I had some harsh words for Team Biden yesterday morning for its namby-pamby reaction to Trump’s smears, so for the sake of fairness, here’s a much better (IMO) response from Biden himself at an Iowa news conference yesterday afternoon:
Former Vice President Joe Biden today said if he’s elected president, he will build on what he called “the squeaky clean…environment” of the Obama White House and have a policy for his family’s work that’s different than President Trump’s.
“No one in my family will have an office in the White House, will sit in on meetings as if they’re a cabinet, will in fact have any a business relationship with anyone that relates to a foreign corporation or to a foreign country,” Biden said.
Not sure how it will work to regulate family members’ working relationships with all foreign entities, but kudos to Biden for drawing a clear contrast with the corrupt and nepotistic Trumps, which is necessary for every Democrat. Team Biden also published a page on the campaign website this morning that says “Trump has presided over the most corrupt administration in modern history” and lists proposals on how to “restore faith in American government.” Good for them.
During the news conference in Iowa, Biden reiterated that there’s no proof his son did anything wrong and asked listeners to consider the source:
“Everybody knows he’s a liar — the president — I mean, for real,” Biden told Radio Iowa. “…I’m the reason he’s being impeached. He’s indicted himself by calling in foreign powers to try to impact the election.”
True enough. Biden also said Trump’s accusations haven’t had a negative impact on his campaign, which appears to be true so far, at least as measured by Biden’s polling numbers, which haven’t budged. But as we know, Trump’s M.O. is to slime opponents repeatedly, not to make himself look better, but to break down any distinctions at all. The jury is out on how effective that tactic could be long term.
Biden also said if he’s elected, he wouldn’t pardon Trump:
“It wouldn’t unite the country,” Biden said. “You’d say: ‘Wait a minute. I get a parking ticket and I’ve got to pay it. This happens to me and I’ve got to go to jail. This guy does all these things that put us jeopardy and he gets off? I think this is of a different nature. And I think President Ford, God love him he’s a good guy, I knew him pretty well, I think if he had to do it over again he wouldn’t have done it…because he didn’t get re-elected.”
Ford-Nixon is an apples-to-oranges comparison since they were both of the same party, and pardoning Nixon was part of the deal to make Ford VP, wasn’t it? But the first part of Biden’s remarks on the topic were spot-on — I think people really are sick of the rich and powerful skating while regular people who commit lesser offenses are nailed to the wall.
I think people are sick of the lack of accountability and rigged systems across the board. It’s always been true that there are two justice systems, etc., one for the rich and powerful, and one for you and me. But egregious examples of this inequality seem to be rampant in the Trump era, and it’s a trend the Trumps exemplify in every respect.
Examples include creeps like Jeffrey Epstein, Matt Lauer, Bill O’Reilly, Les Moonves, Harvey Weinstein using their money and prestige to cover up abusive and/or criminal behavior. It’s undocumented immigrant veterans separated from their families and deported while sketchy “Einstein visa” recipient Melania Trump uses the “chain migration” her husband rants about to get citizenship for her parents.
It’s those idiot Hollywood parents rigging college admissions in favor of their already wildly privileged offspring. It’s poor people going to jail over unpaid parking fines while mega-donor wingnut Robert Mercer remains free to purchases politicians who make tax policy despite his company owing $7 billion in back taxes.
I don’t know that Joe Biden would have selected fighting government corruption as a central campaign theme had it not been thrust on him by Trump’s baseless accusations against his son. But since there’s a good chance he’ll be our standard bearer in 2020, I’m glad he’s putting a marker down on the issue now. I think it’s a winning issue for Democrats, regardless of nominee.
waspuppet
Trump is like one of those “precocious,” “clever” kids I knew in fifth grade who learned about the Electoral College from their parents and came in smirking “You know this country isn’t a democracy, right?” Or they learned about Vietnam and smirked “Well we’re not any better than the Russians you know.”
Of course this country often doesn’t live up to its ideals; it’s only the weaklings who think that means we shouldn’t have them.
And it’s important to know that, like my former fifth-grade classmates, this attitude isn’t rooted in anything deeper than thinking “I am SO COOL and SO SMART.” Something to keep in mind when considering whether there’s any point trying to deal with them.
Dorothy A. Winsor
I blogged about using slang or terms based on names (frex, Adam’s apple) in a traditional fantasy.
And in what is probably TMI, I’m having a colonoscopy in the morning. As anyone who’s had one knows, it’s the evening before when the feces hits the fan, so to speak. So I’ll leave you all to it for a while.
