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Since we are repeating ourselves, let me just say fuck that.

Authoritarian republicans are opposed to freedom for the rest of us.

In after Baud. Damn.

The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.

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You are here: Home / Open Threads / Open Thread: Hunter Biden, Can’t Win for Losing

Open Thread: Hunter Biden, Can’t Win for Losing

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I know the Republican plan was to push Hunter into a relapse as a way of hurting his father, but right now it looks like the individual most likely to go on a substance abuse binge after seeing this news is… TFG’s namesake kid.

Biden has handled the Hunter Biden situation politically perfectly by not handling it as a politician at all. He’s genuinely just doing the decent thing as a person and a public servant.

[image or embed]

— The Fig Economy (@figgityfigs.bsky.social) Jun 8, 2024 at 5:03 PM

When it comes to Republicans, it’s always projection:

Open Thread: Hunter Biden Can't Win for Losing

(Nick Anderson via GoComics.com)

Reader Interactions

104Comments

  2. 2.

    gene108

    The lack of evidence as to the greater crimes of the Biden Crime Family only proves how deep and insidious these crimes are.

  4. 4.

    MattF

    There’s a ‘compare and contrast’ issue here that the MAGAs are desperate to avoid. The comparative premise ‘suppose a Trump son was a cocaine addict’ won’t lead to an acceptable inference.

  5. 5.

    John S.

    @Baud: Forget about moral superiority. Even just basic decency seems to be a bridge too far for these people.

  7. 7.

    TBone

    The fact that the nepo babies Jarvanka skirted security clearance laws to stay in the White House and actually perform as part of our government should be enough to charge them with something.  A girl can dream…

  8. 8.

    chopper

    I know the Republican plan was to push Hunter into a relapse as a way of hurting his father

    the republican plan was to punish joe biden for the crime of presidenting while democrat. the GOP has for decades been all-in on the idea that the WH belongs to them and anybody who isn’t one of them sitting in the oval office is a usurper who has to be destroyed.

    so, they’re going to try to throw his son in prison, thinking it will break him. it’s punishment.

  9. 9.

    smith

    @Omnes Omnibus: She’s not his birth mother, yet she flew back and forth across the Atlantic to be there to support him during his trial. Democrats are so weird. They have this insane dedication to “family values” and “parental love.” It’s like a cult!

  13. 13.

    Jackie

    That photo of Dad embracing his son in a bear hug…😢♥️

    The only thing I’ve ever seen TCFG hug that hard was the American flag and it couldn’t push him away.

  14. 14.

    Scout211

    Comer has his talking points already and is spewing them everywhere.  Hunter Biden’s guilty verdict is “just the beginning” of Comer’s quest to take down the “Biden crime family.”

    Different day.  Same crazy nonsense.

  16. 16.

    Chet Murthy

    @geg6: @Omnes Omnibus: the money must be really good for her to be such a craven bootlicker.  I’m so old I remember when she had to be escorted by trump’s secret service detail After one of his rallies where he sicced the crowd on her and the other reporters in the press area.  In a way she’s worse than the people who are In Trump’s orbitand fully committed to him: She knows His power to harm, She knows her dutyto warn others about it, And yes she still snuffles after him eating his shit.

  17. 17.

    Baud

    I wouldn’t mind seeing the video. I don’t like Tur, but I hate relying on something someone tweeted.

  22. 22.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @gene108:

    The lack of evidence as to the greater crimes of the Biden Crime Family only proves how deep and insidious these crimes are.

    That sounds awfully familiar…

  23. 23.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @TBone: I have this dream too. There must be something.

    meanwhile, highlighting this quote from john

    Forget about moral superiority. Even just basic decency seems to be a bridge too far for these people.

  27. 27.

