Patterico's Pontifications

10/22/2020

WSJ News Side: No Evidence of a Role for Joe Biden in Bobulinski Venture

Filed under: General — Patterico @ 8:18 pm



The Wall Street Journal news side has an article refuting the nonsense the opinion side has been spouting over the last 24 hours:

In a statement to reporters Thursday, Anthony Bobulinski said that in 2017 Hunter Biden consulted his father about a planned venture with Chinese oil company CEFC China Energy Co. to invest in the U.S. and elsewhere. Mr. Bobulinski was also a partner.

The venture—set up in 2017 after Mr. Biden left the vice presidency and before his presidential campaign—never received proposed funds from the Chinese company or completed any deals, according to people familiar with the matter. Corporate records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show no role for Joe Biden.

“Joe Biden has never even considered being involved in business with his family, nor in any overseas business whatsoever. He has never held stock in any such business arrangements nor has any family member or any other person ever held stock for him,” said Biden campaign spokesman Andrew Bates in a statement.

. . . .

Text messages and emails related to the venture that were provided to the Journal by Mr. Bobulinski, mainly the spring and summer of 2017, don’t show either Hunter Biden or James Biden discussing a role for Joe Biden in the venture.

Mr. Gilliar, told the Journal: “I would like to clear up any speculation that former Vice President Biden was involved with the 2017 discussions about our potential business structure. I am unaware of any involvement at anytime of the former Vice President. The activity in question never delivered any project revenue.”

Losing presidential candidate Donald J. Trump hardest hit.

109 Responses to “WSJ News Side: No Evidence of a Role for Joe Biden in Bobulinski Venture”

  1. Is this the same WSJ news side that had a snowflake eruption at the opinion side?

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  2. I stopped my WSJ subscription last year, but I wonder how much of a kickback Bobulinski is getting. Something is not on the up and up, and same with the “laptop” story.

    Paul Montagu (c8ec6a)

  3. Voter suppression tactics. People are not all that enthused about Biden/Harris to begin with, most will be voting their revulsion of Trump, so anything that provokes an “Oh, why bother?” attitude helps Trump.

    nk (1d9030)

  4. I felt that watching a Lincoln Project ad. Negativity wears thin pretty quickly, and its main effect is to put people off the entire process. If I did not have an eighteen-year old daughter for whom I want a world where Donald Trumps do not flourish, I would have said “a pox on both your houses, neither one of you is worth my vote”.

    nk (1d9030)

  5. Mark Hemingway [RealClearInvestigations]
    @Heminator
    ·
    1/ So let’s unpack the news story in the WSJ on the Biden deal, and it’s supposed “debunking” of what the WSJ opinion side is saying. So the opinion side, namely @kimstrassel, reports on Tony Bobulinski’s claims regarding working with the Bidens (Hunter and Joe’s…

    2/ …brother Jim) on a China venture. Bobulinski claims he’s recruited to work on the China deal by another businessman named James Gillar. Bobulinski alleges that Hunter and Jim were doing deals with Biden’s knowledge and leveraging the Biden name as well as Joe’s…

    3/ …influence, but in such a way as to publicly hide Joe Biden’s involvement. Specifically, Bobulinski points to a text where it says 10% of the deal is to be “held by H [Hunter] for the big guy?” with the “big guy” being alleged to be Joe Biden. Strassel reports…

    4/ …all this and more. The news side writes a story about all this that is tonally guarded, but factually correct as far as I can tell. Despite the news side trying to be careful, it doesn’t directly contradict or disprove Bobulinski’s allegations.

    5/ The news story reports that “corporate records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show no role for Joe Biden.” Well, yes, the point was to keep Joe Biden from being publicly associated with the deals. Of course, Joe Biden isn’t going to be on the paperwork.

    6/ Further, Gillar tells the WSJ news side he had no knowledge of Biden’s involvement. Here’s the quote: “I would like to clear up any speculation that former Vice President Biden was involved with the 2017 discussions about our potential business structure.

    7/ I am unaware of any involvement at anytime of the former Vice President. The activity in question never delivered any project revenue.” The second sentence is conditional and doesn’t clear up any speculation. It’s possible Bobulinski was made aware of Joe Biden’s…

    8/ …involvement like he claims, but Gillar was not. Here’s where it gets odd. As for whether the critical text alleging Joe Biden was the “big guy” being cut in on the deal with his stake being held by his son, “Mr. Gilliar didn’t respond to a request for comment…

    9/ …on that message.” Again, the facts could change but it appears that the news story was carefully written, and it doesn’t debunk Bobulinski’s allegations. Strassel further makes the observation that the Biden campaign concedes the deal was…

    10/ …real: https://twitter.com/KimStrassel/status/1319484649727389698?s=20…
    _________

    Kimberley Strassel
    @KimStrassel
    ·
    Note this huge point from WSJ news story: It (and Biden campaign) proceed from position these emails are authentic, this happened. Only issue is whether Joe invested (not whether he knew, or son’s behavior). Enough with “disinformation” claims. Real.

    https://wsj.com/articles/hunter-bidens-ex-business-partner-alleges-father-knew-about-venture-11603421247
    ________

    10/ cont. There’s a larger narrative here, in the context of the liberal reporters on the news side not liking the conservative opinion side, but clearly people want this story to be a bigger conflict than the facts on the page make it out…

    11/ …to be. Everyone wants this Biden corruption story to just go away, but so far new facts keep raising new questions. FIN.

    https://twitter.com/Heminator/status/1319492595408621569?s=20
    __ _

    harkin (7fb4c9)

  6. And in other news, the Watergate break-in ends w/t five burglars. 😉

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  7. In which I continue not to vote for Hunter Biden for President.

    Nic (896fdf)

  8. I’m happy I’m voting for Joe Biden rather than Hunter Biden, but let’s be real, at this point I would vote for Hunter Biden over Trump.

    Repudiation of these last 4 years is VERY important to me.

    Nate (1f1d55)

  9. @7. In which I continue not to vote for Hunter Biden for President.

    Or Billy Carter!! 😉

    ‘The Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, defended his nation’s relationship with Billy Carter today and said the $220,000 given to the President’s brother was a loan related to business transactions carried out during two visits, in 1978 and 1979.’ -source, NYTimesarchives

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  10. @8. Repudiation of these last 4 years is VERY important to me.

    Repudiation of the past 56 years is even MORE important to me.

    Welcome to 1964.

    Glorious. 😉

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  11. Repudiation of the past 56 years is even MORE important to me.