MattF
Old Joe’s not my favorite, but I’d be happy to vote for him. Particularly if he succeeds at finding a theme and sticking to it. Warren has shown that she can learn new skills— I think that’s the crucial point. If Biden can do it, then good for him.
NotMax
Not being re-elected* being the primary reason the pardoning of Nixon was wrong?
Hang it up, Joe.
*Ford, it ought be pointed out, was not running for re-election, never having been elected either VP or P.
Parfigliano
No more of the for the good of the country we must look forward crap. They all must be prosecuted for the good of the country.
debbie
“I’m the reason he’s being impeached.”
Huh?
debbie
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
Good luck!
Betty Cracker
@NotMax: Yeah, it was dumb to frame it in terms of campaign strategy. But Biden was right to acknowledge that letting crooked pols off the hook is a slap in the face to the rest of us. Whoever it was who said some people are bound by laws but not protected by them while others are protected by laws but not bound by them was definitely onto something.
Manxome Bromide
@debbie: The incident that was the tipping point for impeachment support was Trump abusing his office to get dirt on Hunter Biden to use to campaign specifically against Joe Biden. Biden was the target of the behavior that launched the formal impeachment moves.
debbie
@Manxome Bromide:
Thanks. I tipped months and months ago myself.
Hoodie
@Betty Cracker: Corruption is the most reliable issue to run on. Trump will try to level the playing field by projection, but it may not work all that well against Biden, who hasn’t been the target of years of Fox and talk radio slime. In addition, there was no ongoing impeachment investigation in 2016, and more people are now aware of how incessantly and shamelessly Trump lies. Biden’s approach is not stupid. It’s the equivalent of running the ball when you have a good offensive line and your opponent’s defense is questionable. Not sexy policy initiatives, but you can win if you don’t fumble too often.
Wapiti
Cleaning government up is a tried and true campaign strategy. It helps when the opposing side is totally corrupt, as is the case now.
And I can’t think of a Dem candidate in the top five running that wouldn’t be willing to add their name to an anti-corruption push.
Josie
I have thought all along that corruption and misuse of our tax money are excellent points to run on. The Trump administration is rich in examples of government corruption. This is taking our money that we paid to the government and using it for their own enrichment. That is in addition to the fact that the rich are not even paying their share. That should piss people off if they think about it.
Kay
Agree. This is good (and related, I think):
Philbert
Good he’s doing this I guess but it does give in to Trump’s spin, always a mistake, like Warren doing her DNA, or Obama showing his BC. Their game is a sucker’s game, don’t ever play it! Ignore them and throw at him, and do not ever stop.
Syria/Kurds: I think the public understands Stab in the Back, especially those from Viet Nam days or raised on that myth. This is cracking some of the fundies..
Doug R
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
My brother died of colon cancer, so I’ve had 3 in the past 22 years or so.
Enjoy the Gallon of whatever that is.
SFAW
@NotMax:
I think his point was that Ford might have re-thought granting a pardon because of that, not that it was wrong because of that.
MattF
@Philbert: Stabbing the Kurds in the back is a very Trumpian act. Someone needs to make the point that betraying your allies and friends is what Trump does all the time.
Sloane Ranger
I agree with Betty that there are difficulties in regulating what family members of Presidents and VP’s can or can’t do.
There are issues about the personal freedoms of Presidential relatives involved here. Adults have to earn a living (in most cases) and, given the wide range of executive authority, almost any activity can be twisted by a sufficiently opportunistic opponent into allegations of impropriety or pearl clutching about optics and how far do you stretch it? Spouses and children certainly but what about siblings, nephews, nieces, cousins?
Who would set up the rules and how would they be enforced?
SFAW
@Philbert:
Translation please? [The “cracking” part; I know who the “fundies” are.]
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@debbie: I.e. trumps ham fisted efforts to drag Ukraine into the election forced the impeachment inquiry
Defensible, but weird
@NotMax: yeah that made me roll my eyes too
Just Chuck
@MattF: He’s been faithful to Putin.
feebog
There is a difference between an appearance of a conflict of interest and an actual conflict of interest. In the Biden’s case, the appearance of a conflict of interest came about because Hunter was on the board of a Ukrainian Gas Company when Joe Biden was named point man on cleaning up Ukrainian corruption in Ukraine. So, a possible appearance of a conflict of interest. In the Trumps case, there is an actual conflict of interest in that both Kushner and Ivanka Trump are advising/negotiating policy with a number of countries where they do business. It is such an obvious and blatant example of a conflict of interest that it boggles the mind.
jeffreyw
@Sloane Ranger:
We need the rules for the Trumpspawn that applied to Brother Billy Carter: Point & Laugh
Omnes Omnibus
@Philbert: I disagree. He made it an attack on Trump’s corruption. Trump’s people tried the Bush/Rove approach of attacking an opponent’s strength. Whatever people think of Biden on the issues, he will always be the guy who took the train home to his family every night and never cashed in on any money making schemes. He is very well placed to go after Trump on this issue.
