I am writing to you through the looking glass — I just finished teaching my first political journalism class.
No one walked out! (Of course no one walked in either!)
I was nervous but genuinely appreciated all the good advice you gave me on how to handle myself in this post.
Mondays — at least in the fall semester — will be slower posting days for me as I teach and hold office hours (like a real professor!).
Thanks, in advance, for understanding.
Before I go, I wanted to share one story — for the comments section — that I read today and thought was really, really good.
It’s in the New York Times — detailing the closeness of the relationship between Joe and Hunter Biden.
People who know both men say their bond is singular in its intensity. But even allies of President Biden, who prides himself on his political and human instincts, say he has at times been too deferential to his younger son, appearing unwilling to tell him no, despite Hunter’s problems and his long trail of bad decisions.
As Damon Linker and I discussed in this space a few weeks ago, the president clearly has a blind spot when it comes to his son. And that is a political problem heading into 2024.
Read the whole thing. And let me know what you think of the Joe-Hunter relationship in the comments section below.
I admire Biden for his “blind spot.” I think he should own it. Why not say out loud, “Hunter has his problems, but not one of them has negatively affected the country or me as the Vice President or President of the United States. Can my opponent say the same? No, he cannot. My opponent barely acknowledges his male children, except when he can use them to do his dirty work or grease the skids for the disaster bus. My opponent wants to bed his daughter. My opponent appointed his son in law to conduct Middle East peace negotiations and voila - he got billions of dollars out of it after he left the government. When you naysayers can tell me how my loving my son, or my son’s addictions, dealmaking, and philandering - however shady you find them - has negatively affected this country in any meaningful way, I’ll step up with criticism and appropriate action. In the meantime, please leave him alone. The DOJ will address his law breaking. I’m going to stick by him as a father. The end.”
Are you suggesting that Joe Biden should disown his son, Hunter? I’m not sure what you are asking. There are great parents out there that have troubled children and it is very difficult for them. I read some of Hunter Biden’s texts that were published and it appears that he may have been (or maybe still) suicidal. Joe Biden has already lost 2 children and he does not want to lose a third. I know people that have suffered from clinical depression and other mental health issues and that is extremely difficult. I can’t imagine what a parent goes through. There are no simple solutions. If Joe Biden decided to keep a long distance from his son for political reasons, I would think much less of him.