    Your interesting interpretation of history as reaganergonomics and pentagon papers and the Dynasty show is not actually on the ballot.

    Trump is though. Nick can actually specifically reject Trump, and so can the majority of American voters. Hopefully louder than the last time.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  12. @11. Except it is.

    Trump’s essentially a ‘Rockefeller Republican.’ Very much a J.R. Ewing/Larson E. Whipsnade type; entertaning. Plagiarist JoeyBee is darker; doom and gloom; more Clyburn’s ‘Creature From The Black Lagoon.’ Or is it Scranton, today. 😉

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  13. @12 trump is not rocky he is a populist. Neither neo-cons or economic conservatives are now welcome in the populist republican party. You can be a social conservative ;but not a free trader economic conservative and be in a populist party. Trump is playing to his base even if/when he loses. You never trumpers will not be welcome and neither will the free trader donor class.

    asset (3c513a)

  14. If I did not have an eighteen-year old daughter for whom I want a world where Donald Trumps do not flourish, I would have said “a pox on both your houses, neither one of you is worth my vote”.
    nk (1d9030) — 10/22/2020 @ 9:37 pm

    I respect the h3ll out of that. Pick a side – the one who takes the middle-of-the-road gets run over.

    felipe (023cc9)

  15. @5 Nice counterpoint, harkin.

    norcal (a5428a)

  16. ‘The Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, defended his nation’s relationship with Billy Carter today and said the $220,000 given to the President’s brother was a loan related to business transactions carried out during two visits, in 1978 and 1979.’ -source, NYTimesarchives

    It’s amazing to me that no one questions the Obama/Biden decision to take out Qaddafi, which plunged Libya into chaos, costing thousands of lives and displacing thousands more. It also gave ISIS a huge foothold in North Africa.

    The worst part – Obama/Biden never offered to fix what they destroyed.

    Hoi Polloi (92d467)

  17. Hoi Polloi (92d467) — 10/23/2020 @ 4:27 am

    Come on man! If you can’t decide whether Lydia was a good thing you ain’t in favor of the modern slave trade. Jack!

    frosty (f27e97)

  18. Come on man! If you can’t decide whether Lydia was a good thing you ain’t in favor of the modern slave trade. Jack!
    frosty (f27e97) — 10/23/2020 @ 5:12 am

    LOL

    Hoi Polloi (92d467)

  19. Hoi Polloi there is another bad consequence to taking out Qaddafi. He gave up his nuke program about 8 years earlier. You can bet Kim Jong-un and Ayatollah Khamenei noticed and have proceeded accordingly.

    Mattsky (55d339)

  20. ‘The Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, defended his nation’s relationship with Billy Carter today and said the $220,000 given to the President’s brother was a loan related to business transactions carried out during two visits, in 1978 and 1979.’ -source, NYTimesarchives

    It’s amazing to me that no one questions the Obama/Biden decision to take out Qaddafi, which plunged Libya into chaos, costing thousands of lives and displacing thousands more. It also gave ISIS a huge foothold in North Africa.

    The worst part – Obama/Biden never offered to fix what they destroyed.

    Hoi Polloi (92d467) — 10/23/2020 @ 4:27 am

    It’s too bad they didn’t dig into differences like this. It would have been interesting to hear them discuss if it’s better to eliminate a dictator like Qaddifi or appease them. I’d argue that Trumps approach is worse but would have been good to hear Biden’s answer.

    Time123 (d1bf33)

  21. In the debate Joe said his son didn’t make money from China. That is a lie.

    In 2012, Archer and Hunter talked to Jonathan Li, who ran a Chinese private-equity fund, Bohai Capital, about becoming partners in a new company that would invest Chinese capital—and, potentially, capital from other countries—in companies outside China. In June, 2013, Li, Archer, and other business partners signed a memorandum of understanding to create the fund, which they named BHR Partners, and, in November, they signed contracts related to the deal. Hunter became an unpaid member of BHR’s board but did not take an equity stake in BHR Partners until after his father left the White House.

    https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/07/08/will-hunter-biden-jeopardize-his-fathers-campaign

    Mattsky (55d339)

  22. It’s amazing to me that no one questions the Obama/Biden decision to take out Qaddafi, which plunged Libya into chaos, costing thousands of lives and displacing thousands more. It also gave ISIS a huge foothold in North Africa.

    This is a rather remarkable misrepresentation of what actually transpired.

    Libya was “plunged into chaos” by domestic opposition to Qaddafi, following the Arab Spring revolutions in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt.

    Western intervention to establish a no-fly zone only followed brutal military attacks, air strikes on civilian targets, and human rights abuses by Qaddafi loyalists and mercenaries. Many abuses genuinely took place, but others were later found to have been exaggerated or fabricated.

    Obama initially resisted British and French calls for intervention, but the US senate passed a unanimous resolution calling for establishment of a no-fly zone, and with support of the Arab League, the UN Security Council first unanimously (15-0) imposed sanctions on Qaddafi, and later unanimously (10-0, with five abstentions) ordered the no-fly zone.

    Obama made clear that the US involvement was limited and intended to support other coalition partners who would take primary responsibility for the operation.

    The worst part – Obama/Biden never offered to fix what they destroyed.

    In June, less than three months after NATO-led intervention began, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives passed resolutions calling for immediate withdrawal of US forces and denied funds to continue the operation; thus there was no way to combat ISIS or “fix what they destroyed” (a brutal dictatorship).

    The 2012 elections in Libya were free and fair but the Islamist and secular factions were unable to work together or maintain security, and full-scale civil war eventually resumed.

    Dave (1bb933)

  23. It still amazes me that this Hunter Biden corruption attack is the best they can come up.

    Apparently it is.

    It looks like they were planning it since the beginning of the year.

    Given that it seems incompetent that they haven’t been trying to prepare this story better. Biden’s been a typical politician for years. There are plenty of stories of him getting typical politician perks. Things that while not illegal, still show less character then we’d like in a president. If they’d spent more time pushing story lines about him getting sweetheart loans, using connections to help family members, buying land at cost, getting carve outs for lobbyists when this story broke it might have had more impact since it would have been part of a larger narrative. The end result would have been less superficial contrast between Biden and Trump.

    But instead they spent their time telling the public that Biden is a corpse being used as a puppet by the squad. An accusation Biden’s been able to refute by pretty easily.

    Trump really is incompetent.