SFAW
@jeffreyw:
Except Billy never had the kind of access to power, and power itself, that Shitgibbon’s Hellspawn (and Hellspawns-in-Law) have.
Now, if you said “Point and laugh while they’re in the stocks, prior to being carted off to Alcatraz for life,” I’m OK with that.
Martin
@feebog: I’ll be honest – Hunter shouldn’t have joined those boards, if for no other reason than those companies wanted him on the boards because of his dad. Even if Hunter was clean, the motives of the industries is suspect, and that alone is enough.
Cacti
Mighty white of ya, Betty.
But it’s been clear for weeks that the front page is in the tank for Warren.
Jeffro
@NotMax: That was my thought too, and I have no doubt the wingnuts will jump on it quite soon if they haven’t already.
“Oh so Saint Joe only cares about throwing a duly elected president* in jail to help HIM get re-elected in 2024? UNBELIEVABLE!!!1!” – every right-winger, ever.
Can’t ANYBODY here play this game, Dems?
Wait…actually I think one or two of our candidates can, actually…
Miss Bianca
@Omnes Omnibus:
Word.
ETA: I hope he maintains this tone. I like it.
jeffreyw
@SFAW:
I would say that the access to power was because the rule was not followed, not despite it.
Jeffro
Also, I have no doubt that the right wing slime machine, aided by the national snooze media (or do I have that backwards?) will now spend days parsing exactly how Joe’s extended family would recuse itself from various business arrangements, and/or subject themselves to oversight, etc etc etc. Meaning we’ll also get a look at where the Bidens do their checking and savings, which mattress they have $20 hidden under, etc etc etc.
All while trumpov and family are nearly deaf from the ringing of cash registers at their hotels, their trademark deals, etc etc etc.
JOE: next time just say “unlike this ‘president’*, all of my finances will be in a TRUE blind trust before I ever take the Oath of Office…you’ll have decades of my tax returns to look at (and none of them have income from Russia, btw)…and most of all, the American people will know that their president didn’t sell out an ally to benefit his hotel or bend to an adversary just so his daughter could reap foreign trademarks. To say nothing of the money laundering…”
It’s
Not
Hard
eclare
@Omnes Omnibus: Agreed, wasn’t Biden known as one of the, if not the, poorest (or least rich) senators?
les
Sorry, but Joe’s in a 50 year old fantasy. He thinks he can pal around with Moscow Mitch and “get things done.” He’s surprised that a repub would come after him through his family. He thinks being handsy with women is ok because his intentions are good. I’ll vote for him if I have to, but he’s a bare step above Sanders for me. There’ll be little to no progress, and the dream of going back to the calm old good times is just that.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Jeffro: and throw in “we still don’t know the whole story of his business interests with Erdogans cronies.. even he said it was a conflict of interest”
MattF
@Just Chuck: True enough, though I wouldn’t call Putin a friend. The image I have is more of the loyal pet heeding His Master’s Voice.
Mary G
Nice piece, BC.
@Kay: That’s a good piece. I was pretty shocked that Harvard’s next class is 40% legacies, employees’ kids, or children of rich donors. Every town has that one rich guy’s kid, like the rapist whose judge scolded his victim for reporting the crime, and ruining the rest of his life, that could also shoot somebody on Main Street and get away with it.
One of Twitler’s legitimate appeals was saying things are rigged, because a lot of them are. Or course, he just rigged them a lot more, and made the swamp 10,000% swampier. Democrats don’t talk enough about either corruption or white collar crime, and it doesn’t hurt to start.
Philbert
@SFAW: Cracking, meaning the start of a break from mindless worship of He Can Do No Wrong. Pat Robertson says he may Lose the Mantle of Heaven. There goes lunch!
