Biden In Decline

I never thought Joe Biden had a serious shot at the Democratic nomination. Even when he was in his prime, he wasn’t up to the task. And that was a long time ago. But it is the Ukraine scandal that is putting Biden’s candidacy to a perhaps-premature end.

James Freeman describes the news media’s almost comical efforts to protect Biden:

When President Trump turned to the Bidens and Ukraine in a speech, MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace cut off the coverage, declaring she had to protect the listeners: “We hate to do this, really, but the president isn’t telling the truth.” When Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) tried to answer a question about the Ukraine scandal by referencing the Bidens, “Meet the Press” host Chuck Todd angrily told him not to “gaslight” the nation.

…What is most remarkable about the paucity of coverage of Hunter Biden’s dealings is the conclusory mantra that “this has all been investigated.” …When Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-N.Y.) raised the issue on CNN, host Erin Burnett cut him off: “There is no evidence of Joe Biden doing anything wrong, and this is something that has been looked into, and I think — I want to make a point here — I think what we need to talk about right now is what did the president right now do or not do.” Other CNN hosts have repeated the line of “no evidence of wrongdoing” like a virtual incantation.

No evidence of wrongdoing? The evidence is that Hunter Biden collected millions of dollars from foreign companies which he had no qualifications to work for. Why did Burisma think it made sense to pay him $3 million when he had no knowledge of either natural gas or Ukraine? Hunter pretty much admitted the reason in an interview earlier today

Robach: If your last name wasn’t Biden, do you think you would have been asked to be on the board of Burisma?

Biden: I don’t know. I don’t know. Probably not

Joe Biden didn’t do anything wrong? A time-honored method of taking bribes is having them paid to a family member, usually in exchange for nominal or nonexistent services. It is comical to watch “reporters” pretend not to understand this.

Then there is the Chinese private equity fund. This, from Freeman’s piece, is entertaining:

[BHR (Shanghai) Equity Investment Fund Management Company] has repeatedly declined to elaborate on the younger Biden’s role at the firm when contacted by the South China Morning Post via phone, mail and visits to the office. But Jonathan Li Xiangsheng, the firm’s chief executive and Hunter Biden’s partner, has said the company was working on an explanation about the American’s role.
***
A recent visit to the firm’s registered address in Beijing found a small, plainly decorated office, where a receptionist said she had never seen Hunter Biden.

More than five years after going into business with Hunter Biden, his associates in China are still “working on an explanation” of his role there?

Good luck with that. Some are describing tonight’s Democratic debate as Biden’s opportunity to reverse his slide in the polls, a critical moment in the campaign. I don’t buy it. Politically speaking, in my opinion, Joe Biden is a dead candidate walking.

Notice: All comments are subject to moderation. Our comments are intended to be a forum for civil discourse bearing on the subject under discussion. Commenters who stray beyond the bounds of civility or employ what we deem gratuitous vulgarity in a comment — including, but not limited to, “s***,” “f***,” “a*******,” or one of their many variants — will be banned without further notice in the sole discretion of the site moderator.

Responses