Is Joe Biden a Crook?

Joe Biden is stupid. I’ve said it a hundred times in these columns. I’ve said it most often in response to those who claim that age has diminished his cognitive skills. I’ve pointed out his history of plagiarism as evidence of person without the intellectual skills for critical thinking. I’ve pointed out his history of lies and tall tales all designed to make a dull man look interesting. I’ve pointed out his unending verbal gaffs as evidence of a man who cannot hold together a complex idea or thought from beginning to end. I’ve pointed out his hair plugs, capped bright teeth, his artificially smooth skin and his sartorial splendor as evidence of a dull man trying to look successful and intelligent. None of it really works. Joe Biden is a dull man who has defied the “Peter Principle” and risen far above his level of competence.

Joe Biden is also a crook. And in keeping with his general persona, not a very smart crook. He isn’t the first crook to serve in high office and he won’t be the last. I doubt that Mr. Biden started out as a crook. In fact, he may well have started out as a latter day Jefferson Smith (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington). At any rate, Mr. Biden watched his fellow members of Congress go from rags to riches routinely despite the fact they made only about $170,000 per year. And when he saw former President Bill Clinton and his grasping wife Hillary go from “bankrupt” to over $180 Million dollars without lifting a finger he knew that he too could become rich – hugely rich – without lifting a finger. All he had to do was sell influence and move government money, contracts and access to those who would profit greatly while he “wet his beak.”

But Mr. Biden is stupid. While others, including the Clintons set up elaborate schemes, charities, tax havens and foreign bank accounts, and other avenues to solicit, receive and launder funds, Mr. Biden utilized his son Hunter, his brother James and other family members. But it was principally his son Hunter who has proved to be no smarter – probably dumber – than his father. Hunter has always been a problem. He received an “administrative discharge” from the Navy in 2014 for having failed a drug test – others have received a dishonorable discharge for the same offense but their father wasn’t the then Vice-President of the United States. It wasn’t Hunter’s first or last time dealing with drugs and alcohol. Along the way he abandoned his wife and took up with the widow of his deceased brother. I mean really, Hollywood couldn’t write these scenarios although Homeland took a crack at it. Regardless, Mr. Biden apparently wanted to keep it in the family believing, like the Godfather, that you kept “family business” within the family. But in this instance, Hunter was much like the Godfather’s Fredo – inclined to run his mouth in order to impress others. So Hunter gathered various and nefarious men about him to pursue a variety of “pay to play” schemes. He was pretty free in letting his “comrades” know that he was there to sell access and influence from “the Big Guy” – his father, then Vice-President Joe Biden. We don’t know all of the deals that Hunter, his uncle and his father cooked up with the various crooked players internationally but the few that we do know about were pretty clumsy and easily discovered – particularly when Mr. Biden went on television and bragged about getting a prosecutor fired that was investigating corruption in the company that was paying Hunter $50,000 a month for doing nothing. (At this point you just want to refer to Mr. Biden and son Hunter as “Dumb and Dumber”.) So, it’s the Ukraine, China, the wife of the mayor of Moscow – what else? It isn’t mind-boggling because it was so clumsy, so heavy handed, so stupid.

It is almost as if the Ukraine, China and Russia were happy that it was done so stupidly, so that when they applied leverage (blackmail) even Mr. Biden would get how easy it would be to disclose his and his son’s conduct – no middlemen, no charities, no routing and rerouting of money – it would just be a check with Hunter’s name on it and that would be it.

But there may be more to this than Mr. Biden being a clumsy crook. Following the trail of cash would be easy – even for the mainstream media, which is studiously avoiding the issue. They don’t ask questions of the Bidens. They don’t ask questions of the parties to the transactions. They don’t demand congressional investigations. And they don’t editorialize. They have, in essence, created a cocoon around Mr. Biden to ensure that the electorate is denied access to an issue that should be key to determining the fitness of a presidential candidate. So why?

The answer probably lies in two parts. First, they hate President Trump with such a passion that they will do anything to ensure that he is not re-elected – even back someone like Mr. Biden. Second, they have never been fond of Mr. Biden, nor Sen. Bernie Sanders (Socialist-VT) – too old, too . . . well that’s pretty much it – too old. If you think back on the primary season, the mainstream media was fascinated with a trio of losers – Robert (Beto) O’Rourke, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA). It was all about optics. Mr. O’Rourke was a return to the “youthful Robert Kennedy” despite the fact that his singular accomplishment was riding a skateboard across a stage. Mr. Buttigieg represented the opportunity to elect the first openly gay person to the presidency despite his failures at mayor of South Bend, Indiana. And Ms. Harris represented the opportunity to elect the first Black woman to the presidency despite the fact that she had no accomplishments and had basically slept her way into office. Mr. Biden, for whatever reason, chose Ms. Harris.

And this is where it gets interesting. Since the days of Watergate, there is nothing that appeals to the press more than bringing down a president. Should Mr. Biden defeat Mr. Trump the press would no longer have a foe. They may rail about indicting Mr. Trump but that will pass. For them, bringing down Mr. Biden would be blood sport particularly given that Ms. Harris would succeed him – thus killing two birds with one stone. What would be better than to bring down an aged corrupt politician and supplant him with the first Black female as President of the United States.

So, Mr. Biden. Should you succeed, watch your back. While the enemy (the mainstream press) of my enemy (Mr. Trump) may be your friend, it is only true until your enemy is vanquished.