Omnes: yes, he made it an attack but I worry the coverage will be that he is responding to Trump, and that will be used to validate the charge of corruption. Hard to figure whose mind can be changed in all of this vs giving ammo to the comitted. Agree on Joe’s strengths, also he is good at yelling back!
schrodingers_cat
@Cacti: While making pious proclamations of following the lead of black women
Kay
But, but.. the forever war!
Also the announcement of a trade deal with China was a big fat lie, start to finish, and they now admit all it means is they won’t put the October 15 tariffs in.
The lying in the Trump Adminstration is actually getting worse. They’re lying about bigger things, more brazenly.
JWR
Not speaking of tonight’s Dem debate, (well okay, I am), Tulsi’s back in! (Link)
schrodingers_cat
@Kay: And yet we wait for the brave generals served in the administration to speak up. That they agreed to serve for Mr.-Mexicans-are-rapists candidate should have given the wishful thinkers a hint about their so called nobility.
Chyron HR
@Cacti:
Keep on feeling that, uh, Bide?
NotMax
@JWR
This is my shocked face. :·|
JWR
@NotMax: Mine too. ;-)
Kay
@schrodingers_cat:
I knew the trade deal was a lie. He’s capitulating in the trade war he started, but no one must know that! Shhh. BIG secret.
Ryan
I should hope none of his family is a cabinet.
debbie
@Kay:
What??? Isn’t it being papered as we speak??? //
debbie
@Kay:
Hey, if he can fuck the Kurds over multiple times, why not the farmers?
Humdog
I’m waiting for ol’ Joe to explain how he can get his “friends” among Republicans to work with him if not one of them will come out and say Joe is a good guy, a straight arrow, and Shitstain’s attacks on his honor are unfounded.
At least acknowledge the crickets, Joe.
Bnad
Putin is the living Fred Trump. He’s one of the family.
SiubhanDuinne
@JWR:
Isn’t the debate tomorrow?
Edit: Or are you in Australia or something?
JWR
@Humdog:
Speaking of this, I have yet to hear any of the Dems respond adequately to a very possible Senate roadblock. Hope this changes.
JWR
@SiubhanDuinne: (checks calendar) Yes, sorry. ;-)
Brachiator
@Omnes Omnibus:
Great points. Trump has failed in attacking Biden’s integrity. This may also be why Trump tried to brand Biden as a weak white man who got to be VP by kissing Obama’s ass.
Of course, Trump demands that his staff and appointees kiss his ass, so he is an expert on this subject.
NeenerNeener
@Dorothy A. Winsor: I’m having one tomorrow too. I HATE the prep, and will be so glad when the procedure is over tomorrow.
Jim, Foolish Literalist
the only plan is winning the Senate, I wish the candidate and (from what I can see) the various groups who consider themselves the base/s were more tuned into that
Brachiator
I’m glad that Biden is taking it to Trump. In fact, I think that Joe should not refer to his son at all, but simply demand that Trump remove Ivanka and Jared Kushner from all White House positions immediately.
LivingInExile
Biden should point to the tax returns he has made public, and ask Trump where his are. Who’s crook?
Feathers
@Kay: It is interesting how MIT has a whole different vibe to Harvard and I’m convinced that the fact that they have no legacy preferences is a big part of it. The athletic preferences are huge as well. That is something that should be done away with across the board. At some of the small, selective schools (Bowdoin and such) athletic recruits are half the class. And athletic scholarships are a scam. Schools offer 4 scholarships, but they aren’t 4 full scholarships, they are six split across the 20 something kids on the team, so everyone has to pay pretty close to full freight. But the parents get to brag to everyone about their kid getting a fencing scholarship, so they pay through the nose for it, despite being able to pay less for perhaps a better school elsewhere. Sunk costs and all.
Ruckus
Mercer owes $7 billion. $7 fucking billion. Fucking $7 BILLION.
For taxes.
How long has he owed this $7 billion and how much has he spent on lawyers to delay paying a fucking dime of it?
Once agin this year I did my very simple taxes, other than the dollar amount changing slightly, mostly due to inflation raises of my SS, my return is the same as it’s been for six years. But the instructions and forms were so, what’s that word, oh yeah, fucked up that while I figured them out twice on 2 separate occasions days apart, I came up with the same number. I got a letter a few weeks later stating that I owed a bit rather than a not unreasonable refund. And it was within a few dollars of what I owe every year. Exactly what I expected. The letter said that as long as I paid within some reasonable time, there would be no penalty. I’d bet that this was/is relatively common for last year because trump’s dummies fucked up something that wasn’t broken.