    Time123 (d1bf33)

  24. Obama claimed the Libya after math and lack of planning for it was his worst mistake.

    In a Fox News interview last Sunday, Obama was asked about his “worst mistake.” It’s a classic gotcha question, but he had an answer ready. “Probably failing to plan for the day after, what I think was the right thing to do, in intervening in Libya.” This was yet another act of presidential contrition for the NATO operation in 2011 that helped to overthrow Muammar Qaddafi but left the country deeply unstable. In 2014, Obama said: “[W]e [and] our European partners underestimated the need to come in full force if you’re going to do this. Then it’s the day after Qaddafi is gone, when everybody is feeling good and everybody is holding up posters saying, ‘Thank you, America.’ At that moment, there has to be a much more aggressive effort to rebuild societies that didn’t have any civic traditions.”

    https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2016/04/obamas-worst-mistake-libya/478461/

    Mattsky (55d339)

  25. In the debate Joe said his son didn’t make money from China. That is a lie.

    The question Biden was answering was:

    [30:41] Welker: All right, gentlemen, let me just ask some questions about all of this broadly. Vice President Biden, there have been questions about the work your son has done in China, and for Ukrainian energy company when you were Vice President. In retrospect, was anything about those relationships inappropriate or unethical?[emphasis added]

    And as your quotation confirms, Biden’s son was not paid by, or invested in, that particular company while his father was in office.

    Dave (1bb933)

  26. Dave, this is technically correct. But I don’t think anyone should care very much. It’s corrupt and scummy and the fact that it’s not technically illegal doesn’t make it right.

    Time123 (d1bf33)

  27. Obama claimed the Libya after math and lack of planning for it was his worst mistake.

    Whether it was his “worst” mistake or not, I think his analysis of what went wrong is basically correct.

    It’s the same error Bush made (and admitted to) in the aftermath of removing Saddam Hussein.

    And it happened for very similar reasons: in both cases too much credence was given to rosy predictions by exiled opposition leaders, and the well-meaning decision to try using the minimum “footprint” backfired because there were no institutions capable of supporting an immediate transition to democracy, and resistance to liberalization from former regime elements and Jihadists proved much stronger than anticipated.

    In Obama’s defense, it was a problem that some of our allies, who had supported, and continued to support, efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq at our request felt was quite serious (given that Libya is next-door to some of them) felt directly threatened their security. Obama and the US did not “lead the charge” in Libya, but refusing to help our allies deal with a crisis in their own back yard would have been a mistake.

    Dave (1bb933)

  28. It’s corrupt and scummy and the fact that it’s not technically illegal doesn’t make it right.

    I don’t think it’s quite so black/white.

    Is the statement that the immediate (or extended?) family of anyone who runs for president (or vice president?) has to abandon their employment if it involves any foreign or domestic matter that might come before the government at some point, before, during or after their term of office, lest the appearance of a conflict arise?

    That seems quite extreme and unreasonable. How many parents would tell a child: “Give up your career for the sake of mine”?

    On the other hand, the possibility of real corruption can’t be ignored either.

    Dave (1bb933)

  29. In the debate Joe said his son didn’t make money from China. That is a lie.

    Dave’s specific point aside, do you care? Ivanka and China are worse right? Jared and the ventilator your city hospital needed are worse right? Trump and Turkey are worse right? Biden’s kid is no good, but he wasn’t even in the administration and that didn’t actually happen during the administration (not that this really makes Hunter OK in my book).

    But do you really care about this, or is this just a stacking up ammo for Team R vs Team D to throw at eachother, while neither really care?

    Dustin (4237e0)

  30. That’s just what they want you to think!

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  31. Dave & Dustin, Yes, Trump > Biden for corruption.

    But that doesn’t mean what hunter did wasn’t corrupt. Also, i haven’t heard anyone offer a defense that Hunter brought anything to the table beyond his father’s name.

    Time123 (653992)

  32. Another Trump whopper:

    And you do live very well. You have houses all over the place. You live very well.

    Every Trump accusation is actually a confession…

    Where are Joe Biden’s homes?

    Biden’s current home is located in Greenville, Delaware, in the Wilmington suburb.

    He purchased the 6,850 square foot property in 1996 for $350,000.

    Since then, the market value has increased, making the home worth nearly $1million.

    While he was vice president he rented out the home to the secret service for $2,200 and wanted to sell it when his son Beau got brain cancer to afford his treatments.

    However, President Obama at the time convinced him not to and loaned him the money instead.

    In 2017, Jill and Joe purchased another property in Delaware for $2.7million.

    The home is a short walk from the beach and has six bedrooms and outdoor amenities for entertaining guests.

    It is located in Rehoboth beach and it overlooks Cape Henlopen State Park.

    The beachfront property was purchased after Biden signed a book deal after leaving office.

    Considering that his wife also had a professional career teaching at community colleges for decades, a book deal, and income from speaking engagements, it hardly seems like the Bidens are “living large”.

    Dave (1bb933)

  33. But that doesn’t mean what hunter did wasn’t corrupt. Also, i haven’t heard anyone offer a defense that Hunter brought anything to the table beyond his father’s name.

    Time123 (653992) — 10/23/2020 @ 7:27 am

    there is no real defense. I guess this isn’t bribery or anything quite like that but it’s totally unacceptable.

    My ‘what about Trump’ isn’t an effort to say Hunter Biden is OK or anything like that. I’d go farther and say I am sure Joe Biden was aware of this stuff and could have shut it down easily, but didnt. A lot of politicians have embraced this crap for a long time.

    But for Rudy to bring us his concerns about government corruption, for example, lends itself to the question: you guys serious about the issue? Y’all want a clean government? We coulda had Cruz.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  34. Voter suppression tactics. People are not all that enthused about Biden/Harris to begin with, most will be voting their revulsion of Trump, so anything that provokes an “Oh, why bother?” attitude helps Trump.

    The real voter suppression effort comes from both major parties themselves, which are so bankrupt that THIS pair are their nominees. “Why bother?” started some time ago, perhaps as early as March 2016.

    Joe Biden is barely palatable to many Democrats, who wanted someone like Warren or Bernie, and his only quality to those to the right is that he is not Donald Trump.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  35. @4,

    OH! Never mind.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  36. Is the statement that the immediate (or extended?) family of anyone who runs for president (or vice president?) has to abandon their employment if it involves any foreign or domestic matter that might come before the government at some point, before, during or after their term of office, lest the appearance of a conflict arise?

    A point I have tried to make regarding businessmen like Trump, and the expansive readings of the emoluments clause. That Trump IS corrupt (and I fear we will find just how corrupt) does not lessen this argument.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  37. Is always good augury when people agree, Comrade Kevin. Not jinx, like capitalist revisionists say.

