and or Joe, get? That’s why it should be investigated.
For those who say “there’s no proof…” I would say, yes. Now there is no proof. But the absence of proof is not evidence of absence. It may be waiting to be discovered.
Biden has made colossal mistakes as president, and has punished this nation in a variety of ways. Schadenfreude, here we come.
I suspect the ‘iron law of oligarchy’ carries with it a haunting corollary. For kicks let’s call it ‘Reality’.
And the reality here, there, and pretty much everywhere is that the elite who climb, rise, grab that gold ring, achieve that mountain top — blessed with a winning combination of hard work, brilliance, charisma, and more than their fair share of luck — find themselves inevitably averaged out by their children. If not in the first generation then most definitely the second….with darned few exceptions. A kind of familial regression to the mean.
The Voting Public, those who sort-of read the Times, the Post, and scan People in the doctor’s waiting room, much prefer the Family Dynasty, no question. Makes everything simpler, requires less thought, and no ability to discriminate good policy from bad. Heck you just vote Kennedy….vote Bush….vote Clinton….vote Barack. And if you can’t get Big B. back for a 3rd term (darn it!), you sell his slyly smiling wife with her ‘menopausal thighs’. Dynasty is cool, man — wonder if she’ll shoot hoops with the Secret Service??
But of course to make that work you’ve got to avoid Chappaquiddick Teddy, Brother Billy, Don Jr., Crooked Hillary, etc. You’ve also got to studiously dodge any semblance of entitlement (easier to do than say, as Hillary is still learning).
Inevitably you can’t. Mediocrity will have its day. More, the hunger for the Iron Throne that Daddy had will itself inevitably fade. The Prince (or the Grandson Prince or Princess) doesn’t want to rule; is not interested. They spent their childhood, such as it was, surrounded by superficialities and toadies, the fawning media lackeys that followed their family everywhere and they’re sick of it. Good for them.
Perhaps, for awhile, they play in that pool. (Let’s talk with Harry & Meghan). Top of the Heap John Barrymore’s grand-daughter has her own talk show. Clint Eastwood’s doppleganger of a son, Scott is making the rounds of B-Movies (we’ll see what happens). And Hunter is busy writing the story of ‘Dad Loved the Other One Best’. But I don’t think anyone expects to see Jenna, or Chelsea anymore than we expected to see Julie, or Tricia, or any of the Eisenhowers.
So no, dynastic rule is not really America. We like it when it shows-up in People, but otherwise we tire of it quickly (as we do with most fashionable things) and move on to whatever is shinier. Something always is.
Medieval historians discovered the same thing about European kings.
The heir of an successful ruler is almost never as good.