$7 Billion? And this fucker isn’t in fucking jail, stone broke? Yeah I’ve known for decades that the world is a shitty place, that the wealthy get massive breaks that over 90% of the population never ever does, but a $7 fucking billion break?
And yes I know this is not new news, I don’t know how long he’s owed this but it’s been some time. Long enough for it to get through all the court stuff.
rikyrah
@Kay:
40% of Harvard’s incoming class???
Ruckus
@Dorothy A. Winsor:
I’ve had to drink the miracle elixir 3 times in the last 3 yrs. The last time the cocktail changed to something new that didn’t taste like battery acid and lime juice. And it worked better. Hope you get the new stuff. And that they put you out for the duration. My first two procedures were awake. I no like. The colonoscopy was asleep. Much, much better.
In any event good luck.
Ruckus
@SFAW:
I think you are right but I wouldn’t bet money that the meaning goes the other way.
TS (the original)
@Martin: I’ll be honest too – the trump offspring shouldn’t be travelling around the world doing deals with their father’s position on full display – but the rules don’t apply to republicans
MisterForkbeard
@Jeffro: It seemed like a weird thing for Biden to add, definitely.
Biden is either trying to say Ford WASN’T trying to get re-elected so he should have just done it, or that Ford might have tried to get elected if it weren’t for this. Either way, pretty unhelpful to add in.
@Kay: So Trump caused all these disasters to withdraw troops…. and then AFTER the mayhem and death and loss of life and the Kurds re-aligning to Russia, we’re just going to… leave the troops there after all?
Christ, what an idiot.
Percysowner
@Cacti: I think that’s a little too broad. Certainly some of the front pagers are open about supporting Warren. There is also an anti-Bernie bias here, based on his role in the 2016 election. The rest of the people are behind a candidate who is running a really good campaign. Biden hasn’t exactly set the world on fire with his campaign. He’s been the typical gaffe machine and his expressed belief that once he (a respectable white male) is elected the Republicans will meekly return to being willing to work with a Democratic President, doesn’t sit well here.
Harris’s support went up for that brief period after the first debate, not only in the polls, but her on BJ as well. She didn’t carry the momentum. She could climb back into the race. One of the other candidates COULD break out. Realistically AT THIS TIME the top three candidates are Biden, Bernie and Warren. Warren is currently running the best campaign of the three and is getting acclaim for it. If she stumbles badly, the posters here will call her out, but as of now, she hasn’t really stumbled.
MisterForkbeard
@Ruckus: It’s been a few years since I did that too, but I HAVE tried those sugarfree gummy bears that have… explosive results.
The gummy bears are faster and more painful. Prefer the colonoscopy liquid. :)
@Percysowner: I’m a Harris fan myself, though Warren is doing well. The big difference is that while Harris had her (possibly only) breakthrough event, she wasn’t able to capitalize on it properly and got burnt a bit by a lying Gabbard in the following debate. She needs another big moment to get back in the game.
Warren is ultimately running a better campaign, though I think that Harris has suffered somewhat from being black. It’s harder for her to get attention and keep it, and she gets attacked for a lot of ridiculous things. Warren likewise has an uphill battle, but she’s succeeding with it. Biden is slowly blowing his early lead as Warren looks better, and Buttigieg is just kind of there.
All good candidates, though.
MisterForkbeard
@Cacti: Nah. Betty and AL like Warren quite a bit. I think M^4 as well, though he’s less of a fan. Everyone else just tends to post about the candidates when they do something good, and Warren’s been making the news for the past few weeks.
jk
@les:
Don’t forget Biden’s lousy Senate record: support for a horrible crime bill, support for the Iraq war, and treating Anita Hill like dirt.
Plus, he’s a human gaffe machine. Who can forget him suggesting that African American parents don’t know how to raise their children during the last debate.
I’ll vote for any Democratic nominee against Trump, but Joe “play the phonograph” Biden is a moron and like Sanders he’s too fucking old to be President.
jk
@Percysowner: @les:
Biden supposedly plans to release his medical records sometime before the Iowa caucuses. Given his advanced age, he’s showing great contempt for voters by dragging his feet on this issue.
Bupalos
I mean, I love the effort to be kind and equal-timey and whatnot, but that statement from Biden is absolute fucking gibberish. Parking ticket?! If it “happens to you?” It’s nonsense. Why is this clown even here?
Chris Johnson
@schrodingers_cat: Is this really the enemy you want to go down fighting? Really?