    Speaking of the augury, is secret meeting with Veselnitsakaya in 2016 presage open meeting with Bobulinski in 2020 or is only show lack of imagination on part of FSB and Trump too?

    nk (1d9030)

  38. We coulda had Cruz.

    At this point, “We coulda had [Rubio | Jeb | Kasich]” works, too.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  39. I am surprise though that there is Libya left. I am have impression that Trump eat up all Libya in 2016. Is now maybe serve “recycled”?

    nk (1d9030)

  40. Kevin, There are ways to deal with this that, while imperfect, are much better then what Trump did. If there are external complications for a Candidate I hold it against them. The more important the office, the more it matters. At the point where you want to be president I think divestiture and blind trusts are appropriate.

    When Biden was VP he *should* have recused himself from being point on Ukraine once Hunter was working at Bursima.

    Time123 (d1bf33)

  41. Ha, ha, ha! This is a photo of Bobulinski from Fox News. Trump really does have a thing for sailors.

    One more like classic joke some of you may know, comrades. Don Jr. literally catch Tartar with Natalia Veselnitskaya.

    nk (1d9030)

  42. At this point, “We coulda had [Rubio | Jeb | Kasich]” works, too.

    Kevin M (ab1c11) — 10/23/2020 @ 7:51 am

    For sure. On the one hand, how selfish of every one of them, Cruz included, not to accept the situation and unify around a reasonable nevertrump choice. But any of them. Dick Cheney. The guy Dick Cheney shot in the face. The dog they brought on the trip. I’m flexible here.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  43. I am bothered that I can spell Natalia Veselnitskaya by heart.

    nk (1d9030)

  44. This is a rather remarkable misrepresentation of what actually transpired.

    Dave, I think the British report ably described how badly we and the Brits and NATO botched Libya. It was as if Hillary-Obama-Biden learned nothing from Iraq 2003.

    Paul Montagu (3d403f)

  45. @Pat: Why did you choose to highlight this blurb?
    Corporate records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show no role for Joe Biden.

    I mean, the allegation presumes that things like that wouldn’t show up in a legit Corporate records.

    I also think we should keep in mind that what Hunter was alleged to do…isn’t illegal. If there’s any illegality, it may be for tax avoidance and/or FARA violations. But, using your family connections in a pay-to-play scheme isn’t necessarily illegal…just shady, scummy and unethical.

    How else are Congressional critters getting wealthy once in office?

    whembly (c30c83)

  46. How else are Congressional critters getting wealthy once in office?

    Their family members launder the bribes?

    Now let’s talk about the $105 million and still counting that we (that’s you and me and all the other taxpayers) have paid to Trump’s country clubs for his golf outings.

    And if we have time, we can talk about Elaine Chao and Kelly Loeffler too.

    nk (1d9030)

  47. We coulda had Cruz.

    f rum wins, you may just end u w/him for life o/t SCOTUS. Trump will almost certainly have one- perhaps two more sets to fill in the next 4 years. Ideological conservatives could end up w/a SCOTUS as a consolation prize for the next 40 years.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  48. ^If Trump

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  49. We coulda had Cruz.
    Texas has him; welcome to Hell. 😉

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  50. Has anybody ever seen Ted Cruz and Linda Sarsour together?

    nk (1d9030)

  51. 24. Obama:

    there has to be a much more aggressive effort to rebuild societies that didn’t have any civic traditions.”

    It wouldn’t be a problem if there weren’t dictatorships around the world trying to make sure that an overthrow of a dictatorship would not have a happy result. The problem was not lack of civic traditions. Democracy is a catchy idea. There was enough help coming from the democracies.

    The problem was foreign intervention by dictatorships, and the same thing happened in Iraq in 2003.

    It didn’t happen with the Kurds in 1991 and it wouldn’t have happened had George Bush the Elder finished Saddam Hussein off in 1991. No foreign dictatorship was prepared to sabotage a transition to democracy at that time.

    Sammy Finkelman (a69e24)

  52. It was as if Hillary-Obama-Biden learned nothing from Iraq 2003.

    Maybe I’m misremembering, but my recollection is that Obama was a very reluctant participant, and Britain/France/Italy committed to doing the heavy lifting, with us handling the EW, intel and logistics stuff that nobody else can.

    We did end up lighting off some pricey cruise missiles, though.

    Dave (1bb933)

  53. @51 Democracy is catchy, but it isn’t easy. It requires a high level of personal restraint from people with personal power and it requires that everyone be willing to tolerate risk, change, and ideas they don’t like. None of these are natural to many people and some are not natural to most people.

    Nic (896fdf)

  54. But do you really care about this, or is this just a stacking up ammo for Team R vs Team D to throw at eachother, while neither really care?

    I do care. I voted third party in 2016. I wish the Dems would have nominated a person I could vote for. Joe isn’t as sleazy as Trump isn’t a good campaign slogan. The China and Ukraine crap isn’t something new. The Ukraine was when Joe was the point man in the Ukraine with a billion $. There is no way his son gets that job if it wasn’t for Joe being VP.

    I was hoping the Dems would find a reasonable moderate to nominate. There wasn’t much in the field to choose from. I could see my self voting for Bullock or may be even Gabbard.

    This also bothers me with Biden: New Stanford Study Suggests Biden’s Agenda Will Have 4 Devastating Economic Consequences

    https://fee.org/articles/new-stanford-study-suggests-bidens-agenda-will-have-4-devastating-economic-consequences/

    The sleaze and dooming the economy isn’t a good combo. Foreign policy wise I don’t think Biden offers much either. Plus his obvious mental decline is an issue. His VP choice compounds it. I have no medical background but I’ve seen this with both my parents. I do volunteer work with the elderly 3 – 5 days a week too. So I’m around it and I saw it in Joe back in January. It will only gets worse. I wonder in a Biden victory who will actually be running things.

    November 3rd I’ll be voting for either Jo Jorgensen or Trump. I have 11 days to decide.

    Mattsky (55d339)

  55. None of these are natural to many people and some are not natural to most people.

    I don’t think Bush and Obama’s errors were due to *people* not being ready for democracy.

    What was not understood properly is the importance of social institutions that buttress it.

    Countries that have been under the thumb of dictatorships for years – like Iraq, Libya, Russia – have systematically eliminated any institutions that could stand apart from with the totalitarian (hence the name) state.

    The rule of law, property rights, pluralism, tolerance, independent religious, business, labor and community organizations – these are all things dictators either crush or take over, because they are potential alternative centers of power.

    And, tragically, it’s a lot easier to hold an election than it is to replace them.