    Betty Cracker

    Trump whisperers at the NYT weigh in:

    Hunter Biden Conviction Undercuts a Trump Narrative, and a Fund-Raising Pitch

    Many Trump allies had been secretly rooting for an acquittal. The talking points wrote themselves: It would have been yet more evidence that the United States justice system was rigged in favor of the Bidens and against the Trumps. Tuesday’s guilty verdict was inconvenient to that narrative…

    Even more valuable would have been the fund-raising potential.

    A person with knowledge of the Trump campaign’s fund-raising plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there had been discussions about how much an acquittal would help Mr. Trump, potentially raising tens of millions of additional dollars as they planned to cite it as more evidence the justice system was rigged.

    Sad trombone!

  29. 29.

    TBone

    @Gloria DryGarden: I wonder if the security clearance paperwork for Jarvanka went into the Mark Meadows fireplace. Or into the Whitehouse plumbing system.  BTW, where is that fucking Meadows guy?  The quiet ones concern me the most.

  30. 30.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @chopper:

    the republican plan was to punish joe biden for the crime of presidenting while democrat

    Pretty much.  They’re attacking.  This is an avenue they found to attack.  Anything else is overthinking it.  Any theory of how this will hurt Biden is probably on someone’s mind, but the group plan is just ‘attack.’

  32. 32.

    Frankensteinbeck

    @TBone:

    Trump said they get clearance.  The President isn’t the sole arbiter of whether something is classified, but he is for who has clearance.  They can – and I’m sure did – fail every single qualification for a security clearance, but if the President says they can see it, they can see it.

    Note that this ceases to apply the instant he stops being President.

  34. 34.

    Jackie

    @TBone: He (Meadows) just got indicted in Arizona for 2020 election shenanigans. Last week, I believe. Along with Rudy 😂

  35. 35.

    Chet Murthy

    @TBone: I could be wrong, but I doubt that any such paperwork was kept only on paper.  I mean, this is the modern age: government paperwork (esp. classified paperwork) is kept on classified systems, and those get backed-up, etc.  My bet is that Meadows was burning, y’know, notes on a criminal conspiracy (viz. Jan 6 and associated actions).

  42. 42.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    @NotMax: ​
     I’m rather surprised. I didn’t think you’d be a supporter of the metric system.

  51. 51.

    Gloria DryGarden

    @eclare: he’s telling him loving supportive things too, I just know it. Kind caring.
    Don’t let this take you down son, we’ve got your back, we know it’s unfair who does and doesn’t get busted for the same stuff.

    all the loves. You can just feel it, looking at that hug. How old are his kids?

  53. 53.

    TBone

    @Frankensteinbeck: well that’s certainly another big, gaping hole in our national security system that needs to be plugged!

    Kushner has had to make several additions to his SF-86 after failing to mention meetings he had with foreign contacts, including a meeting with Russian lawyer at Trump Tower during the 2016 presidential campaign.

    But an even bigger red flag, says Bakaj, is the back channel Kushner reportedly discussed creating with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak to discuss policy issues including cooperation in Syria.

    “That goes to loyalty to the United States, it goes to foreign influence,” Bakaj says, and is likely a major reason why Kushner’s clearance was flagged by intelligence officials.

    Kushner has said he didn’t collude with any foreigners in 2016 and that he only asked about using Russia’s diplomatic communications to exchange information about the war in Syria, not to create a secret “back-channel.”

    Eventually, Kushner’s lawyer said he got his objections resolved and regained his access to classified material. That, in turn, has enabled him to continue serving as a roving emissary for Trump — to Mexico, in Europe and in the Middle East.

    The important news this week was that Trump’s aides didn’t want Kushner to get his clearance back. In fact, Trump’s former chief of staff and former White House counsel wrote memos describing why they didn’t think Kushner should have a clearance, according to the reports.

    https://www.npr.org/2019/03/01/699407475/what-you-need-to-know-about-security-clearances-inside-and-outside-the-white-hou

  55. 55.

