Failure and Family and Doing the Right Thing

On December 18, 1972, when he was two years old, Hunter Biden, his three-year-old brother Joseph R. “Beau” Biden, III, his one-year-old sister Naomi, and his mother Neilia were Christmas shopping in Hockessin, DE. Mrs. Biden pulled through an intersection, and a tractor-trailer plowed into her car, killing her and her daughter. Hunter suffered head trauma. Beau suffered a broken leg. Joe Biden suffered a crisis of faith and a broken heart.

Just elected to the United States Senate the prior month, Biden had not yet been sworn in and considered resigning to take care of his family. Senate Leader Mike Mansfield discouraged him from doing so. Joe Biden, sworn in by Vice President Spiro Agnew, took up his Senate seat and remained there for thirty-six years, from January 1973 until January 2009, when he moved to the Vice President’s mansion. Three years after losing his first wife, Joe Biden remarried Jill, and she became mom to Beau and Hunter and, with Biden, had a daughter, Ashley.

As an aside, Bernie Sanders famously honeymooned behind the Iron Curtain in the Soviet Union and Joe and Jill did too, though in Hungary.

In any event, it is safe to say that losing one's mother, even at such an early age, left a traumatic mark on Hunter Biden beyond his head trauma. And then, he suddenly had a new mom, and his dad was away in the Senate most of his life.

It’d be hard not to be screwed up. Add to that the fact Joe Biden clearly has long seemed to favor Beau Biden, his legacy, who tragically died on the battlefield in Iraq of brain cancer, and you’d probably become a hedonistic crackhead too.

I say all that to say I get why Joe Biden has zealously defended his son. I understand it and suspect there is a measure of guilt along the way. I also get that, as President, Biden does not get to exempt himself from conflicts of interest and, undoubtedly, the prosecution of his son is one. That explains why Biden left Trump’s U.S. Attorney for Delaware in place.

All of that, however, does not excuse Hunter Biden’s behavior. He is still culpable, despite excuses and understanding. He must bear responsibility. I’m not sure having a buddy pay off his IRS debts so he avoids jail time is much of a lesson. And, for those quibbling, it actually is pretty standard practice for the IRS not to seek jail time when taxes are paid because it is hard for the IRS to get sympathy from a jury when someone has already paid their taxes.

But we need to be clear about a few things.

First, the media has circled wagons around the Biden family, and we cannot expect honest and fair coverage. The media collaborated with Twitter to censor the New York Post’s coverage of the laptop story. Much of the press has largely ignored and deflected on Hunter Biden and various revelations from the laptop. At first, it could be explained away because Rudy Giuliani was peddling the story. But then, months later, the media confirmed the authenticity of the laptop and its contents and still muted coverage.

Likewise, it is notable that Senator Ron Johnson and others have suggested the GOP may have overstated some claims about Hunter and Joe Biden recently, but he is not dismissing the claims. He is just moving slower and avoiding a rush to judgment. Many reporters, however, have chosen to defend the Biden family and wholly dismiss Republican accusations.

But above all else, there is something else.

I understand why Joe Biden would stand by his deeply screwed-up son. A father’s guilt can be a powerful thing to keep a father from actually fixing the screwed-up son. You blame yourself and don’t intervene because you already feel culpable, and the intervention would make the feeling worse.

But, at some point, the man who took on Corn Pop needs to man up. He has a granddaughter. Despite documented wealth, his son refuses to treat the child as his own and claims he cannot afford to take care of the child.

Joe Biden preaches family and loyalty. An honest man who really believes those things would force his son to accept responsibility. Joe, instead, has refused to push Hunter Biden to fess up, own up, accept responsibility, and deal with consequences for a very long time.

We’re just past Father’s Day. Hunter Biden is the father to a daughter for whom he refuses to do the right thing. Hunter Biden’s father refuses to do the right thing by both his granddaughter and his son. Joe Biden refuses to demand of his son the standard Joe Biden claims we all should have — of honor, character, and integrity.

And that calls into question Joe Biden’s honor, character, and integrity, even if all are anchored down by the guilty conscience of a man mourning the loss of a wife and children and questioning what actions of his might have led to his last living son pleading guilty to not as much as he probably should have to

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