    This makes the success of democracy in nearly all the former Soviet puppet states even more remarkable. (Reaganomics!)

    But in Russia, Byelorussia and much of the former Soviet Union, it has failed.

    Dave (1bb933)

  56. @51 Democracy is catchy, but it isn’t easy. It requires a high level of personal restraint from people with personal power and it requires that everyone be willing to tolerate risk, change, and ideas they don’t like. None of these are natural to many people and some are not natural to most people.

    Nic (896fdf) — 10/23/2020 @ 11:24 am

    If only each candidate and especially winner of elections at a higher level, Senators, Presidents obviously, would start saying this all the time. We don’t know what we have. It’s precious and Putin is making an effective attack on it.

    Because democracies have turned to have a powerful historic effect on reducing war (between democracies) Russia and Iran and any other countries trying to undermine elections are attacking the world’s safety. Just think about the impact of the USA’s attack on Iran’s last true election. Led directly to the world’s foremost supporter of terrorism. This is one reason I support Romney… he is the only leader who really caught this early.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  57. I think the institutions definitely are important. (One of my major worries about Trump is his continued undermining of governmental institutions) But the other parts need to be there too, or you just end up like a lot of S. American states where you have rolling instability and dictators interspersed with the occasional spurt of democracy. E. Europe was lucky in that it had a few hundred years of enlightenment thinking already embedded in the culture before the USSR took them over, so that a lot of the underlying values were already there when they had the chance to switch over to Democracy, along with a very close view of the advantages held by their W. European neighbors.

    Nic (896fdf)

  58. There is no way his son gets that job if it wasn’t for Joe being VP.

    So his son got a lucky break.

    His dad helped get a prosecutor (recognized as corrupt by the whole world) fired, clearing the way for increased US aid to this democratic country under siege by Putin, and increasing the chances of his son’s company being held accountable for any illegal activity.

    That harmed you, or America, how exactly?

    It obviously harmed Putin, which is why he worked hard to get his lapdog Trump into office, and is working hard now to keep him there.

    Dave (1bb933)

  59. Freedom is catchy… like a certain not-to-be-named-virus. “Democracy”… ehhh, maybe not so much.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  60. f rum wins, you may just end u w/him for life o/t SCOTUS. Trump will almost certainly have one- perhaps two more sets to fill in the next 4 years. Ideological conservatives could end up w/a SCOTUS as a consolation prize for the next 40 years.

    DCSCA (797bc0) — 10/23/2020 @ 10:57 am

    LOL if Trump wins

    you think an undecided voter is persuaded by Trump’s talk about saving steel and his Michael Scott impression I AM THE LEAST RACIST MAN IN ALL OF THE UNIVERSE?

    I think the unfair moderator will build enthusiasm for his voters, but tha’ts about it. The election was looking awful for Trump. If he wins that means the media completely lied to us (not remotely like the upset in 2016).

    undecideds were probably not convinced by Biden’s nicer lying but they would be less upset by it too.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  61. @57 “It’s precious and Putin is making an effective attack on it.”

    Exactly. Frex, we need to quit playing games that politicize the election process. If we think we need voter IDs, which probably isn’t a bad idea in and of itself, then we need to be willing to put the time and the effort (and the money) into making sure everyone eligible to vote has an ID that will let them do so instead of playing access games with it so that it looks like a racist attack from the right and is a poisoned well from the left.

    Nic (896fdf)

  62. @61. you think an undecided voter is persuaded by Trump’s talk about saving steel and his Michael Scott impression I AM THE LEAST RACIST MAN IN ALL OF THE UNIVERSE?

    ROFLMAO Biden is a racist– and these are just from the 2000s:

    “You got the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean, that’s a storybook, man.” – Joe Biden, racist, 2008

    “We should challenge students in these schools. We have this notion that somehow if you’re poor, you cannot do it. Poor kids are just as bright and just as talented as white kids.” – Joe Biden, racist, 2019

    “I’ve had a great relationship. In Delaware, the largest growth in population is Indian-Americans moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-Eleven or a Dunkin’ Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I’m not joking,” – Joe Biden, racist, 2014

    “Well, I tell you what, if you have a problem figuring out whether you’re for me or Trump, then you ain’t black.” – Joe Biden, racist, 2020

    “That’s one of the things that he finds was most in need when he was over there in Iraq for a year,” Biden said during remarks at the 40th anniversary of the Legal Services Corporation. “That people would come to him and talk about what was happening to them at home in terms of foreclosures, in terms of bad loans that were being … I mean these Shylocks who took advantage of, um, these women and men while overseas.” – Joe Biden, racist and anti-semite, 2014

    -source,PJMedia

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  63. So his son got a lucky break.

    Influence peddling: Reaganomics.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  64. Biden does presser to handful of reporters;- no questions; railing against thunderstorms -err, the virus. Plagirized Obama speech. Again.

    Clyburn’s boy ends w/”Keep the faith.”

    Once you ‘owe’ blacks, you never go back, eh, Joe?

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  65. So his son got a lucky break.

    That harmed you, or America, how exactly?

    There was no luck involved. Hunter had no experience in the field or in that country. What did that company gain by having Hunter on their board? How can you justify what he was paid?
    How many US crack heads could land that deal?

    The harm with this is it puts unfriendly foreign nationals in a position of holding something over Biden head that could be exploited.

    Mattsky (55d339)

  66. The harm with this is it puts unfriendly foreign nationals in a position of holding something over Biden head that could be exploited.

    … which we already have with Trump.

    Radegunda (20775b)

  67. @66 Lets broaden this out a little. There are a hell of a lot of politicians who have kids in business and may/may not be trading on mom or dad’s name and power to get ahead or who have a spouse in business who are trading on their spouse’s name/connections, or who themselves take a job on a board of a company they had a significant role regarding while they were in office. Have you thought about how to stop this? Because I have and I can’t think of a constitutional way to do it.

    Nic (896fdf)

  68. Nic (896fdf) — 10/23/2020 @ 11:57 am

    making sure everyone eligible to vote has an ID

    Some of the states that issue voter ID cards, e.g. GA, MS, and states that require ID allow a variety of methods. Something like the free voter ID cards in GA should suffice generally. Just make the requirements to get the card the same as establishing your eligibility to vote.

    frosty (f27e97)

  69. The venture—set up in 2017 after Mr. Biden left the vice presidency and before his presidential campaign—never received proposed funds from the Chinese company or completed any deals, according to people familiar with the matter. Corporate records reviewed by The Wall Street Journal show no role for Joe Biden.