    Chet Murthy

    @TBone: IIUC it’s un-pluggable.  The President is the ultimate authority, and if he says give somebody clearance, they get clearance.  Just like with Reps/Sens (btw).  The remedy is impeachment/conviction.  Ah well.

  56. 56.

    Mr. Bemused Senior

    @Betty Cracker:

    … A person with knowledge of the Trump campaign’s fund-raising plans, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said there had been discussions about how much an acquittal would help Mr. Trump…

    How often have we said “there is no bottom”?

    These people are despicable.

  57. 57.

    scav

    @HumboldtBlue: Imagine knowing your entire career (and to an extent your physical personal space) is nothing more than a questionable campaign contribution.

  59. 59.

    BlueGuitarist

    Democratic candidate in Ohio-06 special election lost by about 10 points, Trump carried it by 29.

  61. 61.

    Betty Cracker

    @cain: Yep. I remember being surprised the flag-humping didn’t attract more ridicule and negative attention. He was like a horny chihuahua on a shin! Jeebus! Who does that?

  68. 68.

    Chet Murthy

    @prostratedragon: I’m so old I remember that Black doctor who got COVID, had a really bad case, and was denied morphine for the pain even though she was crying out with the pain.  She blogged the whole thing …. I don’t remember if she succumbed to the disease, but you’d think that a doctor would be somebody that could be trusted with her self-assessment of pain.

  69. 69.

    Chet Murthy

    @prostratedragon: I’m so old I remember when Muhammad Ali Jr. was accosted and held by USCP agents on his return to the US, b/c they didn’t believe he was a US citizen.  They thought he was lying.  Then when the finally figured out he was telling the truth, and was ,y’know, the *son of Muhammad Ali* they wanted his fucking autograph.

    Goddamn bastards.

  72. 72.

    smith

     

    @Chet Murthy: This has been known to happen to sickle cell patients — they arrive in the ER in excruciating pain and are denied pain killers because the docs just assume they’re addicts looking for a fix.

  73. 73.

    Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)

    @Chet Murthy:

    Hey, they offered him a $25 Meijer’s gift card, that makes up for nearly dying and suffering severe emotional distress, right? /s

    Like seriously, who thought that was a good idea? Talk about adding insult to injury.

    Restraints are generally a big no-no in healthcare and only used as a last resort under strict conditions. They falsely imprisoned him

  74. 74.

    Chet Murthy

    @Goku (aka Amerikan Baka): I remember reading about a “thing” that Black families do when their loved ones enter the hospital.  They go and visit with the nurses and doctors treating their relative, to tell them about their relative, about how they’re a parent/child/sibling/etc, how they’re a member of their community, about their profession, etc, etc, etc.  To humanize the patient in the eyes of the medical staff.

    It’s something I’ve never heard about white people doing, b/c they don’t have to.

  82. 82.

    gwangung

    but probably a productive and effective workaround for rank ignorance racism.

    Fixed that for you. We need to name it for what it is.

  84. 84.

    Pete Downunder

    @Chet Murthy:

      White people can do it too, but to a lesser extent. When I went in for major surgery my wife brought all the nursing staff fancy chocolate. The care was amazing (probably would have been anyway – an excellent hospital) but one of the nurses remembered it a year later at a follow up. When commuting US to Australia courting the now Mrs Downunder I would bring See’s chocolates for the flight attendants with good results.

  85. 85.

    Chet Murthy

    @Pete Downunder: What was described wasn’t bringing the care team chocolates.  When I was doing PT [ETA: for my shoulders], sometimes a patient would buy the entire office lunch.  I’m sure they appreciated it!  But that’s not what’s being described.  Instead, it is the family going on and talking to the doctor about the patient’s career, their college education, their kids, their neighbors, their professional colleagues, stuff like that.  It’s not buttering-up the staff, but rather humanizing the patient in the staff’s eyes.

    It’s completely different.

  86. 86.

