On Hunter Biden

[Since both President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, will be referred to in this note, to keep the references as straightforward as possible – and since I cling to honorifics; my soul won’t let me resort to “Joe” and “Hunter” 🙂 – the President will be referred to as “Pr. Biden” and Hunter Biden will be referred to as, “Mr. Biden.”]

As all are aware, Hunter Biden was convicted on June 11 of felonies for indicating on a mandatory gun-purchase form that he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs.

Mr. Biden has been demonized by MAGAs and the alt-right media pretty much ever since his father entered the 2020 presidential campaign, while progressives and the liberal media have attempted to paint him as the victim of addiction to drugs like millions of other Americans — an addiction which may have been spawned by a series of circumstances including surviving an automobile accident that killed his mother and sister, and having grown up in the shadow of his father and his extremely-accomplished (and now deceased) older brother.  It is apparently undisputed that Mr. Biden is now “clean.”

Those of us of Christian faith have been admonished not to judge, lest we be judged (Matthew 7:1), but while Mr. Biden isn’t the black hat painted by the alt-right, I think it’s fair to say that his behavior throughout much of his life might be considered less than saintly.  One is still responsible for one’s own life choices and mistakes.  I commented in a post some time ago that if the then-current Wikipedia account of Mr. Biden was at all accurate, his primary profession for most of his adult life had arguably been exploiting (albeit legally) his father’s name and position.  It is hard not to consider a Ukrainian company’s selection of Mr. Biden as a board member while his father was Vice President of the United States not only a blatant attempt by Ukrainian interests to curry favor with the United States but a shameless (although legal) willingness by Mr. Biden to leverage his father’s standing for his own benefit.  As for Mr. Biden’s guilt on the felony gun-related charges themselves:  I’ve seen no reports questioning the jury’s diligence or impartiality.  Further, I was struck by one pundit’s comment that if Mr. Biden truly accepted that he was an addict at the time he completed the form, he was indeed lying because he would have understood that, even if then “clean,” he was addicted – he could be a recovering addict, but he would never not be addicted to drugs.  The observation resonated with me because of my own father’s struggles with alcohol.  During the last years of his life, after achieving sobriety, he was a passionate, fervent, emphatic, vehement, vociferous – you pick the adjective, but you get the idea 😉 – member of Alcoholics Anonymous and mentor for other alcoholics within our community; during those years, he always and only considered himself a “recovering alcoholic,” and would regularly say, “A drunk needs to understand he’s a drunk whether he’s drinking or not.”

No matter how one looks at Mr. Biden’s situation from a human standpoint, I would suggest – and early returns indicate that MAGAs and the alt-right media recognize – that as emotionally difficult as Mr. Biden’s conviction is for the Biden family, the conviction is a political plus for his father with the jury that counts – swing voters in swing states:

• It neutralizes the argument that juries can’t be impartial.  While former President Donald Trump continues to bemoan the fact that his trial took place in New York City, a jurisdiction where he has few supporters, Mr. Biden’s trial took place in Delaware, a jurisdiction strongly supportive of Pr. Biden; Mr. Biden was nonetheless convicted.
• It obviously raises doubt in any reasonable mind about Mr. Trump’s assertion that Pr. Biden has “weaponized” the U.S. Department of Justice.
• It cannot be gainsaid that of these two men recently found guilty of felonies, only one is seeking political office.  There is nothing about Mr. Biden’s conviction that will limit Democrats’ opportunity to cite Mr. Trump’s conviction as a reason (among many) why he is unfit for the presidency.
• It perhaps lays a trap for Mr. Trump in the upcoming presidential debate.  If Mr. Trump is called upon to confirm his oft-repeated promise to pardon the January 6^th rioters if he wins in November, while Pr. Biden repeats his pledge to NOT pardon his son no matter the outcome of the election, Mr. Trump is going to look bad.  Really bad.  (Since this is such a likely trap for the former president, I’m sure his debate advisors are working on it.)

Having seen what addiction can do to a person and his/her family, I have sympathy for Mr. Biden.  While he has unquestionably benefited in some ways from being a member of the President’s family, he has clearly faced unusual challenges because of it as well.  To MAGAs, he has all along simply been a pawn, a manner to get at Pr. Biden.  But I would submit – although as a father, I would understand why Pr. Biden might angrily reject this notion – that Mr. Biden’s plight has now turned him into a chip for the Democrats.  If Mr. Biden’s ordeal – it’s hard to believe that he will not be incarcerated for his conviction – persuades even a small segment of voters in pivotal states to vote for Pr. Biden because they either feel sympathy for an anguished father or view Pr. Biden’s refusal to meddle in his son’s criminal trials as proof of the President’s allegiance to the rule of law, then I would submit that Mr. Biden’s hardship might well be viewed as a helpful if unintended sacrifice in the political war being waged to save our democracy.