    LOL. Gee….back in the day the oil company my old man worked for ‘written corporate records’ show no suggest employees ‘kick back’– err, donate, $ to a certain congressman’s campaign either. The ‘suggestion’ was verbal and pissed my old man off when the suits would bring it up at lnch in the corporate dining room.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  70. 66. Mattsky (55d339) — 10/23/2020 @ 12:25 pm

    What did that company gain by having Hunter on their board?

    1. A pliant director, who wold enable Mychola Zlochevsky to continue to control the company.

    2. Recommendations of Delaware lawyers to hire as consultants, who could come up with ideas, some already abolished in the United States, for maintaining control.

    3. The appearance of corruption, so that people in Ukraine would think the fix was in, even though it wasn’t, and wouldn’t fight the company’s machinations too hard.

    None of that is illegal.

    Sammy Finkelman (a69e24)

  71. @68. There’s ‘J.R. Ewing corruption’; there’s ‘Larson E Whipsnade corruption’… even ‘Hedley Lamarr corruption’- and then there ‘James Mattoon Scott corruption.’

    See if you can figure out the differences.

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  72. @69 as long as the accessability is good for everyone. A person in Appalachia and a person in the DC ghetto and a person on the res in NM should have as much access to get a voter ID as a person in suburban Connecticut or Beverly Hills. And it shouldn’t cost anything. Also, the hours of the office issuing them should not be stupid.

    (I have a personal hobby-hours about government business hours being when everyone is at work. Public facing government offices should be open when people are NOT working, so that they can access them w/out having to take time off. 11AM to 8PM would be good. Then they are available to people working regular hours, people working swing, people working overnight, and people doing early morning. Especially for benefit offices that serve poor people.)

    Nic (896fdf)

  73. Nic (896fdf) — 10/23/2020 @ 12:36 pm

    There are a hell of a lot of politicians who have kids in business and may/may not be trading on mom or dad’s name and power to get ahead

    If Hunter was a surgeon and Biden was proposing a modification of the ACA no one would be complain. This isn’t really an issue about “hav[ing] kids in business”.

    Have you thought about how to stop this? Because I have and I can’t think of a constitutional way to do it.

    Yes. Free speech and voting. If there’s a case of a potential conflict of interest make it public and let the voters decide. It’s not a binary choice.

    The problem in this case isn’t that Biden’s son worked for a company in Ukraine in a general sense. The problem is this company was credibility accused of corruption, the company was trying to leverage political advantage in several countries to avoid any fallout from that, Hunter provided no skills a reasonable personal can identify other than helping them make political connections, etc.

    That problem is compounded by, formally credible, press outfits saying they refuse to take the story or implying that covering this or discussing it is unpatriotic. As much as I think the emails might be a big deal I don’t know how we walk back how the press has dealt with this.

    frosty (f27e97)

  74. 1. A pliant director, who wold enable Mychola Zlochevsky to continue to control the company. A home grown one would have come a lot cheaper.

    2. Recommendations of Delaware lawyers to hire as consultants, who could come up with ideas, some already abolished in the United States, for maintaining control.

    I think they could have found sleazy lawyers on their own.

    3. The appearance of corruption, so that people in Ukraine would think the fix was in, even though it wasn’t, and wouldn’t fight the company’s machinations too hard.

    You think they were looking for the appearance of corruption, and it helped them? Really?

    Mattsky (55d339)

  75. Nic (896fdf) — 10/23/2020 @ 12:54 pm

    Also, the hours of the office issuing them should not be stupid.

    Agree 100%. This is where I see an opportunity for voter registrations programs. If you need to create a photo voting ID there may be technical or logistical issues but I don’t see those as insurmountable.

    When I was a kid the “public library” came around on a bus. Organizing a get out the vote program around something like that and enough of a plan to minimize that turning into a fake ID side business seems possible.

    frosty (f27e97)

  76. Off-topic in the “Power of the Jump” department:

    A 19-year-old with a van full of guns and explosives plotted to assassinate Biden, federal officials say

    The 19-year-old searched online for Biden’s home address and for night-vision goggles, and purchased an AR-15 in New Hampshire, according to federal court documents first reported Thursday by WBTV. At one point in May, Treisman ended up at a Wendy’s within four miles of Biden’s home in Delaware. And when he was arrested later that month in North Carolina, police searching his van found four rifles, a 9mm handgun, explosive materials, books on bomb making, and $509,000 in cash that’s believed to be his inheritance.

    Bomb-making gun freak! These Trumpies are getting out of hand!

    Oh, wait. In the 15th paragraph (out of 20) one small fact dribbles out:

    The 19-year-old’s focus on Biden started in the spring, according to the order. Between March and May, Treisman ran a number of Google searches linked to his plot against Biden, including queries on state gun laws and rifle parts. Days after Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) suspended his presidential campaign, Treisman, who had suggested in a Reddit post that he had to “save bernie,” posted a meme with the caption questioning whether he should kill Biden.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  77. as long as the accessability is good for everyone.

    Until we’re able to register and vote at will from our barca lounges even after the polls are closed, accessibility will never be good enough for the Dems.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  78. Nic (896fdf) — 10/23/2020 @ 12:54 pm

    11AM to 8PM would be good. Then they are available to people working regular hours, people working swing, people working overnight, and people doing early morning. Especially for benefit offices that serve poor people.)

    actually variable hours on different days would be good.

    Some days 6 am, some days up to 9pm. The problem with 6am is that nobody knows how long it mayy take.

    Sammy Finkelman (a69e24)

  79. Both Biden and Trump are racists by some measures, and Trump more so. Neither is a white-supremacist (although Trump is a rich-supremacist).

    I doubt Trump treats blacks as social equals, and is always cognizant that a person he is interacting with is of some different race or even ethnicity.

    Biden has served in government for a very long time, and any racial attitudes he might have once held have diminished. He might, at times, become aware that someone he was dealing with was from another race or culture, but that isn’t his attitude going in.

    The first may mostly be due to social isolation, but it is clearly more problematic than the latter, which is common among people who really don’t want to be racist (and not just whites).

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  80. beer ‘n pretzels (042d67) — 10/23/2020 @ 1:15 pm

    It doesn’t have to be. It just needs to be good enough to get through a state legislature and not trigger any federal civil rights issues.

    frosty (f27e97)

  81. Have you thought about how to stop this? Because I have and I can’t think of a constitutional way to do it.

    Yes. Free speech and voting. If there’s a case of a potential conflict of interest make it public and let the voters decide. It’s not a binary choice.