    Chet Murthy

    @Pete Downunder: There was a study done of newborn infants in hospital. It found that Black infants thrived better (by objective measures of wellness) when cared for by Black staff, than when cared for by white staff.  Since these were arguably nonverbal, noncommunicativee patients,the only cause could be the attitudes of the staff.

  87. 87.

    Lyrebird

    @Chet Murthy: Most of our family is white, and we do some of that to make the docs understand someone gives a d_mn, but I am sure it is not at the same level of urgency as for non-white patients, espeically African American patients and families… lingering specific dangerous crap about pain tolerance in addition to general racist crap.

    People with visible handicaps, including white ones, apparently strategize as well to protect their lives.  I think it was on DKos I read an article about deadly ableism.  iirc the author shared her general rule: always wear a wedding ring (a gold band) to the hospital, even if you’re not married, for similar reasons.

  89. 89.

    Ruckus

    @John S.:

    Anyone can have basic decency. OK sure some have to work very hard to get close but still, they can have it. It doesn’t require money or prestige or position of any kind. It does require humanity and the concept of basic equality. So obviously not all humans are going to have basic decency. Their loss.

  90. 90.

    hitchhiker

    @Chet Murthy: We did exactly that when mr hitchhiker had a catastrophic injury and had to spend almost 3 months at a trauma center. We’re all white, but maybe the similarity is that he was unable to speak above a whisper and was almost completely paralyzed for most of that time.

    I’m saying, he was intensely vulnerable in a way that might be familiar, and at the mercy of the staff when one of us couldn’t be there with him.

    We filled his room with photographs of the healthy person he had been just weeks earlier, surrounded by friends and us. We did everything we could think of to make sure the people caring for him had a sense of who he was. One guy brought his cello up to the floor and played as long as they let him. An artist friend brought prints and managed to install them over the bed so there would be something to look at while lying flat. I stuck dozens of cards on the wall, and our daughters brought drawings and school work.

    The point was, as you said, to humanize him to the staff, but in our case it was also to make sure he never felt like he was going to be alone with whatever came next.

  91. 91.

    wjca

    @Chet Murthy:  The President is the ultimate authority, and if he says give somebody clearance, they get clearance.

    I’m picturing Trump deciding, next time, to cut out the middle man and just give Putin total access.

  92. 92.

    sabting them and maintaining them when they decided

    @hitchhiker: My dad just died this year at age 99. He had been a physician ( medical doctor.) When we mentioned this to medical staff it was always amazing how much his medical care improved.

    We always told them this in the context of explaining to them how to explain stuff to him. “Although he has dementia, medical jargon means more to him than medical to patient baby talk. He is a medical doctor and that is the terminology he will understand.”

  94. 94.

    Msb

    R’s obviously hoped for a relapse or even a suicide, all to hurt Hunter’s father. As a person with addicts in the family, I take that very personally. Keep going, Hunter, one day at a time.

  98. 98.

    JaySinWA

    @sab: I thought it was somebody mangling “stabbing them” with the rest not making sense. Glad to see it’s not somebody feeling stabby

    ETA the other night I managed to turn my nym into “number” or maybe “numbers”. Even though I corrected it immediately by reposting, my wrong post ended up approved.

  100. 100.

    David 🌈 ☘The Establishment☘🌈 Koch

    Notice how nobody hugged Dump after he was convicted. Hell, only one person showed up and Eric looked like he was a hostage.

  103. 103.

    wjca

    @Citizen Alan: Bold of you to assume he didn’t the first time.

    Not that bold.  The way that place leaked, we’d have heard.  Giving Putin a security clearance would have been too juicy not to share.

  104. 104.

    henqiguai

    @sab [#93]:

    @sabting them and maintaining them when they decided:
    I apparently blew up my nym and BJ people let me do it. Yikes, but thanks.

    I thought it was just someone new with a curiously similar name. But then, I do tend to be a bit literal minded…

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