    Yes AND we can make sure these things are very visible. MORE mandatory disclosure. More staffing for the SEC and IGs. More examination of the trading patterns of officials, staff, and their family.

    I don’t think Hunter or Joe broke the law. I think they benefitted from a corrupt system. I want the system made less corrupt. Trump claimed he would do that, he made it worse and I’m hoping Biden can get it back to it’s previous level of corruption.

    Time123 (797615)

  82. People under, oh, 40 (50?) operate differently as racial separation was never really a thing during their lives.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  83. @68. There’s ‘J.R. Ewing corruption’; there’s ‘Larson E Whipsnade corruption’… even ‘Hedley Lamarr corruption’- and then there ‘James Mattoon Scott corruption.’

    Currently we have Governor LaPetomaine corruption, which I guess is like Hedley.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  84. Mattsky (55d339) — 10/23/2020 @ 1:06 pm

    You think they were looking for the appearance of corruption, and it helped them? Really?

    Yes.

    This could not have been a real bribe. That;s not the way to do it.

    Giving money to the son of the Vice President would not have worked for the United States.

    They had to convince people in Ukraine, not people n the USA, that the fix was in.

    But how well did people in Ukraine understand how things worked in the United States? Especially if employees or lawyers for the company told people that the U.S. government in the final analysis, supported their position. People working in the State Department were hearing this kind of stuff.

    https://www.voanews.com/usa/republican-senate-report-bidens-son-alleges-conflict-interest

    The Senate report examines Hunter Biden’s dealings in Ukraine, where he held a paid seat on the board of gas company Burisma, and alleges that work posed a conflict of interest because Biden was vice president at the time and dealing with Ukraine policy.

    It references a 2016 email from George Kent, the former acting deputy chief of mission at the Kyiv embassy, that described the presence of Hunter Biden on the Burisma board as “very awkward for all U.S. officials pushing an anticorruption agenda in Ukraine.”

    Why was it awkward? because the company, or its minions, were saying the fix was in.

    The all important point is, it wasn’t true that the fix was in.

    (if it had been, Obama would have had to be part of the deal, and getting a kickback from the vice president)

    Sammy Finkelman (a69e24)

  85. Have you thought about how to stop this? Because I have and I can’t think of a constitutional way to do it.

    Yes. Free speech and voting. If there’s a case of a potential conflict of interest make it public and let the voters decide. It’s not a binary choice.

    A press that did not take sides would help. I see no good way to reconcile laws against trading on connections, and free enterprise. Only by bringing the acquiescence of the senior official to light can it be controlled. But that requires a press that is largely willing to do so fairly.

    And right now, no one goes into the newsroom and expects high fives for nailing Biden.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  86. Glad we’re tossing aside the “this is about corruption(!!)” puffery. It’s now “less corruption than that other guy” puffery.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  87. How is; “Trump’s corruption is horrible and we think Biden will be less corrupt” not about corruption?

    Also, let’s be clear. Hunter Biden is clearly corrupt and cashed in on his father’s name. As the post makes clear the evidence appears to be that Joe was not personally involved and did not personally profit or influence US policy to advantage his son.

    Time123 (235fc4)

  88. Glad we’re tossing aside the “this is about corruption(!!)” puffery. It’s now “less corruption than that other guy” puffery.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67) — 10/23/2020 @ 1:28 pm

    You keep putting words in people’s mouths. People criticizing Trump for corruption haven’t changed their minds. This is about Trump’s horrible corruption. The fact that Russia and useful idiots are promoting the muddy the waters strategy, that corruption doesn’t matter because everyone is corrupt, just look at someone who isn’t Joe Biden, that makes Trump’s corruption worse. The coordination and planning involves what Trump was impeached for.

    Dustin (4237e0)

  89. @74 “If there’s a potential conflict of interest make it public and let the voters decide.”
    It hasn’t seemed to work great so far.

    “The problem in this case…” It isn’t ever a problem when the politician is on the same side as the partisan. That’s the problem.

    The press issue comes if they think a story is a propaganda plant by a foreign government and someone else doesn’t. Or vice-versa. Even people who should know better seem to be latching on to ludicrous things with “if true, what a scandal it is!” “Or, the public deserves to discuss possible scandal” even if it is known to absolutely be false or if there’s a 99% possibility it’s false. (see Russian call girls and/or Pizzagate)”

    I don’t know if the emails are a big deal or not, but they don’t seem to have come through any kind of source that might be at all credible, which makes me think they are a scam, a plant, or an illegal hack.

    @76 That’s a really good idea!

    @79 That would work too.

    @83 There’s still racism in my generation, but you are right, it generally looks quite different than in earlier ones and (for the most part) isn’t nearly as extreme.

    @86 Depends on which newsrooms.

    Nic (896fdf)

  90. As the post makes clear the evidence appears to be that Joe was not personally involved and did not personally profit or influence US policy to advantage his son.

    So we’re farming out investigations to media outlets, and buying the days old conclusion wholesale. Is this a deficit reduction effort?

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  91. All politicians are corrupt. Barring open corruption (which Trump nibbles at), there are far more important issues. The economy, war, Covid, people’s expectations, upward mobility, all kinds of things more important than Trump lining some pockets; he’s hardly unique. The degree that it influenced his Covid response (not wanting to crater the tourism industry) is something I wish would be explored more.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  92. Ah Come On Man ……the “Big Guy” didn’t want his name connected to the Chinese venture because they were investing in bird’s nest soup futures and Joe did not want to upset PETA. Simple, innocuous explanation.

    Mock (fc6d93)

  93. As the post makes clear the evidence appears to be that Joe was not personally involved and did not personally profit or influence US policy to advantage his son.

    Not at all. The post makes clear that no written evidence has been found that shows that Joe was personally involved, or that he personally profited. He DID influence US policy and that MAY have helped his son.

    We have individuals who assert more of their own knowledge, but they could well be lying. They might all be lying.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  94. Salon has a piece on Giuliani seeing Hunter Biden’s personal information in May 2019, and it’s consistent with that TIME article.
    Bottom line to both: Hunter Biden was hacked by some bad actor, who then tried to sell the info to a high-bidding Trumpalista. How the blind computer guy was involved in this, still unclear, and there are lots of other questions that probably won’t get unraveled until after the election, which probably explains the timing.

    Paul Montagu (cbbfc4)

  95. @95: Love the focus on whatever illegal means was used to get the information, as opposed to the information itself.

    Kind of like everyone here was so very concerned about who leaked Trump’s tax returns and who illegally leaked Flynn classified info to WaPo.

    beer ‘n pretzels (042d67)

  96. No evidence? Come on man! Obama/biden administration allowed communist chinese co. to buy a strategic military company hennegis. Hunter biden was in on the deal.

    asset (bd2854)

  97. So now the hacks are going with “Yeah, they’re real, but there’s nothing incriminating.” Sorry, but if that were the case, you would have opened with that instead of “Russia! Russia! Russia!”

    Brendan (782967)

  98. Nic (896fdf) — 10/23/2020 @ 1:37 pm

    It hasn’t seemed to work great so far.

    Well, “great” is subjective. I’d agree it’s getting worse. Once you let the voters decide there’s always the chance that won’t go the way you want. It’s not a perfect system. How many people believe we didn’t land on the moon?

    Even people who should know better seem to be latching on to ludicrous things with “if true, what a scandal it is!” “Or, the public deserves to discuss possible scandal” even if it is known to absolutely be false or if there’s a 99% possibility it’s false. (see Russian call girls and/or Pizzagate)”

    I disagree with this 87.3%. How do “people” know better? Who are these “people” who are capable of deciding what should be out in the open and what should be ignored. The public has a right to know about possible scandals because there is no such thing as “known to absolutely be false”. And even if there were how this is discussed tells me about the people discussing it. I understand the need to filter the ludicrous so I’m not trying to push the extreme but I think the tendency should be for more information. In this Biden case it seems like at least some of the coverage is to protect Biden. That is a bad sign.

    frosty (f27e97)

  99. @99 We can’t filter everything, we have jobs and lives. This is why we have a press. We have left leaning press and right leaning press and press who don’t lean but everyone thinks they are leaning in the other guy’s direction. Yes, not reporting things that have a reasonable chance of being true is a problem, but reporting things that almost certainly aren’t is also a problem. They have to get the balance right.

    Nic (896fdf)

  100. Joe Treason/Bagpipes Barr/2024

    mg (8cbc69)

  101. Love the focus on whatever illegal means was used to get the information, as opposed to the information itself.

    Unlike the DNC email hacks, beer, you don’t know if all the stolen data came from Hunter or if some juicy bits were added in, which is why it needs verification.
    The Dems screamed pretty loud about the hacks, but part of the reason for their screaming is because they were trying to deflect attention away from their sh-tty behavior and inside dealing.

    Paul Montagu (cbbfc4)

  102. We have left leaning press and right leaning press and press who don’t lean but everyone thinks they are leaning in the other guy’s direction.

    Average them out and they lean left. Weight them by the “respect” they assign to each other, and they lean WAY left. Sure Fox News is slanted to the Trumpist direction (I have trouble calling this “right”; it’s not “left” but it’s a totally different direction than, say, WSJ or National Review).

    CNN used to be centrist but abandoned that some time ago; I sued to turn on CNN and expect the actual news, now I get Don Lemon and his ilk.

    I actually pay money to WaPo, LAT and NYT — about $100 a year combined — but they at least report their slant in detail and sometimes something slips past. I cannot stand any of the all-news networks which, sadly are no longer all news. All rant for some of them.

    I like my local news a lot, since it just does New Mexico news for the most part. Other than that the various Network TV nightly news are at least news, unlike Fox, CNN or MSLeft.

    The problem is though, that over 80% of the outlets are left-of-center and if you don’t actually TRY to get more balanced sources all you will hear is the left hand clapping.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  103. Fox is not the worst offender though. OAN is truly reprehensible. I would say that Fox now points to the bottom of the Nolan Chart (centrist authoritarian) if OAN wasn’t occupying that niche already.

    Kevin M (ab1c11)

  104. #103 If you are accounting for right wing media, Sinclair broadcasting into account too. They are either one or two in local TV station ownership nationally. When they first took over one of my local stations every night they used to have one of the local anchors read a rather ranting op-ed written by the head of Sinclair. It was really odd.

    Nic (896fdf)

  105. “The Big Guy” thought turkeys could fly, too:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf3mgmEdfwg

    DCSCA (797bc0)

  106. Every accusation by Trump is a confession:

    Forbes Estimates China Paid Trump At Least $5.4 Million Since He Took Office, Via Mysterious Trump Tower Lease

    President Donald Trump, who declared “I don’t make money from China” in Thursday night’s presidential debate, has in fact collected millions of dollars from government-owned entities in China since he took office. Forbes estimates that at least $5.4 million has flowed into the president’s business from a lease agreement involving a state-owned bank in Trump Tower.

    The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China signed a lease for space in 2008, years before the president took office, paying about $1.9 million in annual rent. Trump is well-aware of the deal. “I’ll show you the Industrial Bank of China,” he told three Forbes journalists touring Trump Tower in 2015. “I have the best tenants in the world in this building.”

    Trump moved from the skyscraper to the White House in 2017, but he held onto ownership of the retail and office space in the building, through his 100% interest in an entity called Trump Tower Commercial LLC. That put him in an unusual position, given that government-owned entities in China hold at least 70% of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Suddenly, a routine real estate deal became a conduit for a foreign superpower to pay the president of the United States.

    I think Bill Barr needs to appoint a special counsel to look into this before the election.

    Dave (1bb933)

  107. @103. I agree, Kevin. The media in general has a significant leftist bias. It’s not even close to being a balance between left and right. Fox News plus talk radio just doesn’t equal NYT, WaPo, LA Times, TIME, Newsweek, ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, MSNBC, The Daily Show, Bill Maher, The New Yorker, and The Atlantic, Salon, and HuffPo, not to mention the left-leaning Twitter, Facebook, etc. Surveys of journalists that I’ve seen over the years show about a 9 to 1 ratio of Democrats to Republicans. And don’t forget the media megaphones afforded to celebrities.

    Anybody who thinks both sides are equally represented is looking at the world through warped goggles.

    Oh, and don’t forget NPR, which I’ve listened to a great deal for the past couple of years. NPR is so lefty that I find myself shaking my head, but I listen to it anyway, just for perspective. Even the show Marketplace, where I thought I would find some capitalism, spouts the usual nonsense. NPR is WIDELY available. There are remote parts of Nevada where, in the daytime, NPR is the only thing I can pull in on my car radio.

    norcal (a5428a)

  108. Proud Boys are needed in Brooklyn as the fbi is completely useless. Cops hassling Jewish people for 10 people in the house. This is Nazi Germany. What a sick flucking country the never trumpers have made us. Cuomo is your home boy. He is a total Nazi just like the govna in taxachusetts.

    mg (8cbc69)


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